About Us
About Seashore Academy
Seashore provides families with both the quality of an elite private education as well as the flexibility and freedom provided to homeschoolers. Families may customize each student’s academic schedule to best suit the individual needs of each child.
We are dedicated to creating a safe, nurturing environment where students love to learn.
We are a community focused on instilling strong moral character and values in our students.
We offer boutique specialty experiences for our students, including:
- Mandarin Chinese Immersion Academy (TK-8th)
- Spanish Immersion Academy (TK-1st)
Flexible Schedule
Our program is an excellent fit for families who desire a flexible schedule. We custom-tailor education plans for all of our students. Our model works exceptionally well for competitive athletes, performers, and families who travel or live in multiple locations. Any student that finds a flexible schedule beneficial will love being part of Seashore. While our full-time, five-day-a-week program is our most popular, families can choose to have their students attend one, two, three, or five days.
Functional Learning
Every Tuesday through Thursday, we focus on instilling academic core concepts in math, English, science, and social studies. Expanding learning on Mondays and Fridays, we specialize in exploring the same four core subjects with hands-on practical approaches. For example, students explore cross-curricular concepts like math and writing for financial management and marketing in their entrepreneurship class.
Acceleration & Customization
Teachers work closely with students to determine academic progress and proper grade-level placement for each subject. Data is used to provide an individualized education plan focused on student interests, strengths, and areas of improvement. Students at varying grade levels for different subjects work at their own pace to master concepts.
TED Talks
We are passionate about igniting a lifetime love of learning. At Seashore, we encourage children to think outside the box, try new activities, fail, make mistakes, and get back up to try again. We seek to develop creativity, joy, and GRIT in our students.
These two TED talks speak to our goals for our students:
Critical Mass Business Talk Show: Ric Franzi Interviews the Founder of Seashore Academy, Marlene Dandler
Marlene Sheehan Dandler is the Founder of Seashore Academy. Marlene graduated from Lakeside School in Seattle, WA, in 1994. She went on to study at Dartmouth College. Before graduating from there in 1998, she had the unique opportunity to study abroad at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, and the Beijing Normal University in China.
While at Dartmouth, Marlene worked as a German language instructor for Professor John Rassias, the creator of the Rassias Method. A unique, intensive language immersion technique used by the Peace Corps to master a foreign language in 10 days.
After getting married and starting their family, Marlene and her husband decided to immerse their three children in Mandarin Chinese to prepare them for future business and work opportunities. When her three children were ready to begin their education, Marlene visited over two dozen public, charter, and private schools, searching for an academically intensive, nurturing, foreign language immersion school. None of them suited the needs of her family. There were no Mandarin immersion programs in Orange County at the time.
Marlene spearheaded a successful effort to launch a public Mandarin immersion district school in Orange, CA, which still operates today. While building the program, she homeschooled her children with the help of a private Mandarin tutor.
Marlene’s unique college experience with the revolutionary method of rapid, effective language acquisition, the Rassias Method, impressed Marlene greatly and inspired the foundation of Seashore Academy’s language immersion philosophy. Today, all the children in the Seashore Mandarin program, including Marlene’s three children, speak, read, and write Mandarin Chinese in traditional characters.
All students study in an academically accelerated environment and enjoy free time to read and play.
What Parents Are Saying:
What Parents Are Saying:
“My daughter went to public schools when we first came to the United States. As a mom, I was very worried to see her not making any progress. So, my friend introduced me to Seashore Academy. Within a year, I was amazed to see my daughter making learning progress and becoming more comfortable with sharing her ideas. Thanks to the small class size, my daughter gets more attention from teachers, and teachers are better able to understand her needs. She loves going to school here because she’s able to connect more closely with her peers- all of her classmates are her best friends!”
“Seashore has been an amazing experience for our family. Our kids (twins) are learning and growing at a pace I didn’t know was possible. Last week my 6 year old was talking in her sleep in Chinese! If you are looking for language immersion and individual attention for your child in a small classroom setting, Seashore is the only school in Orange County.”
