About Rancho Cielo
Rancho Cielo offers vocational training and high school education in partnership with John Muir Charter Schools. Students can earn a WASC-accredited high school diploma (or equivalent), leave prepared to enter the workforce, and/or enroll in post-secondary education.
Since Rancho Cielo was established as a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2000, our campus has become a training facility of choice in Monterey County, helping to grow the next generation of actively engaged community members. Services are offered through seven programs:
- Ag Technology & Mechatronics
- Auto & Diesel Repair/Classic Car Restoration
- Construction & Sustainable Design Academy
- Welding & Fabrication
- Drummond Culinary Academy
- Silver Star Program
- Youth Corps
Students learn in a safe, supportive environment that affirms them as individuals and builds self-esteem and belonging. Our graduates will achieve the success they seek by developing a strong positive sense of their own character and cultural identity.
They also cultivate the skills necessary to achieve health, happiness and economic freedom—and thrive in a rapidly changing and culturally diverse society.
That is the transformation that Rancho Cielo facilitates.
A Message From Our CEO
I am privileged to lead this incredible organization with dedicated staff and students supported by a generous community. Student success is at the core of our mission, in which we invest through academic education, vocational training, mental health support and life-skills development.
Our students are no strangers to adversity. Many faced incredible hardship, from incarceration and homelessness to hunger and poverty, before finding a community at Rancho Cielo. They come to us for a fresh start, a new path where they can learn in a safe and affirming environment. Since Rancho Cielo was established in 2000, we have aimed to enrich the lives of all the youth who walk through our gates, helping them become contributing members of society and an inclusive economy. Thanks to our strong partnership with John Muir Charter Schools, we have had record-breaking enrollment and an 80+% attendance rate.
Each year, we expand and evolve our programs, direct services and enrichment offerings to support our students comprehensively and provide them with life-changing experiences and opportunities.
None of this would be possible without the vision of our founder, John Phillips, the Rancho Cielo Board of Directors and industry partners who believe every young person deserves a chance to succeed. They recognized, both then and now, the need in our community for workforce training and development. Their dedication to serving our youth and understanding their challenges has helped to create a culture of trust, hope and opportunity at Rancho Cielo.
Some of our students enter the workforce after graduation, while others will attend college or technical training programs. We are incredibly proud of them and hope they will move forward, knowing that whatever path they choose, they can achieve anything they put their minds to with perseverance, hard work and a community behind them.
I am thankful for all who support Rancho Cielo. Your help is critical to fulfill our mission and vision. I hope you will join us for a Friday Night Dinner or one of our exciting events throughout the year and see these programs’ actual impact on our students’ lives.
Mission
Rancho Cielo Youth Campus invests in all young people facing challenges for success through diploma education, vocational training, counseling and life-skills development in a safe and affirming environment.
Vision
We aim to enrich the lives of young people who walk through our gates and empower them to become accountable, competent, productive and responsible citizens who will earn a sustainable living wage, become financially independent, and help end the cycle of poverty.
Values
- We create and maintain an atmosphere of hope, inspiration, opportunity, safety, mutual respect and belonging in which our students can pursue their goals.
- We embrace diversity, equity and inclusion and support an environment that affirms each individual’s common humanity, background and cultural heritage.
- We provide access to relevant workforce development training to help our students earn a living wage and escape poverty.
- We support the whole student through collaboration with our local community, educational partners, and law enforcement agencies.
- We operate with the highest standards of integrity, accountability, ethics and civic responsibility.
- We provide connections back to our community to help students become participating and productive members of society.
- Create an atmosphere of acceptance, safety, mutual respect, and belonging that affirms each student’s background and cultural heritage;
- Maintain high academic, civic, vocational, work ethic, and professional expectations for our students;
- Continuously improve our program design and delivery to promote the long-term success of our graduates;
- Foster an environment that attracts top-notch staff who embody our ideals and values;
- Collaborate with our community partners to identify and meet young people’s evolving needs;
- Embrace the common humanity in all of us and support its growth through the development and healing of the whole person;
- Stand against hate and violence of any kind;
- Understand and address systemic barriers so that all students can achieve success at the highest level possible;
- Continue our graduates’ connectedness with Rancho Cielo to support their future success.
Rancho Cielo is itself a collaboration among many organizations, public and private, from the Salinas Valley and across Monterey County that provide academic instruction, healthcare, and mental health services as well as juvenile justice, enrichment opportunities, on-the-job training, and work readiness for our students.
Our impact reaches far beyond the students themselves — it touches their families, communities, Monterey County, and beyond. We could not do this work without the support and contributions of our surrounding community, donors, and sponsors, whose collaboration is a testament to how deeply they care about all of our youth and their future success.
Our volunteers also play a fundamental role in the success of our programs through advisory councils and for our students, providing mentorship, time, and expertise. Our students work alongside positive members of our community through an extensive volunteer network (more than 400 a year). Learn more about volunteer opportunities at Rancho Cielo.
