Recently in education, there has been a strong movement away from memorization, rote knowledge, and convergent thinking. Instead, the more important skills that are now being promoted are creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving. Peninsula School has been steeped in these “21st Century” skills for nearly 100 years!

Peninsula graduates are community minded, independent learners, strong individuals and possess a unique comfort with adults. Many high school teachers report that they could always pick out a Peninsula graduate due to their genuine interest in subject matter, their enthusiasm for diving deep into a topic, and their willingness to remain after class to engage the teacher further.

Here are some words and phrases about Peninsula graduates that were captured through a survey:

  • COMMUNITY MINDED - Considerate of others, collaborative, inclusive, appreciate diversity, outgoing, ability to compromise, know how to run a group and participate appropriately in one.

  • LEARNERS - Love learning, intrinsic motivation, curious, high self knowledge, self advocates, persevere, proactive, creative, out of the box, know how to learn, learn for its own sake.

  • INDIVIDUALS - Comfortable with self and being unique, grounded, fearless, define own success, being unique is OK, adaptable to change, mature.

  • COMFORT WITH ADULTS - Overall, Peninsula graduates leave the school with many excellent skills that will serve them well in high school and in life beyond.

Secondary School

Peninsula graduates attend public high schools such as Menlo-Atherton, Sequoia, Gunn, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Woodside, Mountain View, and Carlmont. Many attend local independent high schools as well, such as Brightworks, Castilleja, Crystal Springs, Harker, Kehillah, Lick-Wilmerding, Mid-Peninsula, Notre Dame, Nueva, Sacred Heart, and Woodside Priory. Students also explore local public and charter schools such as Design Tech and TIDE Academy.

One parent of an alumnus observed, “Kids from many other schools have knowledge of facts. But Peninsula kids have integrated knowledge." Another parent of alumni reported about his two children who graduated several years ago. One child was upset because her fellow students were not interested in learning — they were simply interested in getting better grades.

College and Life

Peninsula students are known for defining their own success. After high school our alumni choose varied paths in life. Some have pursued advanced degrees, world travel, family life and careers in the arts. They attend a range of colleges including Ivy Leagues, UC and CSUs, Liberal Arts Schools, Community Colleges, and Trade Schools. No matter where they go, Peninsula graduates lead interesting lives and have fascinating careers.

A parent once remarked, "[At Peninsula] students are given the skills to navigate their lives."