Our graduates are leaders
in the classroom and in their communities.
Manzanita students are uniquely well prepared for college and life. Our alumni credit Manzanita for instilling in them a love of learning, a strong sense of self-advocacy, critical thinking ability, and the ability to maintain mental and emotional balance in a rapidly changing world.
Our highly personalized college counseling program is a process of self-inquiry devoted to helping young people find their place in the world. Here are some stories:
Martina explains the role of self-motivation, respect, empathy, and self-awareness in navigating college life. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 2023.
Benjamin highlights the powerful literacy education he received at Manzanita. He is now working in outdoor education.
Ila describes how the skills of conflict resolution, her confidence in approaching professors, and her self-awareness and world view, have shaped her college success.
Maddie reflects on her relationship to college classes, and how Manzanita taught her to love learning. She also explains how nature immersion is a powerful alternative to drugs and alcohol in dealing with the stresses of college.
Manzanita alumni have been accepted to these universities and colleges, among others:
American University
American University of Paris
Bennington College
Bard College
Colorado State University
Connecticut College
Evergreen State College
Ithaca College
Lewis and Clark College
The New School
Oberlin College & Conservatory
Reed College
Sarah Lawrence College
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Syracuse University
Trinity College
Warren Wilson College
Whitman College
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Davis
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Maine
University of Vermont
The philosophy of the school is based on decades of research into best practices in education,
coupled with the study of human development from prehistory to the present.
— WASC, 2019 —