“My husband and I are both trilingual. I was born in Italy and speak both Italian and Spanish fluently. My husband is a Harvard trained pediatrician and hospital specialist. He grew up speaking Mandarin Chinese, but also speaks Spanish to his patients. We searched all over Orange County for the best education for our twins and found it at Seashore Academy. Here, our children are surrounded by highly qualified and loving teachers who tailor their instruction to each child’s individual needs. Our children are mastering difficult subjects quickly. What’s more important is their love for school. We look forward to our children excelling in this rich environment. “
“I’m a big fan of Seashore Academy because my daughter simply LOVES coming to school every day. She used to hate her old school and resisted going every day, so we transferred her mid-Spring semester and have never looked back. Best decision ever.”
“Our family began our relationship with Seashore Academy in the 2021-22 school year. My children are in 7th and 8th grade. We found Seashore through a friend’s recommendation after having challenges in the 2020-21 school year. What a relief to find this wonderful community of learning for my children. I was looking for as close to a “normal” school environment we could get, and found so much better and more as a result. The middle school years can be rough; yet the community and atmosphere of Seashore is nurturing without coddling, while allowing my kids to learn life lessons and grow. I feel that my kids actually have a relationship with their teachers and that each one truly knows and cares about them. The small class size and attention my kids receive has allowed them to learn more than in the traditional public and private schools they attended K-6/7. In regards to the social atmosphere, I love that Seashore allows all grade levels to be together during lunch recess. It’s absolutely wonderful that my kids are engaging with their little buddies in the younger grades, whereas most adolescents at other middle schools spend breaks on their phones. A 1st grader even invited my 8th grader to his birthday party! That melted my heart. Plus, I think it’s great character building for the older kids to set a good example for the youngsters. The lessons go both ways. My only regret is that I didn’t find Seashore sooner. It’s the best thing that resulted from 2020 for our family. Thank you”
“Why Seashore Academy? There are many reasons why we sent our daughter there: small class size, she’s learning Chinese and a bit of Spanish, the school fosters learning a variety of subjects, independence is encouraged in the classroom…. I could go on and on! After a free trial class offered by Marlene, our daughter asked if she could go back again. My wife and I were open to the idea of making a change, but we wanted to make sure our daughter understood the circumstances. This meant leaving her friends and a school she was extremely happy in, to a school where new relationships and procedures will need to be formed. Our daughter had no problem with it, which led us to believe there must be something about Seashore. So we made the leap and enrolled her mid school year…and our daughter is excited for school every day!!! Ultimately, that’s what most important to us.”
“We wanted to take a moment to give our sincere thanks for welcoming our family into your Academy. Seashore has made such a difference in our daughters’ life, and ours too! She doesn’t dread getting out of the car to go to school anymore and when we pick her up, she has a smile on her face. What a relief it was to find your school after months of searching. Seashore Academy is the perfect balance of home school meets private school. The academics in the core subjects are challenging and keep our daughter on her toes. She also loves learning about the financial world and how to become an entrepreneur. She always has access to her teachers and really loves the casual environment and small class size. The teachers at Seashore create a friendly learning environment so she can express herself without fear. She feels like her opinion matters and loves the open discussions. Thank you all for helping her learn how to think and not what to think.
Thank you for putting families first. We love that you believe that the parents are in charge. We get to decide when our daughter comes and goes to school. We get to take her on important family trips with no guilt, no unexcused absences, no penalties (other than she needs to make up her work, of course) and no forms to fill out. And when we return, she gets welcomed back to school with open arms. Love that! We love that Seashore does not teach sexual education, that’s our job as parents. We love the short school day and optional elective classes so our daughter can spend time on other interests, like learning to fly and learning to speak Italian!
