Private Boarding / Day School in Los Angeles, CA Area

Besant Hill School of Happy Valley, Los Angeles:
Besant Hill School of Happy Valley is an accredited boarding school and day high school for boys and girls, with a college preparatory program, and English language programs for grades 9 through 12. Our school sits atop 450 acres of beautiful land just outside of the town of Ojai, 90 minutes north of Los Angeles in Plumas County, CA and provides challenging academic classes, music, studio art, theater and photography, with an emphasis on creative expression. Outdoor education, community service and athletics are an important component of the educational experience. As a community, our goal is to cultivate what is excellent in each student. HVS provides a small intimate community where students are able to fully explore and express both their intellectual and creative abilities. With small classes, mentor student/teacher relationships, and a quiet, rural setting we provide a safe, peaceful environment for learning, study, contemplation, and self-expression.

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The mission of Besant Hill School is the development of each individual's intellectual and artistic abilities. Through awakening the spirit of inquiry, we encourage each student to pursue integrity and excellence. Our non-competitive community builds honesty, respect, compassion and responsibility. Our goal is to develop a lifelong habit of learning as embodied in our school's motto Aun Aprendo, I am still learning.

The Besant Hill School philosophy is drawn from the vision of our founders, who believed that the environment which encourages the fullest development of student potential is one that affords the opportunity to explore creative as well as intellectual abilities. We believe in working together in a spirit of cooperation, not conformity, seeking to cultivate and express what is excellent in each.

Intellectual curiosity and a spirit of inquiry are the activating factors in the educational process, while active participation in school community builds caring and responsible individuals, promoting lives of integrity, awareness, and purpose.

Our motto of "Aun Aprendo" reflects our belief that life can be lived in its fullest sense through lifelong efforts toward personal development and growth.

As a community, our goal is to cultivate what is excellent in each student. Besant Hill provides a small intimate learning environment where students are able to fully explore and express both their intellectual and creative abilities. With small classes, positive student/teacher relationships, many offerings in the performing and visual arts and a rural location on over 500 acres of land that is only a short drive from Los Angeles.

High School Program for grades 9-12; Day Program; Boarding Program. We offer a rigorous college preparatory curriculum with English, math, social studies, science, Spanish and French as well as music, studio art, theater and photography. Additionally, advanced placement (AP) courses in Spanish, English and Calculus are offered.

The focus of the residential boarding program is to encourage an atmosphere that supports the academic, creative and personal growth of each student within the framework of a healthy community. Achieving this balance requires the effort and good will of all of us who live closely together in the community of the school.

Besant Hill School is an educational community where people help, respect and care for one another. Close, positive, mentor-based relationships between staff and students allow for caring supervision, thoughtful counseling and guidance. From help in choosing a college to just having someone there to listen, students know that staff members are available to them.

We are a small school and we come to know each other well. There is a warmth and friendliness to the school that many students remember fondly after graduation. Friendships made here will often last a lifetime.

Each semester a calendar of proposed weekend events is made available to residential students. This calendar is for the purposes of long range planning, and providing an opportunity for student feedback. An activity suggestion sheet will also be posted for ideas. The calendar generally provides options for larger group activities. As a scheduled weekend approaches, residential program staff and the Activity Director will research other events of interest to supplement the weekend activities.

Typical weekend activities might include Friday night movies, Saturday afternoon trips to the beach, dinner trips to Santa Barbara or Ventura, the Oxnard Strawberry Festival, kayaking at Lake Casitas, a visit to an art museum, shopping malls, hikes, an automotive workshop for beginners, a community service project, Universal Studios, or just videos and ice cream in the dorm.