Manzanita School

Manzanita School K-12 Independent school dedicated to challenging cultural + educational paradigms

The Manzanita School is an independent middle school located in Topanga Canyon, CA. Founded to provide a unique educational experience guided by mentorship and a deep nature connection that helps to unlock the intrinsic gifts within adolescents.

09/07/2026

There’s something pretty special about starting the school year like this! Our High School spent their first week together camping and backpacking through Cambria and Big Sur on their annual Unity Trip, connecting with nature, challenging themselves, and building the kind of community that Manzanita is known for. One of the most meaningful traditions of the week was a welcoming ceremony for incoming Freshman led by our Seniors. They came home tired, connected, and with the smell of campfire still on their clothes. Thank you to our incredible teachers and mentors who facilitated and chaperoned the trip: Mr. Eric, Ms. Jennifer, Mr. Mark, Mr. Ira, and Ms. Jacqueline 👏 👏 👏

3 ingredients that ensure the Manzanita Farm is always thriving: Ms. Natalie, Mr. Delmar, and mountains of compost! Manz...
09/04/2026

3 ingredients that ensure the Manzanita Farm is always thriving: Ms. Natalie, Mr. Delmar, and mountains of compost!
Manzanita’s compost program gives students a hands-on understanding of land stewardship as a complete, interconnected cycle. Food grown on our farm is used by School of Lunch, scraps from those meals are composted alongside manure from our animals, and the finished compost returns nutrients to the soil that grows future food. 🤯 Students experience how a healthy system can continually regenerate itself, and how caring for the land means understanding the relationships between soil, plants, animals, food and people.

Last spring, members of our High School attended the Bioneers Conference in San Francisco, a trip that offered a living ...
09/02/2026

Last spring, members of our High School attended the Bioneers Conference in San Francisco, a trip that offered a living expression of ideas woven throughout their Manzanita education.
Our curriculum is grounded in The Great Turning: the collective shift toward a more life-sustaining world. At Bioneers, students encountered that shift in action through the voices, ideas and work of people creating meaningful change across communities and ecosystems. It was an opportunity to see that the future they study, imagine and question at school is already being shaped, and a living reminder of all the ways that they can participate in shaping it.

08/31/2026

Our first full week is in the books, and we’re reflecting on the wonder woven into a Manzanita education. The discoveries that spark a closer look, the questions that lead somewhere unexpected, and the growing confidence that comes from learning alongside one another are all beautiful reminders that education, at its heart, is a process of bringing forth. It’s been a beautiful beginning!

Manzanita welcomed some very hungry guest educators - Party Goats LA was on campus to provide immersive learning about h...
08/28/2026

Manzanita welcomed some very hungry guest educators - Party Goats LA was on campus to provide immersive learning about how livestock can help tend our ecosystem. The herd arrived ready to clear a buffet, and they cleaned up a corner of campus lickety split! Party Goats Los Angeles provided in-depth education about their herd, including goat biology, physiology and behavior, while exploring the long relationship between goats and humans—and the many ways we have lived and worked alongside one another throughout history. Then students were able to enter the grazing area and observe the goats doing their thing - clearing the land of weeds that are a fire risk, while leaving beneficial native plants that are fire-resistant and prevent erosion on our hillsides.

This is what science looks like at Manzanita: with a plant identification and classification guide open between them an...
08/26/2026

This is what science looks like at Manzanita: with a plant identification and classification guide open between them and field journals ready nearby, students learn to observe closely, compare characteristics, ask increasingly precise questions and record what they discover.
Science begins with attention, and grows through the careful process of gathering information, looking for patterns and allowing new evidence to deepen what we understand.

08/24/2026

Before children can care for the natural world, they need the chance to know it, To touch it. To wonder about it. And feel they belong in it.

At Manzanita, we know that when children experience nature connection, they become lifelong stewards of our planet and the living beings here. It is something that comes easily because they see themselves as part of nature, and they know that just as we need nature, nature needs us 🌍

Attention is an academic skill. Before students can analyze, compare, describe or question, they must learn to notice wh...
08/21/2026

Attention is an academic skill. Before students can analyze, compare, describe or question, they must learn to notice what is actually there. Each day at Manzanita, students experience learning that supports deep, sustained attention: observing subtle changes in a familiar landscape, studying the details of a specimen, listening closely to one another, documenting what they discover and returning to questions as their understanding grows.
These habits of attention strengthen learning across every subject—and help students develop a richer relationship with the world around them.

08/20/2026

Welcome back, Manzanita! Our Opening Ceremony embodies everything Manzanita is about: community and connection; rituals that anchor us to this place and remind us of our enduring connection to this land; intentional recognition of the ancestral wisdom that guides us; and the wonderful feeling of experiencing school in a place where every person is known, seen, and deeply cared for.

And they’re off! High School departs today for Cambria and Big Sur for a week of team building and learning. The Manzani...
08/17/2026

And they’re off! High School departs today for Cambria and Big Sur for a week of team building and learning.

The Manzanita High School Unity Trip ushers in each school year as a way to build community, set intentions for the school year, and kick off the Expeditionary Learning Program. Expeditionary Learning at Manzanita is a core part of our programming, placing students in wild nature in some of California’s most iconic spots. High School spends approximately 4 weeks total out of each academic year on Expedition!

Address

1717 Old Topanga Canyon Road
Topanga, CA
90290

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8am - 4:30pm
Friday 8am - 4:30pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Manzanita School posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Manzanita School:

Shortcuts

Share

Category