I did everything I was told to do to make college affordable. I applied early. I filled out the FAFSA. I waited patiently. Still, my future felt crushed by an email labeled “congratulations.”
As students face academic pressure, friendships, and growing responsibilities, Ojai Valley School counselor Robert Brunelle says Social Emotional Learning (SEL) offers tools they’ll rely on long after high school.
For most students, balancing academics, sports, and art projects is enough. But for Ojai Valley School Freshman Asher Combs, creativity takes on an entirely different form.
Sitting in a remote and very wildlife-heavy part of the Ojai Valley, students and faculty at the Upper Campus have had to learn the importance of coexisting with animals -- everything from sleepy rattlesnakes to curious bears -- around them.
