Pacific Ridge School
With a school mission to focus on ethical responsibility and global engagement, the students at Pacific Ridge are involved in hands-on, collaborative learning as well as civic engagement through relationships with local and global partners.
The Program is a three-phase progression from middle school to high school, from teacher-led to student-led projects. In grades seven and eight, faculty coordinators design and implement the service experiences and students gain exposure to local organizations and issues. In grades 9 and 10, students initiate groups, collaborate with their peers, and partner with local and international organizations. In grades 11 and 12, students design independent projects, lead 9th and 10th grade groups, or build service work into an end-of-year trip. More information can be found here.
A few highlights of their programs are:
THE TASC GROUP
The TASC group, which stands for “The Tibetan-American School Connection,” partners Pacific Ridge Upper School students with the LiMing School of the Yunnan Province of China. Based on a relationship established during a school visit to LiMing, students from Pacific Ridge took the initiative to develop a Mandarin-English print and audio textbook for LiMing School. These resources now allow 9th graders at Pacific Ridge to engage in an interactive language learning experience with the students of LiMing on their annual end-of-year trip to China.
FAST
Friends Assisting Special-Needs Teenagers (FAST) is a program that was founded by a recent Pacific Ridge graduate. As a result of an independent service project, a relationship with the Country School (a school serving children with mental and physical disabilities) was formed and now students participating in the FAST program visit the school once a week to spend time with the students, develop relationships and foster friendships.