Welcome Morongo Unified School District Families!
Joshua Tree Residential Education Experience (JTREE) has been partnering with MUSD to provide outdoor education experiences to your students. These programs are completely funded through grants awarded to JTREE from a number of agencies including State of California Parks & Rec and PAAC in Twentynine Palms.
We are thrilled to offer a variety of programs to students at both their school and on field trips to natural areas at NO COST to the school or school families.
Please visit this page regularly to see what is happening that your student and sometimes even your family may participate in. Additionally, watch for flyers from JTREE that are sent home with your students to notify you of an activity you are being invited to participate in.
What's Happening in 2024-25?
"Let's Go Camping" March & April 2025
Calling all 4th/5th grade students in MUSD!
Joshua Tree Residential Education Experience (JTREE), Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP) partner and 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, will host students and a parent/guardian for a night of camping inside JTNP. This evening will allow participants to use their 4th grade pass for free entry to the park and introduce them to responsible camping in a near-wilderness environment. JTREE will provide tents, sleeping bags & mats, a simple dinner, and campfire snacks as well as guided activities and a hike to Ryan Ranch Ruins for the afternoon and evening. Morning brings a simple breakfast and breakfast beverages before student pick up. This may be an introduction to camping for many or a seasoned camper’s night spent with classmates, but either way we will all have fun!
Download this PDF flyer as a reminder!
NOTE: MUSD neither endorses nor sponsors the organization or this activity.
"Adventure Calling Oasis" October 2024 - March 2025
“Adventure Calling Oasis Elementary School” is an outdoor education program for the students at Oasis Elementary School in Twentynine Palms. We are going into our 2nd of 3 years for a program funded by the State of California Parks & Rec Outdoor Equities Program, a grant awarded to JTREE in 2023. Students are learning about the desert where they live through 5 unique sessions at their school and field trips into Joshua Tree National Park. The school site sessions are done outdoors and focus on reviving the school’s man-made oasis. Students have hatched butterflies, lady bugs and praying mantis to release as pollinators for the oasis. They have learned about native vs non-native plant species, planted new flora and nurtured these with regular watering and even making their very own red work compost to feed the soil. Perhaps you saw your student come home with a sun photogram that was created by them and developed without a camera by the sun!
A Night Sky Viewing Event is being planned in partnership with Sky’s The Limit Observatory in Twentynine Palms. School families will be invited to participate in this after school event. Once the date is scheduled (early spring), your student will bring home a flyer with more information and how to register for this special event.
Sixth Grade Students’ Presentation will take place in March 2025 as a wrap up event for this year’s program. Student families will be invited to come watch their students on stage. Please watch for more information that will be sent home with your students.
This and so much more is done throughout the school year. PLEASE, ask your students about what they are doing with JTREE in the coming school year. Go Bobcats!
New on the Horizon
Currently JTREE is submitting a new grant through the State of California Natural Resources Agency called the “Youth Community Access Program.” If awarded this grant, we will be notified in Fall of 2025 for a program to begin in Fall of 2026 or sooner. This program, if awarded is intended to serve all 4th and 5th grade students in MUSD. Stay tuned!
Joshua Tree National Park
Teaching Today's Youth Through Nature
I hear and I forget…I see and I remember… I do and I understand.” a CHINESE PROVERB