The Thacher School

Last updated
The Thacher School
ThacherSeal.png
Location
The Thacher School
Ojai
,
California

United States
Coordinates 34°27′54″N119°10′57″W / 34.46500°N 119.18250°W / 34.46500; -119.18250
Information
Type Private, independent, boarding
Established1889
Head of SchoolJeff Hooper (Interim)
Faculty60
Grades9-12
Enrollment260
Average class size11 students
Student to teacher ratio6:1
Campus427 acres (1.73 km2)
Color(s)Green and orange
Athletics36 teams; 10 interscholastic sports
Mascot Toad
Nickname Casa de Piedra
Website www.thacher.org

The Thacher School is a private co-educational boarding school on 427 acres in Ojai, California. Founded in 1889 as a boys' school, it is now the oldest co-educational boarding school in California. Girls were first admitted in 1977, with the first co-ed graduating class being the class of 1978. Unique to Thacher are its Horse and Outdoors Programs. Its founder, Sherman Day Thacher, believed in the power of the outdoors to help shape students: “Come West, breathe deep, let these hills be your teachers.” [1]

Contents

History

Sherman Day Thacher did not arrive on the Casa de Piedra ranch with the intent of creating a school. [2] The son of Yale professor Thomas Anthony Thacher and the former Elizabeth Baldwin Sherman (a granddaughter of Founding Father Roger Sherman), 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 who 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" [3] and "nearly every boy has a horse of his own and takes full care of it". [4]

Thacher helped expand boarding opportunities for boys in California. Sherman Day Thacher contacted educator Thompson Webb, an instructor at the Webb School of Bell Buckle in Tennessee (founded by his father, William R. Webb), that his school was turning down dozens of qualified students every year, and that an empty school near Claremont was for sale. If Thompson opened a school there, Thacher agreed to refer his applicants. [5] This led to the founding of The Webb School of California in 1922.

Admissions

Only 28 boys and 28 girls are admitted to each year's freshman class. In 2023, the overall acceptance rate was 13% and the yield (or enrollment) rate was 75%, higher than some of the nation's top universities. [6] Students from 24 states and 11 countries across five continents matriculated to Thacher in the 2023-24 school year.

Academics at Thacher

Thacher students engage in a rigorous, college preparatory curriculum and are required to complete four years of Mathematics and English with three years of Science, History, and a foreign language of choice, plus two years of Art. Students must take five solid courses (defined as classes with substantial written homework) each term. Students are placed in and choose from more than 80 courses, ranging from English I to Advanced Music Theory. Classes such as Latin, Global Crises and Solutions, Astronomy Research, Modern Middle East, Advanced Actors Studio, Multivariable Calculus, Perspectives on Nature, Field Biology and Conservation are on offer.

Thacher uses the Harkness method [7] in its classrooms. "Daily preparation, thoughtful participation, analytical thinking and intellectual rigor" are part of life in the Thacher classroom. [8]

All seniors exhibit mastery on a topic by designing and researching a topic of choice. This Senior Exhibition must have an oral and written component and be presented to the Thacher community.

Notable programs

The Horse Program requires students to ride and care for a horse during all athletic seasons their freshman year at Thacher, while students who join at later grades complete the requirement during one athletic season. [9] An annual gymkhana event provides students the opportunity to demonstrate horsemanship in competition. Though Western-style riding is required, the Equestrian Program offers an English riding elective in grades 10-12.

As part of the Outdoors Program, students are encouraged to take weekend camping trips into the local mountains, in addition to week-long trips each fall and spring that include backpacking, rock climbing, cycling, sailing, horse camping, canyoneering, backcountry skiing and kayaking.[ citation needed ]

The Thacher Observatory

Thacher has an astronomical research program, where students participate in astrophysics research in collaboration with teams at Harvard University, Boston University, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and the Las Cumbres Observatory. [10] [ better source needed ]

The observatory was brought to campus in 1965 by Caltech and UCLA as part of the Summer Science Program. It was renovated in 2016 into a state-of-the-art, research-grade facility and now houses a PlaneWave CDK-700 telescope with a 0.7m aperture and a fully robotic dome. The observatory uses a flexible dispatch schedule for full automation. [11] [ better source needed ]

