Imagine a high school where our teenagers… Are engaged in an academic program that also nurtures their curiosity and innate love of learning. Imagine a high school where our teenagers… Develop leadership and self-management skills through time dedicated to their own self-directed “passion projects,” while also experiencing the stability of guided curriculum. Imagine a high school where our teenagers… Establish meaningful, collaborative connections with a close group of peers and educators, fostering a community culture where bullying is simply unable to thrive. Imagine a high school where our teenagers… Build positive mental health by being supported by educators who know them deeply as they navigate their successes, disappointments and challenges. Imagine a high school where our teenagers… Engage in regular, real-life learning experiences out in the community, not just in the classroom. Imagine a high school where our teenagers… Can feel themselves growing confident and prepared to take on their hopes and dreams, whether their next steps are university, starting a business, or sailing around the world.
Imagine a high school where our teenagers… Wake up each Monday excited to come to school.

IMAGINE A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL WHERE OUR TEENAGERS...

Are engaged in an academic program that also nurtures their curiosity and innate love of learning.
IMAGINE A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL WHERE OUR TEENAGERS...

Develop leadership and self-management skills through time dedicated to their own self-directed “passion projects,” while also experiencing the stability of guided curriculum.
IMAGINE A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL WHERE OUR TEENAGERS...

Establish meaningful, collaborative connections with a close group of peers and educators, fostering a community culture where bullying is simply unable to thrive.
IMAGINE A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL WHERE OUR TEENAGERS...

Build positive mental health by being supported by educators who know them deeply as they navigate their successes, disappointments and challenges.
IMAGINE A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL WHERE OUR TEENAGERS...

Engage in regular, real-life learning experiences out in the community, not just in the classroom.
IMAGINE A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL WHERE OUR TEENAGERS...

Can feel themselves growing confident and prepared to take on their hopes and dreams, whether their next steps are university, starting a business, or sailing around the world.
IMAGINE A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL WHERE OUR TEENAGERS...

Wake up each Monday excited to come to school.

Pacific Spirit High School
We imagined it,
and we have created it.

In response to many years of keen interest from parents and teens, Pacific Spirit School launched its high school program in fall 2021. Pacific Spirit High is a place where teens feel safe and cared about, experience engaging academic instruction from inspired educators, are curious and pursue inquiry-based projects, work collaboratively with peers and mentors, and make daily time for mindfulness. We are a small school where students are able to develop meaningful friendships with their peers and are well known by their teachers. Now enrolling students in grades 8 through 11. Grade 12 will be added in 2024 to complete the program*.

Our High School’s philosophy and approach

We are grounded in the same core values that have guided our elementary school for over 30 years, but we have customized our high school program specifically to embrace and meet the unique developmental needs of teenagers.

Adolescence is a time of great change, both physically, and mentally. Dr. Gordon Neufeld refers to an “explosion of awareness” which can present many new thoughts and feelings for our teens to navigate.  We endeavor to create an accepting place where teens can enjoy learning and growing, as well as feel supported in times of stress. Time to share and reflect is part of our daily schedule. We work to empower our students with strategies to navigate their emotions, handle social conflict, form positive relationships, set and achieve goals, and make responsible decisions.

Our academic program covers the BC curriculum and is taught by certified teachers. Our educators offer a student-centered approach with flexibility for students to pursue a higher level of academic challenge in any subject area, co-creating a plan that fits each student's abilities and interests. Our students are provided regular opportunities to further enrich their learning through self-directed projects and study time. Whether a student is passionate about STEM or social justice or both, this allows them to spend more time focusing on the areas where they have personal learning goals, or simply areas of study they enjoy.

Many schools are shifting to project-based and inquiry-based learning, which we fully embrace in our high school program, though we take it one step further by incorporating passion-based learning. This idea was implemented at Google in 2007 to give each employee the opportunity to dedicate a percentage of their work week to a project they came up with and that was deeply meaningful to them. Progressive schools around the world have started to adapt this idea of “learning based on one’s passions or interests” into their educational programs with phenomenal outcomes. As one passion-based educator described it: “The students become unstoppable.”

Being a teen can be really stressful! Mindfulness is a powerful way to handle stress, and live life more fully. By teaching our students simple mindfulness skills tailored to teenagers, our aim is to give them a tool to help them feel calmer when they’re stressed and more focused when they have to do something difficult or complicated.

When a teenager engages in the arts, they develop motivation and confidence, and they expand their creative and dynamic ways of thinking. As with our elementary school, we are dedicated to making the arts a regular part of our high school program. Classes will be taught by talented specialists in each area and include drama, visual arts, and hip-hop.

Our school day goes from 9:30am to 4:30pm, allowing students to arrive better rested. Researchers such as Dr. JoAnn Deak have proven that teens need on average nine hours of sleep, and that if we want high school students to retain what we have taught them that day, we need them to sleep well that night. Additionally, teens benefit most when they sleep according to their natural circadian rhythms, which means they naturally stay up later and need to sleep in later. The New York Times has published several studies showing that high schools with later start times see behaviour problems diminish and test scores rise.

Recent years show a troubling increase in the number of teenagers with long-term depression and anxiety. Our educators will use proven pillars of positive mental health education to help our students navigate their teen years with resilience and a positive outlook, and move into adulthood with a sense of connection, purpose and life satisfaction.

