Puget Sound Community School

Puget Sound Community School is a co-ed independent middle and high school located in the International District of Seattle, WA. The PSCS mission is to turn passion into achievement and asks it's students to dedicate themselves to our 3 core commitments: Practice Integrity. Engage the Community. Act with Courage.

Unlike many schools, the first focus at PSCS is not a prescribed academic program. Our primary focus is in maintaining a safe environment where kids feel comfortable stepping outside of their comfort zones and being themselves. We surround students with talented people of high character who are passionate about learning and excited about life.

Students work with an advisor to identify their short- and long-term goals. Staff, students, and volunteers co-create the school schedule so that classes are always taught by individuals who are passionate about the topics. Advisors challenge students to participate in classes or activities not based on what they “should” be doing, but because they are excited by them.

Traditional academic subjects are covered through this highly structured approach, in a way that helps students focus on their strengths, nurtures their intrinsic motivation to learn, and gives them the opportunity to direct their own education. This process supports the over-arching curriculum of PSCS, which helps students learn responsibility and self-reliance. It also supports the overarching goal of PSCS, which is to help students grow into kind, mature adults.

Instead of helping kids reach an arbitrary minimum standard, PSCS helps them reach their highest potential. This philosophy is based on the most robust ndings in behavioral science of the past 40 years. It’s a philosophy that is rooted in kindness and compassion and is re-inventing what middle and high school is in the 21st century.