Frequently Asked Questions

1. How many students attend PSCS?
   We currently have 26 students enrolled – 14 male, 12 female.
2. Why is the school so small?
   We feel that our students benefit tremendously from being in such an intimate community, and we consider it one of our greatest assets. The small student/ teaching staff ratio (7:1) ensures that we are able to give all students the attention they deserve.
3. What ages are the students at PSCS?
   Our students are currently between the ages of 12 and 18. (This corresponds to grades 7-12 in more traditional schools, but our students are not separated from each other in any way based on age or grade.)
4. Why don’t you accept younger students?
   We are currently focused on providing an 8th to 12th grade program. Click here to learn more about our exciting plans to enroll 6th & 7th graders next year.
5. How old is the school?
   PSCS was founded in 1994. You can read more about our history here.
6. Who works at the school?
   For 2007-08, we have six staff members and involve dozens of volunteers. Our volunteers contribute immeasurably to the health and vitality of the school by facilitating classes, offering apprenticeships, serving on the Board of Trustees, and helping in the office.
7. What is a typical school day like? What are the students doing and learning?
   There is probably no such thing as a "typical" day at PSCS. Each and every student could give a different answer to this question. Students are variously spending time with each other, taking classes, reading books, listening to music, playing outside, exploring the internet, gathering around a computer game, making a presentation, cooking a meal, and in general pursuing individual interests while being an active, participating member in the school community. You can read this for a deeper look into the kinds of things that happen at school, but the best way to get a feel for daily life at PSCS is to come to one of our visitation days.
8. Where do all the school activities take place?
   Five days a week, we meet at our classrooms in the historic University Heights building in the University District of Seattle. We also take lots of field trips and encourage other activities such as apprenticeships and service projects that take place off-campus. As a community school we want to take advantage of the resources of the larger community and get away from the notion that "school" only happens in a school building.
9. Do you have science labs and art rooms and things like that?
   There aren’t specific areas of the school that are designated for specific activities. A room that’s being used for a Spanish class in the morning may be used to show a film at lunch or do a fish dissection later in the day. We try to be very flexible in our use of space and to make use of resources outside of school, including nearby homes, parks, community centers, etc.
10. Do the students have homework?
    Some of the activities offered at school will have assigned homework, schoolwork students do at home, in the traditional sense. But in a school like PSCS, where students are given the freedom to pursue their own interests in whatever way they choose, there is often no real distinction between working at home and working at school.  Regardless, the amount of work students do at home is based on a number of personal choices they make, all related to their goals.
11. Are there any extracurricular activities available, like sports and drama?
    There is no distinction at PSCS between “curricular” and “extra-curricular” activities. Art, music, math, grammar, conversation, play – all of these are part of our curriculum. But there are some activities that by nature are difficult to house in a small school setting. When students demonstrate an interest in pursuing these kinds of activities we help them find ways to get involved, whether by joining a sports league, a student theater production, or getting an apprenticeship at a fish market, and so on.
12. What are your school hours? Do you have any attendance requirements?
    The school day goes from 9-3:30pm and there are 176 days in the 2007-08 school year. We require that all students be present at school or involved in school-sanctioned off-campus activities between those times for a minimum of 1000 hours during the school year. And to preserve the community focus of PSCS, the majority of these hours must be accrued on campus. We also require all students to attend the school for at least 3 full years to be eligible for graduation.
13. Do all of your students get a high school diploma?
    Some of our students choose not to work towards a high school diploma, believing they will be better served by following a less traditional path through high school. We will support them in whatever path they choose to take. We place no requirement on students to take academic classes and earn a high school diploma.
14. So the students don't have to take any English (or math/social studies/science/etc.) classes if they don't want to? Are there any academic requirements at all?
    The requirements for graduation at PSCS are not academic in nature. We require all our graduating students to complete a senior project and a credo and to be fully participatory as leaders and role models within the school community. This is in addition to satisfying the general attendance requirements given above. Any student who satisfies these requirements will receive a PSCS Certificate of Completion. The state graduation requirements, which are academic in nature and are centered around earning a set number of high school credits in various academic subject areas, are relevant only to those graduating students who want to receive a WA state approved high school diploma, something we are more than capable of helping them do.
15. Are your students required to take the WASL?
    No, students are not required to take the WASL or any other performance-based assessment test in order to earn either the PSCS Certificate of Completion or a Washington state high school diploma.
16. How do the students who want a diploma earn high school credit?
    Students work with staff members to develop plans for earning credits. This happens in creative and individually crafted ways, which can involve working independently, attending classes at school, participating in activities outside of school or over the summer, developing a portfolio of work, and so on. Of importance, PSCS has been approved by the state to award high school credit based on competence, as well as the more common time-based manner.  This further allows the school to individualize its instruction.
17. How do PSCS students get into college? Do they take the SAT?
    Students interested in going to college work closely with staff members to develop a strategy for getting into a college program that interests them. This may include working to earn credits to satisfy college entrance requirements, preparing for and taking the SAT or other admissions exams, and preparing a portfolio of work to send to college admissions offices.
18. Do all your students go to college?
    Students have an array of choices after graduation from PSCS. Some go straight to college, others take a more direct pursuit towards life and career goals.
19. But how can I be sure that my child will learn the basics? What happens if students do nothing all day, or waste all their time playing games?
    Students pursue learning at their own pace driven by their curiosity. Over the years, we have found that they naturally come upon what are considered "basics" at other schools in their own time. Most often, this happens in the context of a deeper passion and is more likely to happen the longer the student is at the school. For example, we had a student realize that he wanted to do computer programming. As he started programming, he recognized that he needed math and launched right into Algebra, pursuing it endlessly for weeks. We have seen some students complete all of the required high school Algebra in a matter of a few months.
20. If the students aren’t made to do anything, why not just let them stay at home? What exactly am I paying for?
    Parents are paying for their children to have the ongoing experience of learning to take responsibility for their actions, gaining authority over their education, and interacting daily in an educational environment based on trust, respect and loving support. They are paying for their children to be in a school that values and develops in its students traits like initiative, creativity, confidence, tenacity, and compassion, a school whose students learn how to achieve personal goals and lead meaningful lives. And actually, in making decisions about how to spend their time, how to reach their goals and how to get along with others, we believe PSCS students end up doing more than they are allowed to do in top-down school settings.
21. Is PSCS for everyone?
    In a perfect world, yes, but realistically, no. Given the extraordinary nature of the school, parents and students need to carefully consider whether the school is right for them. There is an adjustment to coming to a school in which the academics required in most schools are made optional. Such an adjustment requires patience and trust, and a belief that each human being has a unique wisdom that needs only a supportive environment, caring people, and time to be made known. PSCS is not the right school for children with extreme behavior problems that require constant adult supervision. And it's not the right school for parents who feel they need to make every educational decision for their children.
22. What is the admissions process?
    See here for information about visiting the school and getting an application.
23. How can I learn more about your educational philosophy? Are there books I can read?
    Here a few books and articles about educational principles similar to ours:
    Free at Last, Daniel Greenberg
    Dumbing Us Down, John Taylor Gatto
    The Teenage Liberation Handbook, Grace Llewellyn
    The Universal Schoolhouse, James Moffett