Our school culture values initiative over compliance, even though it’s harder to measure. Our students feel comfortable – and even rewarded – by taking risks in learning. As Einstein said, “Failure is success in progress.” We respect our students’ opinions, and our educators make space to listen and observe, as well as teach and mentor.

We believe teenagers need to practice both being leaders and working collaboratively with others. We give students opportunities to motivate their peers, take initiative, and make plans and execute them, while also cultivating their teamwork skills so they learn to compete not against each other, but against the world’s most pressing problems. In the working world today, even the most high-powered CEOs are putting aside self-interests and collaborating with rival companies. It’s called “collective impact,” and it’s a growing trend that we foster in our classrooms every day.

Recent research conducted at Stanford University found that high school students who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance in their lives, tension with their parents, and alienation from society. Our homework philosophy is reflected in more and more schools across the US and Canada, suggesting that the best results for a high school student's ongoing academic success and positive mental health come from assigning no more than an hour of homework a night (and only if it’s meaningful work; no uninspiring busywork!), and no more than two to three nights a week.

Inspired by the success of our Monday-to-Thursday elementary school model, we are excited to bring the same schedule to our high school. We anticipate that our students will use their Fridays to pursue passion projects, bond with their classmates outside of school, for activities as a family, or just to have quiet time to be with themselves to lean into that vital teenage task of figuring out who they are. Teachers and students come back on Monday refreshed and focused.

We know that the classroom is only one environment for learning, and the world outside our doors is rich with educational opportunity. Our educators will help connect students with mentors and organizations outside the school to make their learning real. Students might attend performances and exhibits, intern or shadow professionals, launch an entrepreneurial venture, or perform community service. We will also invite community members into the school to teach about their areas of expertise. A common question that high school students ask is: “Does what I’m learning in this subject really matter in the outside world?” When students see their learning applied outside of the classroom, they answer that question with a big “yes,” which has a significant impact on knowledge retention and overall engagement in the classroom.

Frequently Asked Questions

We have three BC-certified teachers that make up our core high school educator team, as well as a French teacher and specialized arts enrichment instructors.  Read more about our educators here.  As our program expands into grades 10-12, additional subject-specific teachers will be added to the educator team.

Yes.  We are passionate believers in the benefits of mixed-age classrooms.  Each high school classroom will be a mix of two to three grades together.  We have established a framework where every student can work at their own level and bring their own unique strengths and interests to the group.  Further to our philosophy of mixed-age learning, we incorporate collaboration between high school and elementary programs making opportunities for our high school students to experience mentorship roles as well.

School starts at 9:30am and finishes at 4:30pm each day, and runs Monday to Thursday with every Friday off.

Yes, our certified educators over the BC curriculum as required by the Ministry of Education.

We maintain a ratio of one educator to ten students.  Students learn in groups ranging from 10 - 20 students, depending on the topic, which means often there are two teachers with a group.

Yes.  One additional grade will be added each year until we are a full Grade 8-12 high school by 2024.

As a small school, we aren’t able to offer competitive sports leagues. However, we offer flexible scheduling to accommodate students involved in sports, dance, and other athletic programs outside of school.

Technology is used mindfully where it supports our students’ learning. We are not anti-technology; in fact, we feel strongly that we can help teenagers develop healthy social media and technology habits now to positively impact their mental health in the long-term. All students are required to bring their own laptop to school every day.

Our science program is built to engage students in both theory and hands-on experiments using in-class equipment, on-line resources, invited speakers and programs, and field trips to some of the many hi-tech science facilities right in our neighbourhood.

Our educators will work with each student to plan community-based learning experiences that suit them. This means that students may be able to leave school earlier than 4:30pm on some days and put those after-school activities towards school credit. We believe strongly in students pursuing learning experiences outside, as well as inside, the classroom.

These areas of study fall under the applied design, skills, and technology (ADST) portion of the BC curriculum. The ADST curriculum can be covered by working on a wide range of projects, from building a website to making a hammock. In our program, we  expose students to a range of ADST choices and encourage them to choose a project they’re passionate about, then support them in taking creative risks, prototyping their ideas, testing, creating and sharing their projects.

For families outside of the PSS community, we conduct interviews with prospective students and review their elementary school records to determine if our High School program is the right fit for them. Our application process for all prospective students is guided by our commitment to each student’s success, and we will only accept a student into the program if we feel we can support their academic and social-emotional learning needs.

A small high school allows students to be known in their school community and develop strong relationships with teachers and peers.  Our core purpose in keeping our high school small is to create the healthy intellectual and social climate that teenagers need to thrive.  When teenagers feel safe, known and accepted, they are able to experience curiosity and place their focus on learning instead of other external concerns.

Don't miss out on updates!
Subscribe to our PSS High School Mailing List here.



How can I find out more?

Please check back for 2023-24 information session dates to be announced soon!

If you are interested in current year high school enrolment, we have a small number of spaces available, please email our high school coordinator at highschool@pacificspiritschool.org for more information.

Sign up for our newsletter here to receive other news!

More Questions?

We welcome you to email us at highschool@pacificspiritschool.org.

Stay updated about our exciting new High School program by signing up for our mailing list here.