In 1887, Sherman Day Thacher moved to the Casa de Piedra ("CdeP") orange ranch in Nordhoff, California (later renamed to Ojai) with his brother, who was seeking a "fresh air" cure for his tuberculosis.

[5] At CdeP, Thacher tutored the younger Farnam in both academics and maturity, blending classroom studies with outdoor living and horsemanship.

"[14] (There was also a practical element to the horse program: "students had to ride the five-mile trek into [downtown] Ojai every day just to pick up the mail.

As part of the Outdoors Program, students are encouraged to take weekend camping trips into the local mountains, in addition to week-long trips each fall and spring that include backpacking, rock climbing, cycling, sailing, horse camping, canyoneering, backcountry skiing and kayaking.

The campaign also funded a new academic building and dining hall, improved faculty housing, and a solar power facility that contributes more than 90% of the school's energy needs.

[21] In 2016, Business Insider ranked Thacher as the most selective boarding school in the United States; that year, its admission rate was 12%.

Classes such as Latin, Global Crises and Solutions, Astronomy Research, Modern Middle East, Advanced Actors Studio, Multivariable Calculus, Perspectives on Nature, Field Biology and Conservation are on offer.

"Daily preparation, thoughtful participation, analytical thinking and intellectual rigor" are part of life in the Thacher classroom.

[26][better source needed] The campus, located in the foothills in the northeast corner of the Ojai Valley, about 85 miles north of Los Angeles, was originally the Casa de Piedra ranch.

In addition to the normal boarding school mix of athletic facilities like a gymnasium, tennis courts, track, three fields, fitness center, and pool (although the pool is not used for athletic events), the campus has barns, pastures, arenas, and fields for equestrian use, including a network of trails that links the campus to the adjacent Los Padres National Forest.

In response, the school hired law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson (MTO) to investigate these reports and other allegations of misconduct.

[34] As summarized by the Los Angeles Times, MTO investigators "laid out episodes of alleged rape, groping, unwanted touching and inappropriate comments dating back 40 years in a level of detail surprising for a private institution.

[36] With respect to contemporary incidents, MTO said that it did not receive any "firsthand, credible reports" of sexual misconduct by current school employees.

The board added that the school "tolerated and at times fostered a culture that valued the experiences and voices of boys and men over those of girls and women and that allowed sexual misconduct to be minimized, ignored, and dismissed.

[40] It also revised its sexual misconduct reporting process and hired several outside organizations to train its administrators and staff on how to prevent further instances of abuse in the future.

[41] In addition, the board of trustees removed the names of two former heads of school from the campus dining hall, the athletic field, and a hiking trail.