Search EXPLORE ADMISSION ACADEMICS PROGRAMS COMMUNITY CALENDAR EVENTS GIVING MYTHACHER History and Heritage EXPLORE Why Thacher? Facts that Matter Thacher Today Places That Make Thacher Thacher Faculty Unscripted Toad Bucket List Leaders for the Greatest Good Films About Thacher Deep Dives History and Heritage Philosophy and Mission School Leadership Special Committee Report Where Thacher began isn’t so far from where it is today. Here, ambitious students take on challenging academics while learning a thing or two about resilience, grit, and living a balanced life under the wide open skies and rolling mountains of the Ojai Valley. List of 2 items. TRAIL TO OJAI Sherman Day Thacher didn’t travel from Connecticut to Ojai with a school in mind. In search of a rejuvenating environment for his ailing brother, Mr. Thacher arrived with him in 1887 and developed a deep appreciation for the stunning landscapes and open, resourceful, and informal attitudes of Western life. When a New England friend asked Mr. Thacher to tutor his son for admission to Yale, he accepted—as long as the boy could come to Ojai for his lessons. The friend agreed, and in 1889 Mr. Thacher’s School was begun. But while his counterparts in the East were scratching their heads over what to do with the boys during blizzards and mud season, Mr. Thacher wondered only, “Which trail to take the lads on today?” He simply turned the mountains and meadows into a vast classroom without boundaries, one with limitless opportunities for lessons and growth. And the horses? In them he found some of his best teachers. EAST MEETS WEST Sherman Thacher’s education was decidedly Eastern, from his high school years at Hopkins Grammar School to his college days at Yale. Strict academic schedules, meat-and-potatoes classics taught by dedicated scholar-teachers, seated meals in coat and tie. Then and now, some of this stuck: students and faculty still sit down to formal, family style meals four times a week, and our curriculum, faculty, facilities, programs, and college placement are models for other schools around the country. But with the West as their backdrop, Mr. Thacher and his students forged a more expansive path, combining traditional academics with horses and mountain trails, inspiring resourcefulness, perseverance, and the conviction that some of life’s most lasting lessons are learned outside the classroom. - Sherman Day Thacher “The aims of the place are thus in three directions: toward health and happiness, toward unselfish character, and toward accurate, thorough, and self-reliant habits of thought and study.” Founder Thacher’s Traditions A college preparatory, coed boarding school for grades 9-12 The Thacher School 5025 Thacher Road Ojai, California, 93023 Tel : 805-646-4377 Fax: 805-646-9490 Email: info@thacher.org Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn MyThacher Contact Us Site Map Careers Privacy Policy Explore Thacher Facts That Matter History and Heritage Thacher Today Admission to Thacher Virtual Visits Tuition and Financial Aid Academics Student Life at Thacher Horse Program / Equestrian Athletics and The Arts Dorms and Campus Map The Ojai Area Faculty and Staff Calendar of Events Request Information Notice of nondiscriminatory policy as to students: The Thacher School admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other School-administered programs. Este sitio en Español (Translate to Spanish) i saiteuneun hangug-eolo (Translate to Korean) Zhège wangzhàn yòng zhongwén (Translate to Mandarin) COVID-19 GUIDANCE CHECKLIST (PDF)