Thank you for your support of PSCS and other community organizations embodying missions and values we prioritize.

We’re ALL building something extraordinary, and we’re doing it together.

"I just have to say, this is awesome. my child's report cards in the past were not at all from a strengths-based lens. We are grateful for PSCS to really see my child and who he is. Thanks for giving him such great opportunities to grow and learn and make connections. I read the positive statements about him and it makes my heart full. I know this is such a challenging time and the thoughtfulness, flexibility and grace by all at PSCS throughout this is so appreciated."

— PSCS Parent

“The tragedy of school shootings underscores my gratitude for PSCS: First, as a community that uniquely embodies respect for all; second, as a model to the world of engaged and caring people, of all ages; and third, as my daughter's school. Not only do I trust for her physical and emotional safety, I also trust the depth and quality of the learning—on high school shootings, movies, teenage drinking, college, politics, (everything!)—that I know she will be surrounded with at PSCS.”

—PSCS Parent

"Thank you for giving me the courage and tools to develop my passions."

—PSCS Alum

"I am very grateful for all the staff, friends, and families that are a part of PSCS.

I know so many wonderful human beings because of my relationship with the school.

My life and my self would not be the same without you.”

—PSCS Volunteer

“...I’ve gone to a school where my voice has been valued, where I’ve been given the opportunity to make my own choices, and where compassion has been paramount. A place with teachers who have actually cared about me and how I’ve been doing. A place where I’ve learned how to read. And when I say learned how to read I don’t mean learned to read, I mean learned how to read...”

—PSCS Senior Credo

"I am writing to express my thanks for your vision and labor in creating PSCS, and for the positive impact PSCS has had on my daughter. I am so pleased to report that she feels very safe at PSCS and is genuinely excited to go to school—she is also invested in being responsible and meeting the expectations of the team there...I know you all work hard to make this vision possible for the entire school. In addition, you all helped make it possible for my daughter, specifically, to be able to attend."
—PSCS Parent

Featured Profile

Johnny Spangler

While growing up, PSCS alum, Johnny Spangler, was never sure why he needed to take a math class. After all, that’s what calculators are for, right?

Then he got excited about taking scuba lessons.

“You can’t do math on a calculator when you’re under water,” he remembers thinking. “You need to be figuring out how many pressure zones you are under water, compared to how long you’ve been under water, so you should know how long you should take going up so you don’t get the bends.”

He adds, “This is very important stuff.”

It was an early lesson in the power of authentic learning. He says the most important things he learned at PSCS were not just the mathematics and the other academic subjects. For Johnny, it was about self-direction and figuring out what he loved to do, learning to be comfortable in the unknown, knowing how to find information once he got curious about something, and interacting with adults as peers.

“That’s what PSCS does,” he says. “It gives you these skills that you don’t even realize you have, that just make life easier.

After leaving PSCS, he spent two years in AmeriCorps and two years studying improvisational comedy before enrolling at Bellevue College. He earned an undergraduate degree psychology and then pursued a master’s degree in education psychology at Seattle University. Now Johnny works with kids at Ryther Child Center.

“There were a lot of people around me that the moment something got hard, they shut down,” Johnny remembers. “It was obvious that it had been ground into them through years and years and years of school that the moment something got hard, they had a lot of history of not being able to do it, so they assumed they weren’t going to be able to do it this time. I didn’t have that.”

He’s been a PSCS volunteer for years, offering courses like Mad Science, Improv, Finding Yourself, and Swing Dancing.

He says, “PSCS taught me a love for teaching.”