An important part of our approach is establishing routines and practices that create a predictable, calm learning environment. Teachers interact with students respectfully while modeling and facilitating peer communication, problem solving, and other social skills that are key to maintaining our inclusive school community. We also derive our vision from the life of Paul Cuffee, both in our maritime theme and in our curricular focus on literacy and social and environmental justice.
At PCS, the excellence of our staff forms the basis of our educational program. Our rigorous hiring process focuses on selecting educators who are skilled, collaborative, and knowledgeable in their fields, and who share our guiding principles. The ability to meet students’ needs through differentiated instruction is an essential requisite as well as a focus of our professional development goals.
Our teaching philosophy centers on helping students develop the knowledge, skills, and habits of scholarship that are critical to success in life. Instruction stresses inquiry-based learning and higher-order thinking. We engage students in the ongoing exercises of grappling with essential questions that guide their units of study. Students’ acquisition of increasingly sophisticated skills and methods of approaching complex issues and projects is assessed regularly, along with their ability to meet content standards.