Our Mission
Like school reform advocate Howard Gardner, we believe here at Pacifica that education should nurture the full range of multiple intelligences, not just cognitive skills and rote memorization. Understanding and respecting one’s feelings and learning to honestly, authentically and respectfully communicate those feelings, as well as developing one’s inner strengths are among the most precious gifts a school can provide its children, and Pacifica is guided by principles in support of these gifts.
At Pacifica, we pride ourselves on being just a little bit different when it comes to educating our community of learners. It’s a difference that you’ll have to see to appreciate. Come tour Pacifica to see our mission in action.
To keep us on track with our important mission, the Pacifica community has adopted the following Mission Statement:
- Provide humanistic, non-coercive, constructivist public education to children of all ethnic and economic backgrounds
- Support active learning through hands-on experiences, self-evaluation and collaboration, with our young learners co-creating their own curriculum
- Nuture acceptance, empathy, generosity, global citizenship, optimism and a joy of learning
- Build community and a family atmosphere through multi-age learning experiences
- Provide a non-authoritarian learning environment through the practice of compassionate communication
- Operate our community on democratic, consensus-driven principles
- Support parents in communicating compassionately and honestly with their children outside of school
- Promote and advocate humanistic education as the logical path for public school reform
