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 May 2008--Newsweek ranks PCS 13th in the list of top US public high schools

December 2007--U.S. News ranks PCS # 2 public high school in the nation

November 8, 2007--State Superintendent Jack O'Connell nominates PCS to be a national Blue Ribbon School

May 21, 2007-- Newsweek recognizes PCS as among America's "Public Elite" High Schools

2007 California Distinguished School

2007- College Board names PCS  top AP World History program in the US.

2006 -California Charter School of the Year

                          PCS--A School that Challenges and Rewards:

Pacific Collegiate School ’s mission is to provide exemplary, standards- based college preparatory and fine arts education for public middle and high school students of Santa Cruz County and bordering areas.  Our vision is to offer any student the same quality of education offered by the most academically distinguished schools in California .  Our graduates will be prepared to enter and thrive at the world’s finest colleges and universities.

In addition to a core college preparatory curriculum, Pacific Collegiate School will emphasize international, cross-cultural, and technological education in order to prepare graduates for life in the 21st Century.  Pacific Collegiate students will be introduced to the rich variety of world cultures and become fluent in at least one foreign language.  They will become proficient in the basic information technologies essential for cultural literacy in the 21st Century.

Pacific Collegiate Welcomes Interim Principal

Pacific Collegiate School is thrilled to announce local educational leader Chris Mercer has accepted an Interim Principal role with the local charter for the 2008-2009 school year.

Mercer earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from San Jose State University and in her thirty-eight years with the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District, she has been a classroom teacher, coach, mentor, assistant principal, and principal. Mercer has firsthand experience and understanding of teacher development, and strongly believes that a school’s success depends on the knowledge, skills, innovative creativity, and motivation of its faculty and staff.

In addition, Mercer has been a mentor teacher with the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project for four years and an administrator in the San Lorenzo Valley for five years. She comes to PCS with extensive experience in coaching teachers in the areas of curriculum development, instructional strategies that motivate and engage secondary school students, and classroom management.

Under Mercer’s leadership, San Lorenzo Valley Middle School became a California Distinguished School, transitioned from a junior high school to a middle school, and completed an extensive construction project that added 14 new classrooms.

Mercer and her school were also featured in State Superintendent Jack O’Connell’s Spring 2007 newsletter which highlighted three outstanding California middle schools leading the way in engaging adolescent students. In her article, “Galvanizing Students’ Interest in School”, Mercer states that she believes, “When learning is linked with actual experience, learning lasts a lifetime…As educational experts, it is our job to make all classes relevant for students.”

On a personal note, Mercer has been married for 39 years to Dave Mercer, a teacher and football coach at San Lorenzo Valley High School. Together, they have three sons: Brian, a Vice Principal at San Lorenzo Valley High School; Mark, a teacher and coach at San Lorenzo Valley Middle School; and Jeff, a third grade teacher in the Cupertino District.

PCS Board President, Deepika Shrestha-Ross had this to say about Mercer, “I am absolutely delighted to have Chris join us. She is a veteran educator and administrator and has maintained her passion for teaching and reaching her students with all the tools at her disposal. She will be a wonderful resource to our entire faculty and staff. I look forward to working with her and have no doubt that she will be a positive force in our community."

In July, Mercer retired from San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District. Of her upcoming interim work with PCS Mercer stated, “Although the opportunity at Pacific Collegiate was very recent and unexpected, I welcome it.” Adding, “The one-month retirement was very enjoyable!”