Services Set for Ellis, Country School Founder

A memorial service will be held Wednesday for Rafe Ellis, founder of The Country School, one of the San Fernando Valley’s first independent and progressive schools.

Ellis died Feb. 6 of heart failure. He was 79.

Ellis, a child psychologist, founded The Country School as a preschool in 1948 and, in 1951, expanded it to include the first through sixth grades. He was director of the school until he retired in 1975.

Ellis’ approach to preschool education was considered radical in 1948 because it departed from traditional beliefs that children in each grade must learn at the same pace. His school put into practice the theory of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, who said that children develop at different rates.

Today, the North Hollywood school, which has 240 students, continues to emphasize individual development.

Country School students have included the children of Sammy Davis Jr., Kenny Loggins, Bob Hope, Cybill Shepherd and Ned Beatty.

Ellis was born in New York City on March 17, 1908. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1930 with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. He earned a master’s degree in psychology from USC. His early career involved working with autistic children.

He was a captain in the Army Air Forces in World War II.

Ellis was a child therapist at the Reiss-Davis Child Studies Center, a West Los Angeles clinic for emotionally disturbed children, before he opened The Country School with his first wife, Laura.

Alan E. Ellis, 46, a Van Nuys Municipal Court judge who is no relation to Rafe Ellis, said Friday that, as a child, he attended a summer camp run by Rafe Ellis and stayed in touch with him through the years.

“He was the first person that I ever encountered who had those qualities of insight . . . that could cause the young person to think that he was capable of more,” the judge said.

Rafe Ellis is survived by his second wife, Patty; a daughter, Kim, and stepdaughter, Jan; four grandchildren and sisters Helen Fried and Rose Seldin.

The memorial service will be at 11 a.m. at The Country School, 5243 Laurel Canyon Blvd. A memorial scholarship fund has been set up for students of the school.