The Pegasus School

The Pegasus School is a co-ed, non-profit, non-sectarian, private day school on a 14-acre (5.7 ha) campus in Huntington Beach, California.

History

In 1984, Laura Hathaway founded The Pegasus School.

Hathaway’s vision was to create an educational community where it would be safe for gifted students to be smart; in which students’ strong intellectual challenges would be matched by a thoughtful social and emotional embrace; a place where teachers would provide a curriculum of high content and high interest to encourage students to “build wings so bright minds can soar.” The Pegasus School emerged from a collaboration with the University of California, Irvine to develop academically accelerated classes for gifted students based on the model created by Dr. Julian Stanley at Johns Hopkins University.

Hathaway’s dedication led to expansion of the school from her gifted summer camps to a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade educational program. She hired a core group of outstanding teachers and established standards of high academic expectation with an appreciation for the gifts that each individual brings to the community. In the 1990s, the school expanded to include a wider range of bright and motivated students who clearly benefited from the school’s commitment to building a community where it was safe to be smart. The school purchased its current facility in 1995 and then began work to refurbish classrooms and expand buildings. The Palley Complex which serves fourth and fifth graders was added in 1997 and the Hathaway Activities Center was built in 2000 to provide a home for performance, art, and student athletics.

As the school expanded, she centered the community in core principles of gifted education. It was Dr. Hathaway’s conviction that great gifts brought opportunities for great leadership and that it was the obligation of great schools to build this leadership for the future. In 2007, the school’s Vision Committee completed a study of outstanding independent schools across the United States and created a vision statement that led to the Portrait of a Pegasus Graduate- a compelling roadmap for building the next generation of leadership. After an extended battle with cancer, Dr. Hathaway passed away in 2009.

John Zurn was appointed the second head of The Pegasus School in February 2010. In the fall of 2010, Zurn introduced Traits for Success to Pegasus and along with the school’s Board of Trustees, initiated the formation of a Strategic Plan Committee to build upon the work of the 2007 Vision Committee and to develop blueprints for leading The Pegasus School into the future. Following John Zurn, Jason Lopez joined the Pegasus community in July 2014 as the third head of school.

Average class size

Pre-Kindergarten:16 students in a classroom with two teachers Kindergarten: 18 students in a classroom with a teacher and teaching assistant First through Fifth grades: 20 students per classroom with a teacher and teaching assistant Sixth through Eighth Grades: 16-18 students in a classroom with a teacher and teaching assistant

Recognitions

The Pegasus School is a nationally recognized blue ribbon school^[1] This school is also listed on the GreatSchool.org website.^[2]

Notable faculty

Laura Katz Hathaway (1941–2009), - Director and Founder - selected as a member of the U.S. delegation to the U.S.-China Joint Conference on Early Childhood Education in Beijing.^[3][4][5] She was also the national coordinator for the American Mensa International, Gifted Children Resource Programs.^[6]

Environmental aspects

The school is an energy star pledge participant.^[7]

References

External links

• The Pegasus School