About Us

History:

We were founded in 1972 by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, the author of Autobiography of a Yogi. From this original school the Education for Life System has expanded to now include campuses on three continents.

Location:

We are located in the picturesque foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Although on the grounds of the Ananda Community, an intentional community based on yoga and meditation, we are a separate corporation with a non-sectarian mission. Our school campus covers 4 to 5 acres surrounded by woodlands, meadows and ponds, with views of the near-by mountains.

Description:

Our school includes preschool through 12th grade. For preschool through 6th grade parents make the decision to place their children in our school. From 7th grade on, the students are included in this important decision. Boarding facilities are available for 9th to 12th grade students. We are accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The Ananda College of Living Wisdom™ is located 6 miles from our campus. It trains students in the Education for Life system and places their student teachers in our classrooms under our master teachers.

Philosophy:

• Our true nature is joy. It is our job as teachers to bring this out in each student.
• In this age of energy, students are taught to guide their own energy and add to the positive energy the teacher is working to foster.
• True maturity includes being able to appreciate other people’s realities and learning to work constructively with those realities. We work toward this goal by nurturing the student’s four Tools of Maturity: the body, the feeling or heart nature, the will, and the intellect.

Practicing this Philosophy:

• We start with each child’s readiness to learn the essential skills and help him or her to move forward from there.
• We create a learning environment where students can pursue their special interests.
• Each child is then supported in striving for personal excellence in academics, the arts, athletics and personal growth.
• We are able to do this by keeping class size to a maximum of 12.

The Results:

• Since our teachers are trained to start the children at reading (math, etc) at that exact time they show the readiness, a 2nd grader may not have started reading at all (and still graduate with honors) or be reading at 5th grade level.  But all of the children will become life long-readers.
• Students usually score a year or two above grade level. We start giving standardized tests in the 9th grade and our school consistently scores in the top 10% of schools nationwide.
• Students leave this school knowing the types of choices that lead toward personal happiness and possessing the tools to guide their lives accordingly.

The Education For Life Teacher:

Since students learn primarily by example, EFL teachers are chosen for their ability to live from their joyful center and communicate respectfully to persons of every age. Teachers, of course, need expertise in the subject matter they teach, but are free to adopt those teaching styles that work best for them.