Pacific High School

Pacific High School (PHS) is an alternative 9-12 school where we use an experiential, competency-based approach to learning. We are located in Sitka, Alaska, an island fishing town off the road system, reachable by boat or plane with a population of approx 8,000 people. We are nestled in the Tongass Rainforest on Tlingit Land, surrounded by natural beauty and abundant wild food sources. We utilize a place-based curriculum, drawing on the rich cultural history of Sitka, Alaska and integrating traditional Tlingit practices into student life (i.e. smudgings, opportunities to participate in sweat lodges, clean and prepare fish, harvest seaweed, and gather berries and spruce tips).

Our classroom structure supports students with a wide range of learning styles. Students come to our school for different reasons. Some people are attracted to the student-led approach where each person’s curiosity is nurtured and students take ownership of their learning careers. Some students are drawn to the school the opportunities in credit recovery; credit deficiency may be attributed to a difficult period in a student’s life (legal involvement, financial hardship, challenges with family dynamics, substance abuse, transitioning back from mental health treatment). Some students come for the smaller class sizes and family-like atmosphere. Regardless of any individual student’s reason, we offer all students a warm, welcoming, and safe environment where she/he is accepted as they are, for who they are. Students’ unique differences are not only tolerated, but in fact are celebrated. Teachers are on a first name basis with students. When our young people struggle with attendance or social and behavioral issues, we use restorative circle practices to address the challenge as opposed to a traditional disciplinary model. Pacific High's values are RESPECT, ACCEPTANCE, HUMOR, HONESTY, PERSEVERANCE, and INTEGRITY and we highlight and give kudos every week to students who display these attributes in our school community.

One of our most successful programs at Pacific High has been our lunch program. Just within the past few years, our school stepped out of the district’s contract and implemented a student- and staff-run kitchen program where youth prepared meals from scratch. This program was later expanded to include breakfast four days a week. Additionally, our school receives donations through a Fish To Schools program in which local fisher men and women provide locally caught salmon and halibut to the schools. Our students have the opportunities to learn how to prepare local foods. A class of 2-4 students and an AmeriCorps Volunteer cook lunch each day. Student elect to take the class and earn credit for their work in the kitchen.

Since this program was launched, we have seen a significant and sustained increase in lunch consumption and teachers reported improvement in behavior and academic performance. The reality is that for most of our students, lunch is the most nutritious meal they consume during the day. For a few student, the breakfast and lunch they receive at school may be the only meals they consistently eat due to financial distress among our families.

Our kitchen program has grown and continues to evolve. A few years ago, our school received a grant to fund the development of standardized cycle menus with nutrition and culinary arts education modules so that the program can be replicated in small schools throughout Southeast Alaska and potentially the country. Currently one of our teachers offers a class in nutrition which also serves to complement the work students are doing in the kitchen.

We are proud of how far our school has come in terms of our kitchen programming. However, we would like to take things to the next step by having a fully functioning garden so that the compost from our kitchen feeds the garden and the garden feeds our students. Students would then have the profoundly impactful experience of participating with their food source from seed to plate. Our longer-term vision is that we can share what we are doing at our school with the rest of our district to effect change district-wide and have garden-kitchen programs starting all the way at the beginning, with our district’s youngest students at Headstart Program, locally called Wooch.een Yei Jigaxtoonei, “we are all working together” in Tlingit. We would love for our students to be able work with younger children in the community, feeling proud of what they have learned and eager to share that knowledge.

Gunalchéesh - Háw’aa