Branches: The Manzanita High School

High School, Reimagined…

The Manzanita High School (Branches: Grades 9-12) is an intentionally small program with enrollment capped for approximately 20 students across the four grade levels and led by a team of 6 educators and naturalists, along with a dedicated college counselor, enabling an exceptionally small mentor to student ratio. This format enables high school students to deepen their experience with expeditionary learning, setting off on four annual trips of up to ten days each in California, the Southwest, and internationally.

Manzanita High School expeditions are mandatory and rigorous learning experiences in which students travel for the purpose of learning about themselves, a place, a subject, a different culture, or to provide service. With guidance and support from their instructors, students are responsible for planning and implementing many key aspects of every trip. Each main semester expedition integrates and supports the curricular focus of that semester’s core humanities or science class, offering students an opportunity to root their learning in visceral community experience and a spirit of adventure. Past explorations have included a study of Atmospheric Chemistry in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains and a service trip to visit Navajo Nation lands in Big Mountain, Arizona where the class gained an understanding of the harmful down stream effects of local mineral extraction practices.

Students continue to explore Earth Systems Science (an interdisciplinary study of ecology, geology, chemistry, and geophysics) and Humanities subjects such as economics, history, and government in their core Unit of Study block. They receive differentiated instruction in two cohorts (9th and 10th grades combined / 11th and 12th grades combined) in Literacy, Numeracy, and Spanish. They pursue the arts, are engaged in cross-grade level land stewardship activities, and omplete an independent research project, known affectionately as "Moxie Block," that allows them to pursue their specific passion under the supervision of a thoughtful academic mentor.

In 11th and 12th grades, students may participate in extension courses through a partnership with Santa Monica Community College and begin to look towards opportunities beyond Manzanita through our college counseling program.

Manzanita eighth graders are encouraged to apply for the Upper School if they are ready to extend their relationship with nature and experience the next level in Manzanita’s challenging academic curriculum. A limited number of students may be admitted from other schools for ninth grade should they be the right fit for this unique and rigorous program.