Wilson Elementary School was established in 1863 to serve the ranch families of West Petaluma. In 1908 a larger school was needed, and the new school housed 4 or 5 classrooms and an auditorium. A picture of this school, designed by locally famous architect Brainerd Jones, can still be seen in the school office. The Wilson School District merged with the Marin School District in 1960, and after lively discussion the new district was named Wilmar Union Elementary School District, combining "Wil" for Wilson and "Mar" for Marin. In 1968, as enrollment continued to grow, the Cluster Building was added to Wilson School, which reached its maximum enrollment of 425 students at that time. In 2002 Wilson's instructional excellence was recognized with the California State Distinguished School Award. Wilson School continues to serve West Petaluma families, many of whom are descendents of the original Wilson School families.