• An all-Honors, heterogeneous curriculum that leads to College Readiness for All.

• Student-Centered, cooperative, active learning and teaching

• A cooperative adult culture of acceptance, reflection, and support that models for students a whole-school learning community

• A vertically aligned grade 7-12 continuum of curricula

• Education of the whole child that focuses on social, civic, and academic growth

• Persistence over adversity

• Dedication to community

The goal at UPCS is to educate resourceful, reflective, and responsible scholars who approach new learning situations with a unique sense of eagerness and confidence. While engaging in college preparatory content, UPCS students are expected to evaluate, analyze, infer from, retain and apply information. This becomes possible, we believe, when students are trained as thinkers—when they are encouraged to practice, to notice, to inquire, and to experiment. Under these circumstances, instruction must be personalized, and content must be taught alongside study skills relevant to the 21st century; both latter and former will be tied to real world application. It is also necessary, if students are going to go on to pursue post-secondary course work and eventually become leaders within their chosen fields, that learning be framed as an ongoing process—complete with pitfalls. Failure cannot be seen as reason to give up, but rather the opposite, a catalyst to do better next time. Our students shall discover that persistence coupled with real, focused effort, will bear fruit and be effective. All are deserving of success, but none can achieve it without hard work. Our teachers will embolden students to pursue their passions, encourage them to value the journeys they take to reach their goals, and allow them to take responsibility for and ownership of their own learning.