Thacher offers dynamic weekend activities designed to reinforce our commitment to a seven-day boarding program. Each Friday and Saturday night during the year a variety of social events are available for all students. Friday nights are typically reserved for speakers, musical concerts, and other cultural events that appeal to the whole Community. Following this, there are often dormitory open houses,all-school dodge ball games, and other fun, stress-relieving activities that help students and faculty to unwind together. On Saturdays, we offer buses to the town of Ojai so that students can go out to lunch, get groceries, take in a movie, or just get away from campus for a few hours. Once or twice per semester we offer off-campus evening options, such as trips to an ice-skating rink or to downtown Santa Barbara. There’s also the standard high school fare of dances, movies, and theme parties in the dorms. One highlight of every weekend is the Saturday Night Open House at the Head’s house, where faculty, students, parents, faculty children, (and even a few dogs!) show up to bake cookies, dance, play games, do puzzles, snack on salsa and cheese dip, play pingpong—you name it! It is the cornerstone of our weekend program because there is a place for everyone, and adults and students relax and play together in a warm, family atmosphere.

Thacher is lucky to have outstanding food services. Every informal meal offers extensive choices so that even the pickiest eater can find something nutritious and satisfying. Our food service director continually solicits comments and suggestions and works with both students and faculty to offer healthy yet desirable meals in the dining hall. We have required Formal Dinner four nights a week—boys wear coat and tie, girls wear dresses or nice slacks—in which students are assigned to a faculty table and they take turns serving the meal during the course of the week. In an era where sit-down family meals are on the decline, we have opted to keep this tradition alive because it’s important for students and faculty to eat together, make polite conversation, and demonstrate good manners and etiquette.

Thacher's on-campus Health Center is staffed 24 hours a day by registered nurses. When sick, students go to the Health Center for evaluation and treatment. If a doctor visit is necessary, the Health Center staff makes arrangements for appointments and rides. In every case of sickness or injury, parents are informed immediately. Students who are too sick to stay in the dorm sleep in our 7-bed Health Center until they are well enough to return to classes. Thacher also has several therapists and a psychiatrist on staff to help with any emotional issues that arise.

Dormitories are arranged by grade and gender for ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders. Due to the various leadership roles that seniors hold, they are housed across campus in the various dormitories. All ninth graders have single rooms; because we feel that life at boarding school is challenging in these first months away from home, we like students to have a place that is entirely theirs, and to which they can retreat for a bit of privacy. In general, sophomores have roommates. It is important for all students to have the experience of sharing a room with someone else in order to learn about getting along in close quarters and being respectful of one another. Juniors have single rooms, as do most seniors, unless they prefer to have a roommate and request it. Senior Prefects help to supervise and run the dormitories. They serve as friends, role models, and counselors to other students. They also organize regular dorm activities. Faculty members live in or near each dormitory and regularly participate in dorm events.

In addition to the Prefects, seven or eight teachers work in each of the dormitories as advisors. Each student is assigned an advisor at the beginning of the year. The advisor serves as the student’s advocate, confidante, and friend as well as the main contact for parents. Advisors meet their advisees often to talk about classes, dorm life, sports or riding, and just generally to check in and make sure all is well. Advisors also routinely host students in their homes for dinner or snacks and to watch an occasional movie. Advisors are the best person to seek assistance from for resolving issues. In some cases, students may feel more comfortable approaching a Dorm Head, teacher, coach, nurse, or administrator—and that is absolutely appropriate, as well. What’s important is that each student develops a relationship with an adult on campus to speak with in times of stress, sadness, or other difficulties that may arise. During the course of four years at Thacher, students and faculty become very close and develop friendships and mentorships that last well beyond the teenage years.

Thacher does not have a set number of open or closed weekends, as some boarding schools do. Instead, students commit to our seven-day program and take advantage of the many exciting and dynamic weekend activities we have available. In addition to our regular weekend program, we offer two- or three-day camping, kayaking, climbing, and horsepacking trips almost every weekend. We urge all students to try these at least once each year. Saturday sports games and horse requirements also demand that students remain on campus during some weekends. Yet, we do understand the need for students to go home, connect with their families, and have a bit of a break from the exciting, yet hectic pace of life at Thacher. After the first six weeks, new students are free to go home any weekend that they do not have on-campus commitments. For all weekends home, students are allowed to leave after their last obligation on Friday and must return by 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.

We begin building community even before students arrive on campus! Prefects, Advisors, and Dorm Heads write to new students over the summer to welcome them and to lay out expectations and ideas for the year. On arrival day, many activities are designed to make students feel at home and comfortable, including regular meetings each week within prefect groups and within the whole dormitory to talk, laugh, relax, and discuss issues. Dorm life at Thacher is warm, caring, and completely supportive.

A comprehensive Human Relations and Sexuality program spans the four years, combining talks and discussions of age-appropriate issues. We begin quite simply in the ninth grade with discussions about getting along with others, nutrition, homesickness, caring for oneself away from home, and other topics that may arise during the course of the year. For sophomores, we take a great deal of time to talk about tolerance, sexuality, and relationships in small-group settings. We also focus on drug and alcohol education and prevention. For juniors, we focus on leadership and learning to become a leader. Seniors focus on making the transition to college including discussions on binge drinking, sexual assault, and depression and other mood disorders. For a more comprehensive syllabus of this program, please contact our Dean of Students.

Students who have horses must muck the stalls,feed, and do barn jobs by 8:00. After that, students have mandatory breakfast check-in at 8:15. (We feel it’s important that students eat something before embarking on a busy day.) Classes go until 3:10 and then students proceed to their afternoon activities: sports, horses, or outdoor program. At 5:05, students have free time to shower, study, or just hang around. Four nights a week we have Formal Dinner, a sit-down meal where faculty and students share both food andthe highlights of the day. Study hours are from 7:30 until 9:30, and then, after a brief break at 9:30, the students check back into their dorms for the evening at 10:00 p.m. Lights out follows at differenttimes for the various classes. The days are busy and full making a good night’s sleep essential.

You should also see our "A Day in the Life" section.