Our Learning Space
Rock Tree Sky's home for the past six years has been a historic elementary school campus completely reconsidered around the values of interest-driven, relationship-rich, non-classroom based learning. We have expanded to an additional location that we are still in the process of building out an art studio, wood shop, science and design room, music studio, kitchen, loose parts playground, and gardens in our new space at the San Antonio School in the East end of Ojai.
Our previous campus, now our satellite campus, is at the Summit School in upper Ojai. It is a 4 acre learning and living lab consisting of a ceramics studio, astronomy observatory, music recording studio, kitchen, loose parts playground, gardens with a 40 foot green house, mushroom house, and much more. All the spaces are designed to optimize the conditions for learning and support the power of play. Our campuses are always evolving as we work to enhance the learning space for more engagement with learners' interests, our own new curiosities, the need for safe boundaries, and room to be in healthy relationship. You can see below pictures of how we have liked to build out our spaces for rich learning experiences.
Join us for an in-person tour to get all your questions answered.
For now take a peek at our learning spaces below.
Music Studio: Our music studio includes a full recording studio side with sound proofing, The music space has many acoustic and electric guitars, drums, piano, ukulele and more.
Hartmann Hall: This space is a large multi-purpose room, it includes several gymnastic mats, a music stage, a drum kit, a piano, and a video recording/editing space.
​Kitchen: The kitchen is a small kitchen that includes a stove, oven, fridge and sink where learners can prepare food and work on cooking projects.
Design Room: This room has a science and engineering focus with four 3D printers, microscopes, electronic soldering station, engineering challenges work tables, book reading hangout area, three computers for coding/design projects, board games, and a lot of science experiment equipment and materials. It also has a piano, a couple ukuleles and guitar.
Imagination Room: This room is a rich imaginative designed room with places for reading, playing with blocks, toys, crafts, dress up, puppet shows, and it is where story time lunch generally happens.
Bug Room: This room has space for seminars with a whiteboard and projector, a few couches, work tables, 6 computers, it also has many vivarium enclosures for bugs, spiders, a bearded dragon Spike, and Ball Python snake Marshmallow.
Art Room: This room has drawing and painting supplies, hot glue gun station, crafting area, sewing area, a weaving loom, screen printing press, stop motion animation area, jewelry area, and art books.
Wood Shop: This area is outside with two storage containers. One stores wood supplies and the other houses a chop saw, bandsaw, circular saw, table saw, scroll saw, drill press, clamps, belt sanders, palm sanders, drills, wood carving tools, power planer, router, wood burners, finish nailer, work tables, CNC router, and more.
​
Blacksmith Shop: This area includes a gas and charcoal forge with anvil. We also have a TIG welder for other metal projects.
Ceramic Studio: This area is mostly outside with tables and two kick wheels and one electric wheel, an outdoor sink, ceramic kiln shed for storing projects, ceramics tools and our electric kiln.
Gardens: We have a large 20ft x 40ft greenhouse, a seedhouse, a mushroom house, herb garden, pollinator gardens. We have 11 fruit trees, a veg garden with tomatoes, greens, strawberries, blackberries, sugar cane, squashes, chicken coop, oak tree grove, and much more. Learners can engage in doing internships with our gardening program and sell produce at the farmers market.
Apothecary: This area includes an herb garden for making tea and natural dyes, it also has an outdoor kitchen.
Playground: The campus also includes a conventional playground with three slides, monkey bars, swings, and gaga ball pit.
Aerial Arts: This area has a 20 foot tall structure for three rigging spots for suspended aerial acrobatics, silks, aerial hammock, and lira.
Climbing Wall: This climbing wall is 8 feet tall and 32 feet wide complete with built-in, crash pad, and turf.
Council Circle: This is a cob bench for holding counsel with learners to share and process emotions in a facilitated group circle.
Observatory: This includes an 8 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain astrophotography telescope, it includes a computer set up for processing the imagery, we also have solar telescopes for observing the sun safely. The observatory is completely off grid with solar panels.
Loose Parts Area: This area is set up for building, forts and playing around with logs and lumber, tires, ropes, etc.. It also has an outdoor loft
​Sand Pit: This area includes a large area for water and sand play. It also includes an old boat, outdoor loft, and treehouse to play in.