“In 4 years the change I saw in my daughter was nothing short of amazing” – John P, parent
Island Pacific School is a Middle School on Bowen Island, near Vancouver, BC – dedicated to transformative education for boys and girls aged 11-15 years (grades 6-9).
Small By Design
We’re small by design – just 72 students, a maximum of 18 students in each year – so every child gets personal care and attention from our amazing teachers.
“The ferry rides are so much fun; it’s a great way to hang out with friends and feel more independent. I never imagined a school like this.
– Peter, Student
Middle School Matters!
We believe the years 11-15 are crucial to a child’s development – in many ways the most formative years.
Yet too often they turn into a ‘blah’ zone and too
many kids get bored or otherwise lose their way.
Not at IPS! We have 30 years of expertise turning those years into experiences kids love and cherish – exciting, challenging years that set them up to excel in High school, College and – most importantly – Life!
We push academic rigour AND nurture well-rounded, happy humans – empowered and equipped to pursue their dreams and make a difference in the world!
Oh, The Places You’ll Go…
Catch a glimpse of what your child will be doing in 4 short years:
“Our fundamental job as educators is to help equip and inspire students to cultivate their humanity”
– Ted Spear, Founder
Why Before How - Our Purpose
Thirty years ago when our school was founded, renowned teacher Ted Spear had already spent 20 years mulling questions like why are we doing what we’re doing? What are the outcomes we want? When they graduate after grade 9 what will they know? How will they be?
Kids today face many challenges. The world faces
many challenges.
IPS students take on challenges through outdoor adventures; explore their creativity; do community projects; learn to have empathy for those less fortunate.
We nurture their love of learning; encourage curiosity; develop character; inspire them to think for themselves; teach them how to get things done; how to influence others through communication – and so much more.
We marry the tradition of learning from the past, with modern ideas of students following their passions.
How many kids of 11-15 have weekly classes called “Practical Reasoning”?!
“We initiate them into the great conversations of human inquiry, so they can find their own voice”
Ted Spear, Founder
Sharing Purpose With Students
That’s all very well, but talking to 11-15 year-olds about educational theory is likely to make their eyes glaze over and have them dreaming of different universes.
Instead, we focus on making our expectations and aspirations clear and simple, and we’ve gotten pretty good at getting the message across.
For example, we stress three virtues – Wisdom, Courage, Integrity – and talk about what we’d like people to say about our kids when they graduate at grade 9.
Wisdom
“There goes a kid with a
head on his/her shoulders”
People who know them will see them as knowledgeable and curious about the world – i.e. kids with heads on their shoulders. That’s ‘middle school’ for ‘wisdom’.
Courage
“Very self-confident
for their age”
Courage comes from confidence and we want our kidsto have a warranted sense of confidence as a result of having met significant challenges – outdoor trips, masterworks etc. We are careful to distinguish confidence from arrogance.
Integrity
“If you make a
promise you stick to it”
We want people to see them as good humans, ‘good kids’; people who are kind, not jerks. People who keep their word.
"Thank You For Being Here"
There’s a lot of big ideas that inform our curriculum – more than we can go into here – but perhaps a small moment in the daily life of the school will give you a flavour of what makes IPS different.
The words “Thank You For Being Here” are spoken multiple times a day at IPS, before every class.
When a teacher comes into a classroom the students stand up. The teacher looks every student in the eye and says, ‘Thank you for being here”.
The students are then invited to take a seat and the class begins.
It’s a small ritual but it speaks volumes about the mutual respect at IPS between students and teachers.
The kids are saying ‘we’re here to learn’ and the teacher is saying ‘I am ready to teach and it’s a privilege to do my job.’
We’d Like You To Be Here Too!
There’s much more to say – and more to read on this site if you want to – but there’s also no substitute for being here and experiencing IPS for yourself and your child.
A chat by phone is fine too.
We’re small and friendly and there’s lots of ways to get to know us.
Are You An IPS Parent?
We choose our students – and our parents carefully – so it’s important to ask is IPS right for you as a parent?
Because our school is small by design it works best when parents and faculty work together, sharing the same passion and philosophy for their kids’ education.
Parent involvement is also part of the joy of your child attending IPS. Our parents have fun!
For example, parents recently helped raise money to build a new facility:
What Our Students & Alumnae Say
One thing you’ll notice when you visit IPS is that our students are unusually articulate – and no wonder.
Here’s what a few alumni say
IPS is an International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Program school with a maximum of 72 students. We are accredited by CAIS and are members of ISABC.