Rock Tree Sky was founded in 2016 by parents, loving partners, and professional educators Natasha Efross and Jim Bailey. RTS started as a homeschool support and enrichment group in a 600 sq ft commercial makerspace and the nearby backyard of the couple's Upper Ojai homestead. It has grown to serve over 200 learners per week on the campus of the former Summit Elementary School. Rock Tree Sky truly is an embodied example of the evolution of learner-centered education.

 

Over the past seven years our community has grown to serve pre-K through 12th grade. While becoming increasingly diverse in it's offerings, Rock Tree Sky has stayed true to the foundational truths that we are all born curious, capable, and deserving of the freedom to pursue our unique, creative human potential.

 

The work at the heart of RTS is to hold space for interest-driven, relationship-rich, non-classroom based learning. We support young people with the time, tools, freedom, and space to explore their innate curiosities, and grow their confidence in their personal agency. They are also free to develop healthy, loving relationships with peers and adult mentors in a community that celebrates all learning, without constant evaluation.

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Interested in learning more? We welcome and encourage visitors to join us for one of our monthly tours where you can learn more about Rock Tree Sky's mission and philosophy, and be a witness to the day-to-day expression of how learner-centered education works.