About

About

Creating a Culture of Unbridled Inventiveness

The journey of self-discovery that is a Sonoma Academy education starts here:

Be Open to the New
One of the things that binds us together is that we will all experience new things on campus this year. Awesome, unexpected, and even life-changing new things. That experience could be a new place on campus—the first time you walk up to the Buckeye Tree or moving into the Performing Arts Center; a new class or a new field of study—you will likely experience a class discussion, read a book or study a topic, or work on a project that opens up a whole new way of thinking about the world and your place in it; or even trying a new food or dish in the GA —part of our lunch together is an openness to new foods and sharing lunch time with new people. 

To truly experience the joy of SA: you must be open to meeting new people. You are likely sitting nearby a lifelong friend that you are just getting to know or haven’t even met yet—and the best piece of advice I can give you is to be open to the many diverse and interesting people who make up this community. The magic of SA is that we do not isolate ourselves into cliques and we do not simply travel with those who are most familiar to us. 

Please do not typecast yourself and never simply typecast each other. 

Be open to the new and a whole new world will open itself to you.

Our School Is Designed to Be Fun
A recent LEGO Education study found that 80% of parents said their students were either bored or disliked school. And that’s what the parents said, so you could just imagine that the student percentage is more like 90%. This is a sobering statistic and one that certainly doesn’t capture how we feel about SA. 

SA is lively, engaging, spirited, and all of those things that constitute joyful learning. Our simple tagline could be ”a school that is designed to be fun.”

But you cannot have a fun school without being intentional as a connected community. In that sense, part of our joyful learning environment is based on our core values and our school culture.

You Belong Here
My final, and most important, message is a simple one—you belong here
This is your home, this is your place to feel safe and supported.  

And while belonging is a core value of ours and something we constantly strive toward as we work to make this the most equitable and inclusive campus possible, I also have an ulterior motive in stressing that.

Your feeling and sense of belonging is one of the greatest predictors of success for you as a student at SA—or in any educational or work setting that you will find yourself in throughout your life. Your ability to take risks, confront new challenges and, of course, to try new things is significantly enhanced if you feel a sense of belonging. 

The book Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides recognizes our fundamental need to belong. To quote the author, “Most of us know what it feels like to be excluded or to question our belonging, but we don't do the greatest job of recognizing that feeling when it happens to others.”

We challenge ourselves and each other to not only think of what it means for you to feel a strong sense of belonging at SA, but to recognize a sense of belonging for others and to find small ways to support that feeling for someone else. 

We create a culture of connected community, where students are known, seen, and supported to be their authentic selves. This is the best way to learn and each of us plays a role in creating this environment. 
Click the button on the right to take a virtual tour of our beautiful campus, nestled at the base of Taylor Mountain in Santa Rosa. 

About Us At-A-Glance

2500 Farmers Lane 
Santa Rosa, CA 95404 
(707) 545-1770 
inbox@sonomaacademy.org
 

Sonoma Academy Is...

...the only private, independent, college preparatory high school in Sonoma County. On our beautiful campus nestled at the base of Taylor Mountain in Southeastern Santa Rosa, our students are able to explore their interests and passions in a rigorous and inspiring environment that develops a lifelong love of learning and prepares them for college and beyond.

Sonoma Academy admits students of any race, color, religion, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship, gender or gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability, to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship, gender or gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and tuition assistance programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.