In 1991, Peter and Mimi Buckley started a kindergarten in their home on Fern Canyon Road.
In 1996, with 28 pupils in what they called Garden School, they tried to establish a school located at the historic Redwood Lodge in Blithedale Canyon. Their plan met determined opposition.
In 1998, they finally found a home for three classrooms in a building on Buena Vista Avenue that was originally Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School. It had opened in 1955 with 176 students in grades one through four and added one class each year until the school had eight grades.
In June 1960, Mt. Carmel graduated its first eighth-grade class. During the period 1960 to 1967, the average size of the eighth-grade graduating class was 49 students. The school faculty was composed mainly of sisters until 1972 when lay teachers were in the majority. But the Daughters of Mary and Joseph always filled the principal’s position.
In 1983, Mt. Carmel School closed for lack of students. Greenwood School replaced it. In 2019, after serving grades K through 8 for 26 years, Greenwood School closed.
North Bridge Academy, a non-profit school serving dyslexic learners grades 2-8 now occupies part of the building.
(This vignette of Marin history is compiled by the Mill Valley Historical Society. You can find more at MarinLocalNews.com.)
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