Phillips Brooks School

School in Menlo Park, CA, USA

37°25′45″N 122°12′16″W / 37.42917°N 122.20444°W / 37.42917; -122.20444InformationMottoInspired learners. Inspiring life.Established1978Head of schoolDr. Scott EricksonGradesPreschool (age 3) – 5thGenderCo-edEnrollment296Average class size20Student to teacher ratio7.5:1Campus typeSuburbanAccreditationCalifornia Association of Independent SchoolsTuition$36,475–$43,400Websitewww.phillipsbrooks.org

The Phillips Brooks School is an independent, coeducational, preschool-grade 5-day school located in Menlo Park, California. The school is commonly known as PBS and was founded in 1978 by a group of teachers and administrators who split off from the nearby Trinity School. The enrollment of PBS is 270 students.^{[citation needed]} The school has the smallest class sizes of any school of its kind in the area.^{[citation needed]}

Phillips Brooks School has actively participated in efforts to make classrooms more attuned to the needs of students,^[1]^[2] including a focus on identifying the unique ways in which each child learns.^[3]

The school is named after Phillips Brooks.

Potential second campus

Phillips Brooks School had purchased a 92-acre (370,000 m²) lot in Woodside, California along Interstate 280 that it planned to redevelop into a second campus. Environmentalists expressed concern that the plans would result in the loss of 1,000 oak trees.^[4] Discord in the community regarding the school's development plans was a major issue in the 2001 Woodside Town Council elections.^[5] Ultimately the city government blocked the plans. As reported in the local newspaper The Almanac:

School officials balked over the town's open space easement language, saying it was too restrictive and would make building and operating the campus unfeasible. Town staff countered that Phillips Brooks' easement language was too full of loopholes and would not protect areas of pristine open space. ... The project was denied on a 4-3 vote.^[6]

References

^ SCHOOLS: Teachers taught to tune into students' needs - Children's Health Council regional site for teacher training. Palo Alto Weekly, September 8, 1999
^ Breaking the 'boy code': New movement advocates adapting schools and society to what works for boys, San Francisco Chronicle, July 13, 2003
^ NEW VIEWS OF HOW KIDS LEARN TEACHERS ARE TRAINED TO SPOT DIFFERENCES, San Jose Mercury News, August 14, 1999
^ SCHOOL PROPOSED IN WOODSIDE HILLS, San Jose Mercury-News, April 10, 2002
^ Andrea Gemmet, "Voter Guide 2001: Contentious campaign for Woodside council", The Almanac, October 24, 2001
^ Andrea Gemmet, "Phillips Brooks School drops Woodside campus plan", The Almanac, October 2, 2002, via Green Foothills, archived from the original on September 12, 2003