The Thacher Observatory has a legacy dating back to the late 1950s. However, it fell into disuse in the early 2000s. A full renovation of the observatory was completed in late 2016, and a new vision for its future was established that married the concepts of cutting-edge research and education. We will describe the new facility, its capabilities, and four primary areas research driven by our students including long-term photometric monitoring, a supernova survey of ~1300 nearby galaxies, the development of a custom observatory automation software, and an exoplanet transit follow-up effort. We have achieved success in all these areas and we will be reporting our progress and future goals.