Pacific Ridge School

Pacific Ridge School is an independent co-educational college preparatory school for students in grades 6–12. The private school is located in the Bressi Ranch community of Carlsbad, a coastal resort town located in North San Diego County, California. The school educates 685 students enrolled during the 2022–2023 school year. Pacific Ridge's main academic and athletic rivals are The Bishop's School located in La Jolla, La Jolla Country Day School located in University City and Francis Parker School in Linda Vista.

History and leadership
In the fall of 2002, several families began thinking about the prospect for an independent middle and high school in North County San Diego, California. They crafted a mission statement to guide the development and operation of the school, formed a founding Board of Trustees, and purchased land in south Carlsbad for the campus. The school opened in 2007.

Dr. Eileen Mullady, an educator with a background in secondary and higher education, came to Pacific Ridge School from Horace Mann School in New York. She took up the position of founding Head of School in the summer of 2005.

Current Head of School, Dr. Bob Ogle, joined the founding staff in 2006 and assisted Dr. Mullady and the Board of Trustees implement the vision for Pacific Ridge School, as well as its construction and programs. He became Co-Head of School in July 2011 and succeeded Dr. Mullady upon her retirement in April 2013.

Dr. Ogle holds an Ed.D. and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and an M.A. in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and B.A. degrees in English and Economics from the University of California, Davis.

Pacific Ridge welcomed its founding seventh- and ninth-grade students in the fall of 2007. Additional grades were subsequently added and the first graduating class was in 2011.

Harkness Learning
Pacific Ridge School is Harkness Learning. Instead of sitting at rows of desks facing a blackboard, classes of 15 students sit with their teacher around a large, oval table, called a Harkness table. Because of this arrangement, the exchange of information during a lesson differs from that in a traditional classroom. Students listen, ask questions, and learn from the teacher and from each other.

The school maintains a student-to-faculty ratio of 7:1.

Pacific Ridge School's curriculum and graduation requirements exceed those of the State of California diploma and UC/CSU eligibility.

Athletics
Pacific Ridge School is a member of the California Interscholastic Federation San Diego Section and competes in the Coastal Conference.

Middle school teams compete in the South Coast Middle School League and offer a “no cut” participation policy, so that all students have the opportunity to play team sports and try a sport with which they may not already be familiar.

Academic competition clubs
Model United Nations:

The Pacific Ridge School team participates in several regional and national MUN competitions each year, and hosts the annual North Coast Regional Conference in partnership with High Tech High North County.

Academic League:

Pacific Ridge School participates in the North Division of the North County Academic League, competing against Mission Vista High School, Rancho Buena Vista High School, Vista High School, Guajome Park Academy, Oceanside High School and El Camino High School.

Science Olympiad:

Pacific Ridge School competes in the San Diego Regional Science Olympiad in Divisions B and C.

Robotics:

Pacific Ridge School hosts both Middle School and Upper School Robotics teams and competes in SeaPerch Underwater Robotics and FIRST Tech Challenge. Both teams have progressed to regional and national competitions.

Student publications
Global Vantage, a student-run publication and service learning group collaborates with students from Kibera Girls Soccer Academy in Kibera, Kenya and Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego. The print and online magazine collects and edits stories from authors around the world, and has won numerous national awards. These include the Edmund J. Sullivan Award (2014), Gold Crown Award (2014, 2012) from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the U.S. Department of Education's 2012 National Education Startup Challenge.

The Element is a student publication featuring digital media arts, studio arts and poetry.

Ridge Report is a weekly online student newspaper.

School publications
The school publishes its magazine, "The VIEW" twice yearly, as well as weekly e-newsletters to the school community.