Academics
Where a student’s authentic interests and deep curiosity meet uniquely supportive, engaged educators, meaningful learning follows.
At Thacher, we believe the best learning happens when:
Students are known, supported, stretched, and challenged.
Small class sizes, students who live and learn alongside their classmates, teachers, and advisors, and a curriculum where every student is seen and heard enhance learning, create opportunities for strong and authentic connections, and enable students to encounter diverse perspectives through exposure to different authors, voices, and points of view, ensuring that every student is able to reach their fullest potential.
Learning is applied and authentic.
From student-designed xBlock electives and senior exhibitions, the academic program at Thacher is rooted in the principle that high-impact learning happens at the intersection of student-centered instruction, critical thinking, and reflection. By engaging students in real, practical challenges facing our world—and offering them just the right level of support, we inspire kids to accomplish goals and master challenging material that initially felt beyond reach.
Spaces and places are built for adventurous minds.
Set on an expansive and inspiring campus landscape with proximity to the California coast, Thacher’s academic facilities—both traditional classrooms and innovative maker spaces, including the School’s professional grade woodshop—are designed for and equipped with tools, both literal and figurative, that inspire creativity, collaboration, and hands-on engagement with the material, whether that be chemical compounds, classical literature, or charcoals.
Students find purpose and joy in their learning.
Like everything at Thacher, learning is an adventure. We believe that’s why, in a recent survey by Challenge Success, Thacher students report very high levels of affective engagement (meaning that they find both meaning/purpose and joy in their schoolwork). This is a notably high score for affective engagement, which is often a stumbling block for many schools, but one which we attribute to our commitment to collaboration, community, and fun.
Our Curriculum
At Thacher, we see the 9th and 10th grade curriculum as an introduction and opportunity to build a foundation upon which to help our students grow and develop as learners and community members over their time at the School. To do this, we focus on four key goals: community and belonging, academic readiness and curiosity, confidence, and excitement. During their junior and senior years, students are challenged to demonstrate mastery, often by following their interests beyond the classroom and across the disciplines, applying skills and knowledge in new ways, increasingly framing and solving problems of their own choosing.
—Tracy Miller, Director of Studies
“Our work at Thacher is about cultivating curiosity in our students. We encourage big questions and messy, complicated answers. We empower students to take ownership of their education and to bring great pride and purpose to their work. At the same time, learning at Thacher is communal—founded in deep, authentic relationships between teachers and students, supported by collaboration and respect among peers, and celebrated throughout our campus.”
Learn More About Teaching and Learning at Thacher
A college preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12
Notice of nondiscriminatory policy as to students: The Thacher School admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other School-administered programs.