Our History

School founder Dannie Weston with daughter, Bonnie, at Peraleda Ranch circa 1977.

Old Orchard in 19731 teacher • 1 room • 2 grades • 6 students

Old Orchard School was established in 1973 by founder Dannie Weston. Uninspired by the educational opportunities available to her own children, Mrs. Weston decided to create the school she imagined for them: a warm and friendly educational community that would ask a lot of its students academically and socially, and provide them with the skills, encouragement, and support they would need to rise to the challenge. Academic subjects were accelerated, but never rushed; comprehension and critical thinking would be stressed above rote learning. Arts and enrichment programs would be taught at all grade levels, complementing and enhancing the academic programs, and providing balance to students' school day.

Old Orchard opened with one classroom, two grades, and with Mrs. Weston as its only teacher. Each year, Mrs. Weston added another grade, new teachers and classrooms. The first 8th Grade class graduated in 1980, and in 1996 a second campus was added. Old Orchard, much like its students, grew at a challenging but comfortable pace, always engaged, but never rushed.

Old Orchard Today

10 Grades * 2 Campuses * 170+ Students * 36 Faculty & Staff

Today, Old Orchard is led by Bonnie Weston, daughter of school founder Dannie Weston. The school offers Jr. Kindergarten through 8th Grade and employs 36 faculty and staff members across two campuses in Campbell, CA. The student body represents a diverse group of students, drawn from all corners and communities within Silicon Valley.

Old Orchard itself continues to grow and evolve, honoring its founder's values while keeping in step with the times. Technology is embraced in all classrooms, with the youngest students building basic computer usage and logic based skills using school iPads and slightly older students delving into digital media, videography, programming, game design, animation, robotics and more.

Graduates overwhelmingly choose to continue their education at one of the Bay Area's leading private college prep schools. But they rarely leave Old Orchard entirely. They return frequently to visit teachers and friends, to tell us what they are up to, and to say thanks for the great start in school and in life.

The reason is simple. Old Orchard has grown, but Dannie Weston’s original vision remains firmly in place: A school’s sole purpose is to serve children in every possible sense.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
WHERE WAS PERALEDA RANCH?

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Local history buffs will be interested to know that our school name links directly to Santa Clara County’s long and not so distant past as one of the world’s largest and most fertile fruit growing regions. For nearly 100 years, the family of school founder Dannie Weston grew pears of all varieties on orchards that spread north of Bayshore. Known as Peraleda Ranch, the Weston operation was one of many that thrived across the heart of the valley, even as suburbs and new industries grew alongside them.

Fruit box label with Old Orchard and two girls in an orchard. — *The label that the Weston family used on its boxes of pears.*

So Peraleda Ranch explains the pear tree in our school logo, but if the ranch was Peraleda, why Old Orchard School? Like all proud California fruit growers, the Weston’s created a label to put on the ends of the fruit boxes in which they shipped their fruit. The label, branded Old Orchard Pears, featured Bill Weston’s two older sisters standing in the orchard. When Dannie Weston decided to start a school, the family still lived on the ranch. It didn’t take her long to settle on Old Orchard. She loved the connection to family and to local history.

WHERE WAS PERALEDA RANCH?

It was in the middle of everything, although pinpointing the exact boundaries today is challenging. The pear trees are gone and most other landmarks have been erased. But in rough terms, the ranch spread north of the intersection of Highway 101 and Montague Expressway, straddling San Tomas Aquino Creek. It would have abutted the new Levi Stadium, Great America, and the town of Agnew. One marker that remains in place is the road that led from the Old Bayshore to the heart of the ranch, where generations of Westons raised families: Juliette Lane. Today, this small street winds through high tech campuses and connects Montague Expressway to Mission College Boulevard. First established in the early 1900s, Bill Weston’s father, William Weston Sr., named it after his wife, Juliette.

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Our History

10 Grades * 2 Campuses * 170+ Students * 36 Faculty & Staff

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

WHERE WAS PERALEDA RANCH?