The Thacher School - Review #18

To the Students: This search is really all about you and where you want to grow in your next 4 years. What you will find at Thacher is an experience so unique and amazing that when you tell others about it their jaws will drop or they just will not believe you. Thacher will give you everything its simply your job to find out what works for you. Camping, Riding, Acting, Singing, Studying, Art, Photography, are just some of the things that the school will offer to you and you can choose as many as you want and still have time for others. If you want an environment where everyone knows everyone and where teachers are friends and the opportunities are endless then look into Thacher, it won't disappoint.To the parents: I don't think there is any other place that you can find where you will feel more than comfortable having your child for the next four years. The Thacher community is made up of amazingly dedicated teachers and staff that create a healthy, fun, academic environment for teenagers to grow for 4 years. The Thacher School is really a big family. Because of its size, the school is able to create a phenomenal community that is based of a strong code of morals. I know that my parents couldn't have been happier with the connection they built with the school during my time there.

Its hard to name one crowning achievement that I value the most, but if I had to choose just one I would say the fact that I graduated. I say that because Thacher demands a lot from a high school student and its demands are in and out of the classroom and to graduate is a sign rising to that challenge. I hold myself to the schools code as I graduate to act honorably, fairly, kindly, truthfully, in my everyday life.

I would make sure that from right off the bat, my freshman year, that I was taking advantage of every opportunity that was offered to me.

The people. Thacher builds a community, as repetitive as it sounds, of students and faculty that astounds me looking back.

Enjoy it while your there, because the biggest complaint is that it goes by too fast.

The academics are at times very rigorous, however, they are counterbalanced by support from the faculty. I was never denied the opportunity to sit down and talk with a teacher at any point in the day, unless they had a conflicting class.

The athletics are great. We have competitive teams that do well, but everyone has the opportunity to participate in a sport.

All the performing arts are added to by the brand new beautiful performing arts center. There are plenty of music opportunities in class or one on one lesson form. There are 3 productions a year for theater.

There are so many extra-curricular activities on campus.Everything from the cheese club to the ninja club is covered and the best part is if your topic is not covered, its easy to find a faculty that interested to support you and get it started. Volunteer opportunities are also numerous, there are tons of options that take place day and night from helping the homeless to caring for cats and dogs.

Each dorm creates a small community setting and is lead by seniors and faculty. There are plenty of singles, but there are plenty of doubles. Also there are two brand new nice dorms on campus.

The dining hall does its best to keep the food exciting, but sometimes the same dishes show up a little to often, stroganoff. But overall i would say a 7/10 for food, which isn't bad, just repetitive. There is brunch on the weekends with waffles and smoothies and a snack later in the day. Its also easy to eat healthy.

Ojai is kind of a funky place, coming from the Midwest, but has a lot to offer. Plenty of grocery stores, including an organic one, and coffee places create a nice excursion off campus on the town bus, which runs Saturdays till 5. The beach is only a 15 minute drive. It is also nice that Santa Barbara and LA are not to far away, teachers sometimes take students to events in either.

Since you are living in a small community everybody knows everybody. What is really nice is that freshman year everyone rides so everyone in the class bonds over that and its an easy way to make friends. Additionally, the camping program makes sure that you get to spend time with people you may not see all the time from all grades. The school does a nice job of building that community, which makes it easy to build friendships.