Sherman Day Thacher, a Yale-trained lawyer, moved west in 1887,
intending to join his brother as an orange rancher in California's Ojai
Valley. However, after accepting a request from a Yale colleague to
tutor his nephew, Thacher's focus changed from cultivating oranges to
cultivating young minds. His small educational enterprise eventually
became The Thacher School. Combining unmatched academics with a unique
horse and camping program, Thacher has prepared more than 5,000 young
men and women to become contributing members of society at the local,
state, and national levels since its founding in 1889. With an
educational philosophy based around Sherman Thacher's precepts of honor,
fairness, kindness, and truth, The Thacher School continues to be
recognized as one of the premier secondary schools in the country.