Private School in La Canada, CA

The Learning Castle:
The Learning Castle (TLC) in La Canada (approximately 20 minutes north of downtown Los Angeles), Southern CA is an Independent private co-educational school offering an excellent, accelerated Kindergarten through third-grade education. The Learning Castle focuses on each student’s needs through an individualized curriculum. Low teacher-to-student ratios, coupled with curricula developed by and for The Learning Castle style of teaching, have led to outstanding results with students learning at an accelerated pace.

The Learning Castle is based on the belief that all individuals can learn and that optimal learning takes place when all staff operationalize the philosophy which is characterized by the following tenets:

- All individuals are treated with respect and dignity;
- All individuals are given the opportunity to learn in many different ways and at varying rates;
- All individuals are given recognition for their achievements;
- All individuals are recognized as both potential learners and potential teachers;
- The learning environment is characterized by interdependence and cultural diversity;
- The learning process includes cognitive, creative and affective dimensions;
- Instruction is focused and subdivided into a number of specific, demonstrable competencies;
- All teachers must accept responsibility for student failure and take appropriate instructional and other supportive actions; and
- Parents want their children to attain their fullest potential as learners and to succeed academically.

All teachers, parents and students shall accept responsibility for insuring that students attain their fullest potential and succeed academically.

- Kindergarten (4 year olds) through to 3rd Grade education programs
- Extended Care program
- Homework Help program
- Dance, music, foreign languages & computer classes

Our History:
In 1992, The Learning Castle was founded by Terry Villanueva with a very simple idea in mind: that every child is different and every child deserves to be treated as an individual. With 14 students, two portable classrooms, and two teachers (who were also the administrators), the dream was born. Granted a special license from the State of California to offer an academic curriculum to four-year-olds, The Learning Castle opened with students from four years old to third grade.

La Cañada Preparatory (LCP) was added in 2002. Today, the total enrollment for TLC and LCP has grown to 385 students with a faculty of over 60. Enrichment programs are offered in art, computers and Spanish, and LCP offers interscholastic athletic opportunities in boys’ and girls’ tennis, boys’ flag football, girls’ volleyball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ baseball and girls’ softball. Extracurricular activities are offered in chess, cheerleading, student government, and newspaper staff. But one thing has remained the same over those 16 years . . . every student is different and every student deserves to be treated as such.

Location:
The Learning Castle is located 20 minutes from downtown L.A. at 4490 Cornishon Avenue at the corner of Foothill Boulevard in La Canada, Southern California.