About Us

Service Learning

An ethical mindset and the power to make a difference

Year-long curricula grounded in ethical principles and societal issues help our students to understand how they impact their communities and the world. Combined with relevant service projects in communities near and far, we instill in our students a responsibility to act, a desire to do good, and the belief they can make a difference.

Students meet weekly to gain academic, teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving skills that will assist them in their projects, which vary by grade. Service Learning projects require students to collaborate with both local and global communities in order to reach concrete goals.

Service Learning Progression

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  • 6th, 7th & 8th-Grade Service Learning: Philosophy, Exposure, & Practice

    Middle school students usually engage in weekly off-campus service work with a number of local community partners. Due to COVID restrictions, during the 2021-2022 year students will instead broaden their understand of community service by learning about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and actively engaging with topics such as food, shelter, environment, and education as they relate to our local community.

  • 9th-Grade Service Learning: Training & Collaboration

    Ninth graders begin their year learning about the student-led upper school service learning program and gaining skills, practicing how to serve others effectively, and building their personal strengths and interests, before joining upper school groups.

  • 10th, 11th & 12th-Grade Service Learning: Leadership & Initiative

    The upper school service learning experience is defined by student-directed action. Students meet weekly, gaining academic, teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving skills while working on projects they design and develop themselves. Service learning projects require students to collaborate with both local and global communities in order to reach concrete goals.

  • Independent Service Learning: Entrepreneurship

    Upper school students may also pursue a service project individually or in small groups of two or three. Recent projects include:
    • Acquiring and distributing AEDs (Automatic External Defibrillators) to a school in Escondido
    • Creating plans to transform an immobile bus into a thriving school library in Mexcio
    • Sharing an English-Farsi language software program with remote schools in Iran and eastern Turkey
    • Working with local organizations to start a battery recycling program on the Pacific Ridge campus
    • Creating a music curriculum in order to offer music instruction in local schools that do not offer music classes
    • Making a documentary video about the Community Coaching Center to spread word about its work with autistic children
    • Learning and sharing stories of homeless war veterans in the San Diego area
    • Developing and presenting curricula to teach local elementary school students about bullying prevention

    • Community members or organizations that would like to partner with Pacific Ridge should contact Germaine Jackson, Director of Service Learning at 760-448-9828.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

    • The Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. The 17 Goals were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the Goals. Service Learning work at Pacific Ridge supports a number of these goals, as noted in the below list of upper school groups.

Learn More About Our Student Service Groups

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  • "Not only did Pacific Ridge instill in me a set of values...it equipped me with practical, real-world experiences to engage in ethical and effective service."

    - Alumna

  • "Pacific Ridge taught me to think bigger than myself. Taking a few hours out of my day is not difficult for me, but it makes a huge difference to the people I'm helping and that's what matters."

    - Alumnus

OUR MISSION

In a community that fosters academic excellence, ethical responsibility and global engagement, Pacific Ridge School prepares students for college and a purposeful life.

Pacific Ridge School

6269 El Fuerte
Carlsbad, CA 92009
760-448-9820
info@pacificridge.org

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