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About Us
When you tell people you live in a town called Cool, you always get a response about the name. “That's really its name? Wow, that is so cool!” If they know where it's located, they may question, “How do you deal with driving that canyon every day?” We get used to it. And some of the 4,000 or so of us who live in Cool, also work here! Most of us agree upon how fortunate we are to be part of this small, unique community. It's located in the beautiful Northern California foothills, surrounded by two forks of the American River. The heart of Cool boasts stunning views, encompassing miles of open land, river and trails that can take you all the way to Sacramento and Tahoe right from our backyard. But more importantly, it is also home to a close-knit community, Black Oak Mine Unified School District (BOMUSD), where children are the heart and soul for many.
Whether resident or first time visitor to Cool, taking the descent on southbound Hwy 49 into the American River Canyon is guaranteed to leave an impression. The 6-mile journey will leave you breathless with the beauty and maybe white-knuckled on the steering wheel as you wind along the edges of the canyon, and cross the confluence where the North and Middle Forks of the American River meet. As you reach the ascent, you arrive at your destination of Cool. This canyon, the river, and the hundreds of miles of California trails connected to its surrounding areas, are at the heart of Cool.
Living in a small community, where everyone is linked somehow has its trade-offs but are outweighed by the benefits. Schools in the community play a huge role in the positive upbringing of our youth. As a parent, you are grateful your children won’t go unnoticed and mostly everything is brought to your attention. As a child, you are grateful to have so many caring people involved and helping you figure out this thing called growing up. For all these reasons, community and the local schools of BOMUSD, play a significant role in the heart of Cool.
Cool, CA, population 3,972 according to 2014 census, really does exist. Offering an abundance of outdoor activities which use the river, trails and land, one will often be in awe of just how special Cool really is. We would like to share just a little piece of the amazing beauty with everyone who wants to join and host our annual Heart of Cool Trail Run the first Sunday of October. Bring your hiking or running shoes, smiles and excitement to explore new or familiar trails, and support the youth of BOMUSD, as well as children with heart disease to attend Camp Taylor. The event would not be possible without you and we can’t wait to share it with you!!

Jeni Harvey

Volunteers in the community
Beneficiaries
Black Oak Mine Unified School District
The mission of BOMUSD is to provide a safe learning environment that challenges all students to achieve academic excellence, develop their creative potential, and acquire marketable career, technical, and personal skills.
Black Oak Mine works closely with community organizations and county agencies to provide support to all families, encourage family engagement, school readiness, youth development and family and youth resiliency. BOMUSD benefits from its rural location by providing a first class education in a country setting. Students can participate in a variety of experiences unique to the foothills, such as hiking at Auburn State Recreation Area, which is located directly behind Northside STEAM School, experiencing 35 acres of a diverse nature area at Georgetown School of Innovation, as well as receiving instruction in technology using Web-based programs. 100% of the proceeds from the Heart of Cool Trail Run go directly back to youth of BOMUSD to inspire their future success through agriculture, engineering and VAPA (Visual and Performing Arts).
Northside STEAM School has focused on building community ties by providing healthy food from Northside’s garden in the Northside Farmers program. This program, facilitates student science and nutrition learning, culminating in real world, hands-on learning such as our schoolwide Harvest Lunch.
Georgetown School of Innovation has an extensive Makerspace program and is part of the New Tech Network where students are engaged in Project-Based Learning (PBL), an instructional method where students work for an extended period investigating and responding to a complex real-world problem.
Golden Sierra Junior Senior High School affords unique educational opportunities through their grade seven through twelve configuration. In addition to rigorous academic programs, they recognize that not all students plan to go on to college and that it is important to offer a balance of career and technical education courses. Their course offerings represent the need for students to be college AND career ready.
Camp Taylor
Kids Meet... Camp Taylor offers several programs for young people and families of children with heart disease. This flagship program is a medically supervised free youth and teen residential summer camp experience. Camp Taylor offers sessions catering to the under-served population of pediatric cardiology.