Our family lives a healthy lifestyle and love that Seashore recognizes that kids’ good behavior starts with their diet. Thank you for encouraging low sugar snacks and lunch at school. Everyone has been so sweet and friendly and welcoming to us. We are so grateful to you all.
The best part of this whole experience is that we have a happy kid who feels like she belongs. From the start of her day at carpool, to passing by the friendly reception desk, being greeted by her amazing teachers, and getting to hang with her great new friends… it makes for a great day! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”
From the Davis Family
“We wanted to take a moment to give our sincere thanks for welcoming our family into your Academy. Seashore has made such a difference in our daughters’ life, and ours too! She doesn’t dread getting out of the car to go to school anymore and when we pick her up, she has a smile on her face. What a relief it was to find your school after months of searching. Seashore Academy is the perfect balance of home school meets private school. The academics in the core subjects are challenging and keep our daughter on her toes. She also loves learning about the financial world and how to become an entrepreneur. She always has access to her teachers and really loves the casual environment and small class size. The teachers at Seashore create a friendly learning environment so she can express herself without fear. She feels like her opinion matters and loves the open discussions. Thank you all for helping her learn how to think and not what to think.
Thank you for putting families first. We love that you believe that the parents are in charge. We get to decide when our daughter comes and goes to school. We get to take her on important family trips with no guilt, no unexcused absences, no penalties (other than she needs to make up her work, of course) and no forms to fill out. And when we return, she gets welcomed back to school with open arms. Love that! We love that Seashore does not teach sexual education, that’s our job as parents. We love the short school day and optional elective classes so our daughter can spend time on other interests, like learning to fly and learning to speak Italian!
Our family lives a healthy lifestyle and love that Seashore recognizes that kids’ good behavior starts with their diet. Thank you for encouraging low sugar snacks and lunch at school. Everyone has been so sweet and friendly and welcoming to us. We are so grateful to you all.
The best part of this whole experience is that we have a happy kid who feels like she belongs. From the start of her day at carpool, to passing by the friendly reception desk, being greeted by her amazing teachers, and getting to hang with her great new friends… it makes for a great day! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”
From Annika Carlson (Parent)
“Our family began our relationship with Seashore Academy in the 2021-22 school year. My children are in 7th and 8th grade. We found Seashore through a friend’s recommendation after having challenges in the 2020-21 school year. What a relief to find this wonderful community of learning for my children. I was looking for as close to a “normal” school environment we could get, and found so much better and more as a result. The middle school years can be rough; yet the community and atmosphere of Seashore is nurturing without coddling, while allowing my kids to learn life lessons and grow. I feel that my kids actually have a relationship with their teachers and that each one truly knows and cares about them. The small class size and attention my kids receive has allowed them to learn more than in the traditional public and private schools they attended K-6/7. In regards to the social atmosphere, I love that Seashore allows all grade levels to be together during lunch recess. It’s absolutely wonderful that my kids are engaging with their little buddies in the younger grades, whereas most adolescents at other middle schools spend breaks on their phones. A 1st grader even invited my 8th grader to his birthday party! That melted my heart. Plus, I think it’s great character building for the older kids to set a good example for the youngsters. The lessons go both ways. My only regret is that I didn’t find Seashore sooner. It’s the best thing that resulted from 2020 for our family. Thank you”
From Jeff (Parent)
“Why Seashore Academy? There are many reasons why we sent our daughter there: small class size, she’s learning Chinese and a bit of Spanish, the school fosters learning a variety of subjects, independence is encouraged in the classroom…. I could go on and on! After a free trial class offered by Marlene, our daughter asked if she could go back again. My wife and I were open to the idea of making a change, but we wanted to make sure our daughter understood the circumstances. This meant leaving her friends and a school she was extremely happy in, to a school where new relationships and procedures will need to be formed. Our daughter had no problem with it, which led us to believe there must be something about Seashore. So we made the leap and enrolled her mid school year…and our daughter is excited for school every day!!! Ultimately, that’s what most important to us.”
