Thacher School
| The Thacher School | |
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| Location | |
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Ojai, CA United States |
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| Information | |
| Type | Private, Boarding, Day |
| Religious affiliation(s) | No religious affiliation |
| Established | 1889 |
| Head of School | Michael K. Mulligan |
| Faculty | 60 |
| Enrollment | 260 |
| Average class size | 11 students |
| Student to teacher ratio | 6:1 |
| Campus | 427 acres (1.73 km2) |
| Color(s) | Green and Orange |
| Athletics | 36 teams; 10 interscholastic sports |
| Mascot | Toad |
| Nickname | Casa de Piedra |
| Rival | Cate School http://www.cate.org/ |
| Website | http://www.thacher.org |
The Thacher School is a highly selective, co-educational, independent boarding school located on 427 acres (1.5 km²) of hillside overlooking the Ojai Valley in Ojai, California, United States. Founded in 1889 as a boys' school, it is now the oldest co-ed boarding school in California. Girls were first admitted in 1977. The first co-ed graduating class was the class of 1978. The student body numbers 235, and it boasts a 12% acceptance rate.
At the heart of Thacher’s founding philosophy is a belief that students benefit from taking on real responsibility and positive risks. This philosophy is evident in equestrian and outdoor programs that set Thacher apart from other boarding schools. All students are required to ride and care for a horse during their first year. An annual gymkhana event gives students an opportunity to demonstrate their horsemanship in competition with each other. Throughout the year, students are encouraged to take weekend camping trips into the local mountains. And each fall and spring the whole school breaks into small groups for week-long trips that may include backpacking, rock climbing, cycling, sailing, horse camping, canyoneering, backcountry skiing and kayaking.
On November 8, 2004, the San Jose Mercury News reported that the school received its largest alumni donation ever from Owen Jameson. The $10 million gift was part of the $82 million Campaign For Thacher, concluded in 2007, that sought to improve Thacher's financial aid program, facilities, and raise faculty salaries and endowment. Jameson's donation was specifically directed towards expanding Thacher's scholarship opportunities for youths from minority or low-income families.
Sherman Day Thacher did not arrive on the Casa de Piedra ranch with the intent of creating a school. The son of Yale professor Thomas and Elizabeth Thacher, he elected to move to California to care for his brother who needed the "fresh air" cure for his tuberculosis. While spending time on the ranch, Thacher was contacted by an old Yale colleague who had a son that desperately wanted to go to Yale but needed tutoring before he would be prepared to attend. Thacher accepted the offer and tutored his colleague's son in both academics and maturity with his unique method of blending studies with outdoor living and horsemanship. Soon other friends were sending their sons out to California to receive Thacher's instruction and a school was born. Though it began as a feeder school to Yale, students were also attracted by the "emphasis on the lessons of the outdoors, hiking and rafting and riding on horseback" and "nearly every boy has a horse of his own and takes full care of it".
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Wikipedia