Campaign for Thacher

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, [12] concluded in 2007, that sought to improve Thacher's financial aid program and facilities, and raise its faculty salaries and endowment. Jameson's donation was specifically directed towards expanding Thacher's scholarship opportunities for youths from minority or low-income families. [13]

Campus and facilities

The campus, located in the foothills in the northeast corner of the Ojai Valley, about 85 miles north of Los Angeles, was originally the Casa de Piedra ranch. [14] Buildings reflect a variety of architectural styles, including California Craftsman and Spanish Colonial Revival. An $82-million capital campaign that concluded in 2007 added a new performing arts center and a student commons, two new dormitories, faculty housing, and numerous other improvements.[ citation needed ] In addition to the normal boarding school mix of athletic facilities like a gymnasium, tennis courts, track, three fields, fitness center, and pool (although the pool is not used for athletic events), the campus has barns, pastures, arenas, and fields for equestrian use, including a network of trails that links the campus to the adjacent Los Padres National Forest. There are also a game room, sand volleyball courts and two wellness centers.

The school maintains base camps in the Sespe Wilderness and the Eastern Sierra's Golden Trout Wilderness, [15] which it uses for backcountry trips, educational programs and alumni retreats. [16]

Mascot and traditions

While The Thacher School's symbol has always been the pegasus, its mascot is the toad, chosen, according to the founder's grandson, Nick Thacher, for its quiet humility and persistence. [17]

Sexual misconduct investigation

In a report [18] posted on the Thacher website on June 16, 2021 the school publicly acknowledged decades of student sexual misconduct, harassment and “boundary crossing” (including violent rapes) by faculty members. [19] The 91-page report compiled by attorneys hired by Thacher "laid out episodes of alleged rape, groping, unwanted touching and inappropriate comments dating back 40 years in a level of detail surprising for a private institution," [20] according to the Los Angeles Times. The document identified six alleged perpetrators by name, recounted accusations of misconduct and alleged efforts by former school administrators to cover up complaints and blame teenage victims. Thacher's board of trustees concluded, among other findings, that many students "suffered lasting harm not just from the sexual misconduct itself but also from the School’s handling of the misconduct." The board also concluded that the school "tolerated and at times fostered a culture that valued the experiences and voices of boys and men over those of girls and women and that allowed sexual misconduct to be minimized, ignored, and dismissed." [21]

The allegations, per further reporting in the Times, "sparked a broad criminal inquiry" by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. "Investigators were examining potential sex crimes as well as whether Thacher administrators committed crimes by not alerting police to suspected child abuse, according to the Sheriff’s Office." [22]

On July 28, 2021 the Thacher Board of Trustees unanimously voted to remove the name of its former head of school from the campus dining hall and athletic field. [23] In a letter to the school community, board chair Dan Yih wrote that “the high honor associated with a name on a building is fundamentally inconsistent with the gravity and serious consequences of Michael Mulligan’s failure to protect Thacher students from harm.” The trustees also voted to remove former headmaster Bill Wyman’s name from a hiking trail named for him. Wyman, who served as headmaster at the school from 1975 to 1992 and died in 2014, had engaged in “a pattern of offensive verbal conduct and improper touching” toward female students and staff. [24] Wyman resigned after the discovery.

In March of 2022, Head of School Blossom Pidduck announced that she would be taking a leave of absence through the summer. In a letter addressed to the Thacher community, [25] the administrator wrote that she had not been prepared for the personal ramifications that would come with Thacher's investigation of historic sexual misconduct. Pidduck stated that she wanted to spend time healing from sexual trauma she experienced in her own time as a Thacher student in the early 1990s. [26]

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occidental College</span> Liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California

Occidental College is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Southern California</span> Private university in Los Angeles, California

The University of Southern California is a private research university in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1880 by Robert Maclay Widney, it is the oldest private research university in California. The university is composed of one liberal arts school, the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and 22 undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools, enrolling roughly 21,000 undergraduate and 28,500 post-graduate students from all fifty U.S. states and more than 115 countries. It is a member of the Association of American Universities, which it joined in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State University</span> Public university system in California, United States

