About Wonderstorm Academy
A private, project-based K–12 Montessori school in Laguna Hills, California.
Wonderstorm Academy is a private, project-based K–12 Montessori school in Laguna Hills, California, where students build academic mastery alongside the confidence and capability to direct their own lives.
Its personalized, student-centered approach teaches reading, writing, math, science, and history, all organized around three life skill frameworks: powerful communication, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
Guided by mentors called Empowerment Coaches, students progress at their own pace within a close-knit, multi-age community, applying what they learn through meaningful projects and real responsibility.
They explore history through research and Socratic debate, put math to work launching and operating businesses, and develop social fluency through public speaking, collaboration, and improvisation.
Each experience strengthens their ability to think critically, express ideas persuasively, lead others, and recover from setbacks.
The goal is to develop capable, self-directed young people with the character, practical skills, and initiative to create opportunities and shape their own futures.
Meet the Founders
We're intentional parents, just like you, and we built the school we always wished existed.
We vividly remember our experience of unimaginable excitement intertwined with overwhelming feelings of responsibility for the new life we had just learned was coming.
The Wonderstorm Origin
Holly and I vividly remember our experience of unimaginable excitement intertwined with overwhelming feelings of responsibility for the new life we had just learned was coming.
About to become parents for the first time, we made a decision that not every parent makes. We decided we were going to be deliberate about it.
That where our kids spent their days, who shaped them, and what they came to believe about themselves, was not going to be left to chance.
We both remembered our own school years clearly. Learning, which should have been the most exciting thing in the world, got turned into something to endure.
Sit still.Be quiet.Memorize this.Do what you're told.
The whole machine seemed built to reward obedience, not curiosity, and it worked.
We learned to raise our hands and wait for permission. We got good at doing what we were told, …and somewhere in there we stopped asking what we actually wanted.
That's what it cost us: years spent becoming compliant instead of becoming who we could have been.
We didn't want that for our kids.
So when it was time to choose a school, we looked harder than most people would. We toured more than 30 schools.
And somewhere around the third or fourth one, we started noticing something.
Every school had a polished tour. A practiced walk, a warm pitch, the highlights framed just so, like a magician telling you exactly where to look.
And while the other parents watched the show, Holly and I were watching the thing they weren't pointing at.
The kids' faces — were they lit up, or just going through the motions?
The teachers' eyes — were they actually tuned in to the child in front of them, or just running the room?
At one school, I still remember a boy, maybe seven, filling in a worksheet at his desk. He'd write a line, then stop and stare down at the floor, then catch himself and write another line.
No spark, no curiosity — just going through the motions because someone told him to.
A few feet away the teacher never looked up either, just watched the clock and moved the class along.
The parents beside us were nodding at the freshly painted walls and the test scores posted by the door. Holly and I just looked at each other.
We'd seen the same thing, and we didn't have to say it.
School after school, it was the same quiet answer. Disengaged teachers. Kids doing tasks with no spark.
Compliance dressed up as education.
And we watched it work, on the parents who weren't looking closely.
We eventually found a top Montessori school, chose it, and genuinely loved it. It served our kids well for years.
But even there, we kept seeing the ceiling.
Our kids deserved more than a good version of the old model — real communication skills, leadership, the confidence to build something and create their own opportunities.
We searched for the school that did all of it. It didn't exist.
Wonderstorm Academy is the school Holly and I were looking for as parents, and couldn't find anywhere.
So we built it.
The Journey
From parents to founders
The First Spark
Unimaginable excitement intertwined with overwhelming responsibility for the new life we had just learned was coming.
The Search
We toured over 30 schools before finally saying yes to a top Montessori school, which we grew to love.
The Limit
Montessori served us well for many years, but it had its limitations. We wanted more — 21st-century skills and full mastery of innate gifts.
The Birth
It became clear that we got to be the ones to create the educational experience we envisioned. Wonderstorm Academy was born.
The People
Our Team
The visionary leaders behind the Wonderstorm methodology.
Co-Founder & Lead Empowerment Coach
Holly Yarbrough
Holly is a mother of six children, wife, Montessori educator, and leader who dreams of being the catalyst that unlocks the highest possibility in every child while igniting their hearts and minds.
She is passionate about supporting children in actualizing every drop of their potential as she celebrates and works to blossom the unique brilliance that exists in every child.
Holly specializes in developing experiences that spark each child's eagerness to learn in the ways that best support their individual needs. She loves coaching young leaders to explore the feelings that drive behavior and helps them develop a deeper understanding of themselves, others, and the world around them.
BS in Child and Adolescent Development (CSUF)
Credentialed Montessori Educator (UCI)
Co-Founder & Community Champion
Dave Yarbrough
Dave is a dedicated father of six children and loving husband, whose lifelong dream has been to transform the paradigm of education by creating a revolutionary new type of learning center — one that advances a new science of human flourishing.
For over 25 years, Dave has rigorously pursued the study of how to most effectively develop human potential.
His single-pointed aim has been the creation of an education center that functions as the premier learning laboratory for the exploration and demonstration of the specific methodologies and metrics that result in a child achieving his or her ultimate potential.
Dave holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His areas of specialization include applied analytic reasoning, psychology, sociology, learning theory, and communication.
Hear Dave & Holly's Vision
In their own words — why they built Wonderstorm, and what they believe every child deserves.
“Opening this paradigm-changing school has been a lifelong dream for me. The time has come for a radically different approach to schooling — one that ignites a love of learning and transforms the educational experience into a true adventure of self-discovery.”
— Dave Yarbrough
What Drives Us
Our Core Foundation
The principles and promises that direct everything we do.
Our Promises
We promise your child will:
- Begin building sovereign systems for lifelong success.
- Develop into a curious, independent, lifelong leader.
- Cultivate a deep respect for economic, political, and religious freedoms.
- Cherish the arts, the wonders of the physical world, and the mysteries of life on Earth.
- Discover their most precious gifts and learn to use them to solve difficult problems.
- Understand the importance of strong character and a healthy lifestyle.
Our Beliefs
We fundamentally believe:
- Each child has a unique brilliance that can make a profound impact on the world.
- In a closely connected family of lifelong leaders.
- In developing the whole person — mind, body, and character.
- In economic, religious, and political freedom.