Student Life
Our Unique Culture
Students at Living Wisdom High School benefit from a rich and rewarding scholastic experience that begins in the classroom and expands to encompass all areas of student life; be it in casual conversation with peers, in a lecture, or discussing a complex topic with a teacher individually, our students express themselves with a culture of respect, enthusiasm, kindness, and joy. Walk through the doors of LWHS and you will be met with radiant smiles and a sense that you have come home!
Our faculty and students move through the world with respect and kindness for one another and for themselves. They support one another to take risks, embrace challenges, and develop the skills and attitudes that will bring them true success and enduring happiness. Through self-discovery, the cultivation of excellence, a spirit of adventure, a serviceful attitude, and receptivity to joy, our students emerge from high school as strong, capable, resilient, and mature young adults. They know who they are, and are ready to make a positive difference in the world around them.
Adventure & Travel
Each year, our entire school embarks upon one of our iconic Service Adventure Trips– an immersive experience designed to take the teen outside of their native habitat and further into the realm of adult responsibility and adventure. Some of our past trips have taken students to Italy, visiting the sights of Rome, Assisi, and Florence, where students had the opportunity to learn to navigate foreign customs, cities, and languages, as well as experience the rich historical and cultural heritage of the land; the great parks of Western America such as Yosemite, Zion, Grand Canyon, Red Rock, and more, where students learned to test themselves against nature as well as appreciate it’s splendor. Students apply their will and develop essential life skills, also, by learning to earn a portion of the funds needed to finance their trip through entrepreneurship, collaboration, responsibility, and creativity.
"America the Beautiful"
Short Film
*recorded & edited by LWHS students & teachers*
Immersion Days
Fridays at Living Wisdom are Immersion Days. Some weeks we are on campus and engage in workshops and integrated learning experiences. Other weeks we leave campus and enjoy experiential learning throughout the Bay. Monthly, students spend a day of service at Ananda Valley Farm where they relax into the calming influence of nature and learn about sustainable living principles. Longer field trips are scattered throughout the year, providing opportunities to serve, learn directly in the field, and come closer together as a school community. Immersive experiences are a highlight for many students and an essential component of our commitment to a balanced and meaningful education.
Mentorship & Counseling
The faculty are far more than teachers in an academic sense, they serve as wise mentors and friends to our students. Faculty and students mingle freely and constantly– students are able to access their teachers nearly as frequently and
as deeply as they feel inspired, and reach out for academic support as well as personal mentorship and counseling. Additionally, every student meets weekly with a faculty mentor in a one-on-one environment to discuss life, personal growth, academic planning, and goal setting. Our entire faculty is committed to the wellbeing of every student, and to bringing out the very best within them.
Clubs & Athletics
Students inspire the array of co-curricular offerings each year. Where there is enthusiasm and initiative, anything is possible and so, there is an abundance of opportunities to choose from or to create.
Athletics: PE credit is offered to students who participate in athletics within and out of school. LWHS has fielded teams in: volleyball, basketball, soccer, cross country, and ultimate frisbee. Additionally we host a weekly rock climbing club which meets on Fridays at Movement Gym. Clubs: In recent years students have organized and participated in clubs for: yearbook, rock climbing, music ensemble, chess, computer programming, art, educational teacher training, flag football, and Model UN.
After-School Study Hall
Campus remains open until 6PM four days each week for students to study, connect with faculty, and participate in after school athletics and clubs. Better than "office hours," these periods provide the opportunity for invaluable personal mentorship in a relaxed and open environment.
Service
Service, and an attitude of servicefulness is an excellent tool to increase one’s own level of happiness and fulfillment even as it positively touches the lives of others. Especially during adolescence, when there is often an increase in self-awareness and self-consciousness, engaging in serviceful activity is a way of drawing one’s awareness out of a contractive sense of self and into an expansive relationship with life —one which benefits both the recipient and the giver.
Students are required to complete 25 hours of service each year. But more than that, the Living Wisdom culture is one of servicefulness, and this weaves into the fabric of everyday life. Every member of the school community contributes to the care and maintenance of the classrooms and campus, learning essential life skills and taking pride in the upkeep and beautification of our shared space. More mature students are asked to serve in supportive leadership roles and they, in turn, inspire their classmates also to conduct themselves with a similar generosity of spirit and consideration for the welfare of the whole. In these ways and many more, service becomes a way of life, and not merely an activity to engage in at designated times throughout the year.