The California State University is a public university system in California, and the largest public university system in the United States. It consists of 23 campuses and seven off-campus centers, which together enroll 457,992 students and employ 56,256 faculty and staff members. In California, it is one of the three public higher education systems, along with the University of California and the California Community Colleges systems. The CSU system is officially incorporated as The Trustees of the California State University, and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of La Verne</span> Private university in La Verne, California, United States

The University of La Verne (ULV) is a private university in La Verne, California. Founded in 1891, the university is composed of the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business & Public Management, the LaFetra College of Education, College of Law, College of Health and Community Well-Being, an online adult school, two military centers, and a Regional Campus Administration that oversees six regional campuses. It awards undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees. Many of their classes are taught at smaller campuses throughout the greater Los Angeles area and Kern County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ojai, California</span> City in California, United States

Ojai is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and is about 10 miles (16 km) long by 3 miles (5 km) wide and divided into a lower and an upper valley, each of similar size, surrounded by hills and mountains. The population was 7,637 at the 2020 census, up from 7,461 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotchkiss School</span> Private, day and boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States

The Hotchkiss School is a private, coeducational prep and boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States. Hotchkiss is a member of the Eight Schools Association and Ten Schools Admissions Organization, competing in the Founders League and New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC). Historically, it was a founding member of the G20 Schools group, before six schools left ahead of the renaming to G30 Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Paul's School (New Hampshire)</span> Private, boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire, United States

St. Paul's School is a college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire, affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The school's 2,000-acre (8.1 km2), or 3.125 square mile, campus serves 548 students, who come from 37 states and 28 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckley School (California)</span> College preparatory school in Los Angeles, California

The Buckley School is a college preparatory day school for students in grades kindergarten through 12. Founded in 1933 by Isabelle Buckley, the school is located in Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley portion of Los Angeles, California, in the United States. Buckley is one of the oldest co-educational day schools in the Los Angeles area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer Science Program</span>

The Summer Science Program (SSP) is an academic summer program where high school students experience college-level education and do research in celestial mechanics by studying the orbits of asteroids, biochemistry by studying the kinetic properties of enzymes, or genomics by studying antibiotic resistance. The program was established in 1959 at The Thacher School in Ojai, California. It now takes place on three astrophysics campuses, New Mexico Tech in Socorro, New Mexico, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and University of Colorado, Boulder in Boulder, Colorado, and two biochemistry campuses, Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and Indiana University Bloomington in Bloomington, Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hopkins School</span> Private, day school in New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Hopkins School is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational, day school for grades 7–12 located in New Haven, Connecticut.

Midland School is a small, co-ed, outdoor education, preparatory boarding school for grades 9 to 12 in Los Olivos, California. Midland was founded in 1932 by Kent School and Harvard graduate Paul Squibb. Squibb envisioned a small, rural community reliant on the work of its inhabitants to meet its basic needs. Squibb and his wife, Louise, founded Midland in the midst of the Great Depression, believing that the essentials of education are a student, a teacher, and an idea.

Villanova Preparatory School is an Augustinian Catholic co-ed day and boarding school in Ojai, California, United States. Sitting on more than 130 acres (53 ha), the campus contains two dormitories, a chapel, trails, and assorted academic and athletic facilities. Villanova Prep is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and is a member of the Augustinian Secondary Education Association. The school offers both day and resident programs and is the only co-ed Augustinian boarding school in the United States.

Indian Springs School is a private school for grades eight through twelve, near Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It has both boarding and day students, and is located in Indian Springs Village, Shelby County, Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cate School</span> Independent, day & boarding school in Carpinteria, California, United States

Cate School is a highly selective, coeducational university-preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12 located in Carpinteria, California, eleven miles from Santa Barbara. In 2012, the school had 270 students, who came from 31 states and 18 foreign countries. In 2022, Niche ranked Cate School the best boarding school in California and the 13th-best in the United States.


