Overview
Our philosophy of education is traditional yet innovative. Our students focus on essential knowledge and skills necessary for success. And 100% of our students go to the best in higher education. In fact, alumni visit our school with the same story: their freshman year was easier than any in high school! How do we do it? We're unique in that the parents who founded the school in 1958 wanted a traditional curriculum that stresses spiritual values and civic virtues. We remain loyal to this original mission.
What do students learn at Pilgrim?
Humanities: Visit the campus and you will find students in English classes reading Shakespeare, Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” or William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.” To emphasize core literacy skills, our 6th and 7th graders participate in a double-period humanities course and our English program culminates with AP courses in 11th and 12th grade. In history, our students study everything from the ancient empires of the near east to Art History to our 8th graders integrating their study of American history to their class trip to the Presidential Inauguration to our 12th graders connecting their exploration of American government to their class trip to rebuild homes in New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity. Our World Languages program has a foundational class in Latin for 6th graders, a language rotation of Chinese, Spanish, and Japanese for 7th graders, and then a continuation of those languages through level 5 AP from 8th through 12th grade.
Math and Science: Our mathematics department is partnered with Loyola Marymount University’s nationally acclaimed CMAST program. In addition to taking a standard course sequence from pre-algebra through AP Calculus, our math instructors monitor each student’s progress through grade-level skill targets in order to ensure that all students succeed in math. In science, each middle school student explores fundamental topics in physical and life science through an integrated, three-year curriculum. In high school, each student takes biology in 9th grade, chemistry in 10th, and then enrolls in elective courses ranging from AP Chemistry, AP Biology, Theoretical and Applied Physics, and Anatomy.
Fine Arts: Our fine arts program offers a wide variety of course for all of our students. In middle school, 6th and 7th graders explore drama, film/media studies, music, and art through a quarter based rotation. Our 8th graders take four full semesters of Arts courses—including Film Production, Drawing and Painting, Drama, and Music. If the middle school students would rather concentrate on instrumental music, they also elect to take a year-long course in our newly created Band and Orchestra. All high school students take between two to four full semesters of art courses each year. These classes include: Creative Writing, Digital Video Production, Yearbook, Newspaper, Art 9, Advanced Studio Art, Concert Singers (the Pilgrim Choir), Music History, Music Theory, HS Band-Orchestra, Beginning Dance, and Advanced Dance.
Athletics: Just as we develop the intellect and the soul, we exercise the body: our rich athletic program (member CIF Heritage League) includes football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, cheerleading/dance squad, weight-training, and physical education. The Pilgrim Patriots play for the joy of the game, learning essential lessons of fair play.
ESOL: We believe that every student can succeed at Pilgrim. In order to meet this goal, we have developed a comprehensive ESOL program for students who are learning English. (ESOL stands for courses in English for Speakers whose background is in Other Languages). We offer small class sizes and individualized attention for students in these courses from Ms. Annie Kuo, who in addition to her full-time job at Pilgrim, also teaches ESOL at the college level.
Chapel: Students attend weekly chapels in our beautiful neo-Gothic chapels where they learn traditional liturgy and discuss ethical issues. Because of our harmonious diverse campus, students learn tolerance and respect from each other as they associate with people from different backgrounds and faith traditions.
