Midland School is a small, co-ed, college preparatory boarding school near Los Olivos, California, founded in 1932, by Kent School and Harvard graduate Paul Squibb. Squibb envisioned a small, rural community reliant only on the work of its inhabitants to meet its basic needs. This ideal still forms the center of the School's philosophy; every student who attends Midland assumes a responsibility to the community while joining a great tradition of service. Squibb and his wife, Louise, founded Midland in the midst of the Great Depression, believing that the only essentials of education are a student, a teacher, and an idea.Reflecting Squibb's opinion on the requirements of education, a core philosophy of the school is encapsulated in the phrase "needs, not wants". Additions to the school and its program are evaluated with respect to this philosophy, and only that which is truly essential to the educational mission of the school is implemented.Campus and surroundingsThe School is located on 2,860 acres of largely undeveloped ranchland characteristic of central California's coastal hill country. Students live in cabins,which are heated by small woodstoves. Students chop wood to make fires to heat their shower water. Some 25 percent of Midland’s electricity needs are met with grid-tied, student-installed solar arrays. While the library is wired with high-speed internet connections, several campus buildings were constructed decades ago by students and faculty. Cell phones are not allowed on campus. The non-religious campus "chapel," a structure that predates the school itself, was converted from its original use as a dairy barn. The campus is located across the road from the former site of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