Sherman Day Thacher,, was the founder and headmaster of The Thacher School at Ojai, California.

de Toledo High School, formerly New Community Jewish High School and informally known as "New Jew", is a private Jewish high school in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, in the western San Fernando Valley, California. One of the largest Jewish day schools in the United States, the school adopted its new name as of July 1, 2015.

Ojai Valley School is a co-educational independent boarding school in the Ojai Valley near the city of Ojai, California, United States. The school was founded in 1911 and offers pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zelma Wilson</span> American architect

Zelma Wilson, née Gussin, was an American architect, practicing mainly in California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Thacher Kent</span>

Elizabeth Thacher Kent was an environmentalist and women's rights activist. Together with her husband, U.S. Congressman William Kent, she helped create the Muir Woods National Monument by donating land to the government. She was the president of her local chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and served on the national council of the National Woman's Party. In addition, she authored an autobiography as well as a biography of her husband's life and career.

The Ojai Tennis Tournament, often shortened to The Ojai, is an annual tennis tournament in Ventura County, California, headquartered at Libbey Park in downtown Ojai, about 80 miles (130 km) north of Los Angeles. The event, first held in 1896, is the oldest and largest amateur tennis tournament in the United States held in one location.

References

  1. ↑ "The Thacher School | Honor Code". www.thacher.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  2. ↑ Makepeace, LeRoy McKim, "Sherman Thacher and His School", Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1941, p. 2
  3. ↑ Arax, Mark and Wartzman, Rick, "The King of California", Public Affairs, New York, 2003, p. 289
  4. ↑ Thomas, Grace Powers (1898). Where to educate, 1898-1899. A guide to the best private schools, higher institutions of learning, etc., in the United States. Boston, MA: Brown and Company. p. 12. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  5. ↑ "WEBB Magazine - Spring 2016 by The Webb Schools - Issuu". issuu.com. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  6. ↑ Moody, Josh (Jan 25, 2021). "Universities, Colleges Where Students Are Eager to Enroll" . Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  7. ↑ "A Place at the (New) Table". The Thacher School. 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  8. ↑ "The Thacher School | It's Going to Be a Good Year". www.thacher.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  9. ↑ "Horse Program". www.thacher.org. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  10. ↑ "The Thacher School | The Thacher Observatory". www.thacher.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  11. ↑ "Thacher Observatory for Research and Education". www.thacherobservatory.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  12. ↑ "The Campaign for Thacher". campaign.thacher.org. Archived from the original on 2005-03-07.
  13. ↑ Hayasaki, Erika (2004-11-08). "Campus Takes a New Tack". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  14. ↑ Historic Resources Group (July 2016). "Thacher School Survey and Assessment" (PDF). Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Outdoor Adventures & Challenges". www.thacher.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  16. ↑ "The Thacher School | Golden Trout Wilderness School". www.thacher.org. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  17. ↑ www.thacher.org
  18. ↑ "Special Committee Report". 16 June 2021.
  19. ↑ Crump, James (June 17, 2021). "California's Elite Thacher School Reveals Sex Abuse Allegations Stretching Back 40 Years". Newsweek .
  20. ↑ "Decades of sexual abuse, misconduct allegations roil exclusive Ojai boarding school". Los Angeles Times . June 16, 2021.
  21. ↑ "CONCLUSIONS REACHED BY THE THACHER BOARD OF TRUSTEES FROM THE INVESTIGATION" (PDF).
  22. ↑ "Behind elite boarding school's veneer of trust and family, sexual misconduct was 'ignored'". Los Angeles Times . June 22, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Ojai boarding school strips former head's name from campus after sexual abuse report". The Los Angeles Times . July 29, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Report to the Board of Trustees of The Thacher School" (PDF). June 2021.
  25. ↑ "rpecultureatthacher". Instagram. March 17, 2022.
  26. ↑ Murtaugh, Isaiah (April 4, 2022). "Head of Ojai's Thacher School goes on leave as another survivor of sexual misconduct". Ventura County Star .
  27. ↑ "BA #069: Matt Shakman". Box Angeles podcast. 23 March 2015.
  28. ↑ "Noah Wyle - C&I Magazine". Cowboys and Indians Magazine. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  29. ↑ "The Thacher School | Global Studies". www.thacher.org. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.