About Us

Our Mission & Philosophy

Founded in 1974, Pacific Primary’s original mission remains fundamental to the school today: focus on the children, foster a strong, diverse community, provide tuition assistance, support working parents, emphasize the creative arts, and support an outstanding staff.

Our Mission

Pacific Primary provides an exceptional and nurturing learning environment for young children. The school makes use of a variety of educational approaches with the goal of achieving deep and meaningful learning. The curriculum includes: learning through hands-on exploration and play, expressive arts, and teacher and child-inspired work. The staff guides the child’s unique social, emotional and intellectual growth with considerable attention being placed on the child’s conflict resolution skills. The child’s experience at Pacific Primary is the foundation for a life of learning, caring and creating.

The diverse community of the school expands opportunities for the children to learn from those whose life experiences differ from their own. It is reflected in the family structures, cultural and ethnic backgrounds of the children and staff. Economic diversity is supported by the Tuition Assistance program. The appreciation of these differences is not an abstract concept at Pacific Primary; it is a natural part of the child’s experience.

The involved and supportive community of Pacific Primary is united by a genuine dedication to the children. The family role as partners in their child’s school experience is supported through communication with staff, parent education and abundant opportunities to volunteer. The school seeks out the highest caliber staff, supports their continuing education and aims to compensate them well. The staff is the school’s most valuable asset.

Children playing together in the classroom

Educational Philosophy

Supporting the whole child

Pacific Primary provides an exceptional learning environment that supports the whole child and places the needs of the children first. The program is designed to foster growth and creativity within each child in many areas of development:

Emotional

The staff helps children understand their emotions and find acceptable ways to express them. The staff is skilled in positive discipline techniques and appropriate limit-setting.

Children learn how to handle conflict through problem-solving and communication, so that they become confident and capable individuals who respect others and embrace differences.

Cognitive

The staff uses a variety of approaches, so that children become excited and confident learners in literacy, pre-math, science, the creative arts and all areas of the curriculum.

Physical

The program helps build healthy bodies and encourages the development of physical skills, a love of the outdoors, and a sense of wonder and respect for nature.

Our curriculum is designed to encourage children to enjoy the process of learning and to love school. Experiential “hands-on” learning activities and child-initiated activities are encouraged and supported by the teachers. We implement both:

Emergent curriculum: the exploration of projects by the class, inspired by the children’s interests.
Thematic curriculum: activities that the teachers recognize as interesting and engaging to children.

The curriculum is age-appropriate, recognizing the predictable sequence of growth and development of children, respecting the way young children think, feel and interact, and acknowledging each child’s unique abilities.

At Pacific Primary, each child feels respected, loved, secure, and open to learning. In the school’s warm and supportive community, families as well as children thrive. Each child leaves Pacific Primary ready for the new demands and opportunities of elementary school and beyond.

Our approach in plain terms

What “play-based” means here

San Francisco families compare a lot of approaches: Montessori, Reggio Emilia, language immersion, academic, co-op, and more. In plain terms, Pacific Primary is play-based and emergent, an approach families often describe as Reggio-inspired. Much of our curriculum grows out of the children’s own questions and interests, explored through projects, expressive arts, music, and plenty of hands-on play.

That makes us different from programs that center primarily on academics and worksheets. We believe young children learn best by doing, playing, and creating alongside caring teachers and friends.

And if you are wondering whether children still get ready for kindergarten: they do. Early literacy and numeracy are woven through play rather than drilled, and children leave Pacific Primary curious, confident, and well prepared for what comes next. Our approach suits a wide range of temperaments, from the cautious observer to the boundless explorer.