Why PCS? | Park Century School

Why PCS?

As a parent looking for a school that can adequately support your child's learning differences, your journey starts in researching many options and weighing the best ones for your family and child. Programming and curriculum are often prioritized in your decision, but other factors such as location, cost and recommendations from both trusted loved ones and therapists may also play into the final choice. We believe that Park Century School offers an exceptional best-in-class education for children with qualifying academic needs, and we'd love to show you why.

Why PCS Middle School?

As your child transitions to middle school, their instruction is adjusted to include a special focus on study skills, executive functioning, character education, and self-advocacy, structured in anticipation of the more rigorous curriculum they will face in high school. Examples of these focus areas include:

Who is the PCs Student?

Individualized instruction

We crack the code.

Exceptionally intelligent kids with language-based learning issues have a unique brain function that processes reading and writing differently. Our teachers are highly trained to recognize what each child needs individually and guide the instruction accordingly. We don’t follow one approach - it’s about tailoring the instruction to every child’s specific needs.

Every child will learn to self-advocate

I don't need to be fixed, I just learn differently.

We empower your child to advocate for the tools they need to learn. They develop skills and gain the confidence to communicate their learning style. They will get the same foundation as any other child to be set up for lifelong achievement.

We look at the whole child

Education is more than just the academics.

We approach your child in these areas: intellectual, psychological, social and moral. We incorporate Social Emotional Learning (SEL) along with academic and clinical, so that kids are developing real-world skills such as working on a team, developing relationships, practicing empathy and making responsible decisions.

We foster good humans

Every PCS child learns respect and compassion.

We focus on character in both education and social settings to help your child develop perspective and become moral, caring,
ethical, responsible, and engaged citizens. We provide a signature values framework, the Panther Way, that students can incorporate into their understanding of the world and skills as they grow to become conscientious adults.

Our parent community

Bonding through shared experiences.

We embrace our parents with respect and understanding just as we do our kids. Parents become a part of a community that sticks together as we journey this education path alongside each other. We encourage all to get involved in the Parents Association, which includes monthly meetings to gather information on LD education and to lend support to each other.

Our success stories

The transformations for children and families are long & wide.

Again and again at PCS, we are inspired by the life-changing experiences that families tell us, from renewed joy and confidence in their child to academic triumph in their middle school years and beyond. It's what keeps us going, after 50+ years, to continue to bring the most up-to-date learning approaches to brilliant kids who learn differently.

Executive functioning

These mental processes, including planning, organizing, strategizing, remembering details, and keeping motivated, are used every day to learn, work, and manage daily life. We teach tools that help manage anxiety that comes with increased expectations while honing their focusing skills and ability to follow directions.

Study skills

We pay special attention to moving each student toward advanced writing and the mastery of 5-paragraph thesis essays. Our 7th & 8th graders complete comprehensive studies of the brain, learning how they access information through their different learning strengths and teaching them the valuable skill of resiliency.

Character education

PCS students receive character education through community service engagement, advisory, and our buddy program, which pairs them with younger students to provide mentorship and guidance during their first years at PCS, helping them build trusting relationships.

Self-advocacy

Each 8th grader writes, produces, and edits biographical documentaries explaining their learning challenges and their gradual journeys in self-advocacy, self-reflection, and understanding. Students then present these documentaries to the entire community as a culmination of their work in self-advocacy.