A Final Message from CPFEA/Woolman

June 30, 2025

Dear Friends and friends,

Today as we lay down the organization that stewarded the land we called Woolman, we report on our ending and a beginning. A few months ago, the campus of the former John Woolman School in Nevada City, CA, became the property of the California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP) the tribally guided non-profit representing the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe. The passing of the land from Friends to the Nisenan ends our 60-year experiment of Quaker education in the woods of northern California. For the Nisenan it is a beginning of a new era as the Tribe returns to live on a parcel of their homeland stolen from them long before Quakers acquired it.

A group of visionary San Francisco Bay Area Quakers conceived of the John Woolman School in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a place where West Coast families could send their children to “live” and learn Quaker values. With a deep reservoir of exemplary energy, and less deep but equally generous pockets, they built, guided, and sustained the school throughout the years by the Quaker values of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship. 

In 1962 students began arriving on the campus for their high school education and in the process experienced the joys and challenges of community living and learning influenced by Quaker traditions and ideas. The campus also served as a hub through the decades for other kinds of Quaker gatherings. Even before the school opened there were summer camp programs for youth, work parties for families to help build the facilities on the campus, and as time went on, many traditions of activities for youth and adults developed. Woolman became the home of the Grass Valley Friends Meeting and a regular annual fall gathering place for College Park Quarterly Meeting (CPQM). All these activities needed a versatile and robust facility to house and host folks of a wide range of ages and abilities and Woolman was that place.

Finding adequate funding presented one of the greatest challenges faced by the John Woolman School. Opened without a financial cushion, the fees charged were never enough to pay for all the expenses. For 60 years every activity and every bit of the campus relied on the generosity of the community to exist and thrive. Despite this support, and to the disappointment of many alumni and benefactors, both cultural and economic pressures forced the school to shrink its academic program in 2000. A semester program replaced the full high school curriculum until 2016 when the school closed again. A long period of discernment followed as the staff and board struggled to develop new directions. 

By 2022 it was becoming apparent that the survival of Quaker programming on the Woolman campus, now renamed Sierra Friends Center (SFC), was impossible. The impact of the shut-down from the COVID - 19 pandemic and the devastating fire of 2020 combined with relentless financial demands of a changing economic climate for schools and youth programs, in combination with the critically aging infrastructure, forced a wrenchingly hard decision: shut down all programs and sell the property. We began wrestling with difficult choices and explored multiple options with respect to the property sale.  We looked both to world-wide Quaker ministries and to the history of Woolman’s land as guides.

Quakers are increasingly becoming more aware of the harm and injustice suffered by Indigenous people throughout the world and are taking action to make amends. Staff and Board had become more aware of the history of the Nisenan people historically; in 2020 during the fall session of Quarterly Meeting Shelly Covert, Tribal Spokesperson of the Nevada City Nisenan, was invited to speak to the general session. Shelly explained that the Nisenan are the original inhabitants of the land where SFC sits. Before the fire Shelly and tribe members had walked the land with staff members and observed landmarks that their people knew as a town called Yulića. Early records from when the property was a ranch mention Nisenan presence. The fire exposed ancient medicine rocks and an important spring. These interactions planted a seed so when the time came to find a buyer for the property, we approached the Nisenan to see if they would be interested in acquiring the land and soon sale negotiations began. The complex transaction took more than a year.

We set a sale price high enough to satisfy all financial obligations with a small cushion for unexpected expenses during the sale. After the sale, most of the residual monies were given to the Pacific Yearly Meeting (PacYM). The John Woolman School Fund is designated to continue the purpose of the school, providing seed money or support to Quaker education for any and all youth through immersive and transformational experiences, including but not limited to programs with systemic uses and broad reach, to help perpetuate the core values of John Woolman of peace, justice, and sustainability.  Additional donations were made to The Center for Ethical Land Transition in appreciation for their guidance and assistance in completing the land transition; and to the Ben Lomond Quaker Center, the remaining Quaker-led retreat and education center on the West Coast.  Donations to any of these organizations are welcome at the links provided above, and to support the Nisenan’s successful return to Yulića, donations can be made to CHIRP.                        

We offer many thanks to everyone who has ever been involved with the long history of Woolman, including the visionary founders, dedicated donors, students/campers and their families, teachers, staff, counselors, directors, volunteers, trustees, PacYM and CPQM.  

Finally, the sale of Woolman is a beginning as well as an ending. When escrow closed, the Nisenan announced their return to Yulića. This transition never could have happened without the dedicated and long process of negotiations between the representatives of Woolman and the Nisenan. As the process evolved many people aided the meeting of two distinct cultures, Quaker and Native American, including the Center for Ethical Land Transition, the Indigenous Concerns Committee of the PacYM, attorneys, real estate agents, county officials, a variety of individuals with relevant expertise, and donors to Homeland Return. Shelly Covert, Tribal Spokesperson, represented the Tribe through every step of the land sale. She summed up her feelings saying “I’m inspired by the dedication and commitment of everyone who donated to this campaign that will restore a small portion of our Ancestral Homelands. It makes me hopeful and confident that this is just the beginning in an awesome movement for Indigenous peoples everywhere.” 

We are proud to take part in the Quaker commitment to social justice represented here by the end of the Woolman era and new beginnings at Yulića.

With sadness, joy, hope, and deep appreciation,

The Trustees of College Park Friends Educational Association

Sandra Schwartz

Dana Mallozzi

Phyllis Jewell

Alexa Hauser

Jennifer Dickey

Andrew Huang

Mark Myers

SPECIAL NOTE FOR ALUMNI:  Please note that previous students of the John Woolman School or the Woolman Semester School may request transcripts by sending an email to [email protected]. Please include your name, year(s) of attendance, and confirm the email address to send the transcript.  Only transcript requests made by December 31, 2027 can be accommodated.