Thacher School

The Thacher School, founded in 1889, is one of California's most distinguished and unique boarding schools, serving approximately 250 students in grades 9–12 on a spectacular 427-acre ranch in the Ojai Valley. Thacher is the only boarding school in America where every student is required to care for a horse — a tradition that teaches responsibility, empathy, and character alongside rigorous academics. WASC-accredited, Thacher offers an intensive college preparatory curriculum with extensive AP coursework and a culture of intellectual seriousness unmatched in the West. The school's extraordinary outdoor education program leverages its ranch setting for environmental science, camping trips, and wilderness experiences. Thacher's diverse student body includes a significant proportion of international students, creating a genuinely global residential community. The school's exceptional college counseling consistently places graduates at the nation's most selective universities, with a remarkable track record at Ivy League institutions, Stanford, and MIT. Thacher alumni are distinguished leaders in every field.