By Robin Shepherd

When it comes to education, smaller is sometimes better. Pinewood School, a non-profit, independent college prep school in Los Altos Hills, is a case in point. Pinewood is fully enrolled, with 600 students in grades K-12, yet student-teacher ratios are impressive at 8:1 in kindergarten and 20:1 in the largest high school classes.

Diminutive in size but not stature, Pinewood boasts a track record of 100 percent college matriculation. The school was recently granted the highest level accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and its rigorous curriculum is certified by the University of California.

“Our goal has always been to help our students develop academic stamina, intellectual vitality and self-esteem,” said Pinewood President and CEO Scott Riches. “We look for students who will participate fully in our programs both in and outside the classroom, and embrace our philosophy of a respectful, friendly campus environment.”

Despite a sluggish Bay Area economy, many parents are willing to pay annual tuition rates of $7,900 to $16,000 for the small-school experience that Pinewood delivers. The school continues at maximum enrollment, with a waiting list, as it has for many years. Applicants must pass an admissions test and interview with the school admissions committee. Incoming transfer students must have a strong academic record and two teacher recommendations.

Los Altos Hills zoning laws help determine maximum enrollment at each of Pinewood’s three campuses. The Upper Campus property, serving grades 7-12 and located in Los Altos Hills, is leased from the Palo Alto Unified School District. During its original 20-year lease, Pinewood made significant property improvements, including the construction of additional classrooms, a theater, science labs, a gymnasium and tennis courts. The school offered to purchase the property before lease expiration, but the Palo Alto school district declined the offer and instead opened bidding to re-lease the property.

Pinewood won the bid to renew its lease for another 20 years, but it wasn’t a slam-dunk. During the bidding phase, some worried parents transferred their children to other schools for fear that Pinewood might be forced to move.

“We are fortunate to have another 20 years at our current location, and we are actively seeking a 10-acre site with proper zoning where we can permanently locate our junior and senior high schools,” Riches said, “but those properties are scarce in the greater Los Altos area.”

The school owns two other campuses, on Fremont Avenue in Los Altos, for students in grades K-6. One of these campuses was developed around the original residence of Pinewood founders Gwen and Victor Riches.

The idea for Pinewood was born in 1959, when Victor, then a Stanford Research Institute employee, was leaving for an extended business trip to Australia. The couple decided that during Victor’s absence, Gwen would put her passion for education to work. She founded the Creative Workshop, a small school focused on drama and speech. Within a few short months her home-based school had grown to 65 students.

Running the school soon became a family affair, with Gwen developing curriculum, Victor guiding financial management, and their son Lynn serving as school headmaster.

Victor and his sons planted pine tree seedlings on their property, which became the inspiration for the school’s name. Within a decade Gwen had expanded the curriculum, with language arts and math, and attracted so many students that she and her husband moved their family to a new home.

The Creative Workshop became Pinewood, a full-time private school. By the late 1970s Pinewood was serving students from kindergarten through eighth grade, and in 1985 Pinewood’s new senior high school celebrated its first class of graduates.

“Commitment to small class size and a diverse curriculum enables us to carry out our long-standing mission to educate the whole person,” said Gil Brady, principal of Pinewood’s Lower and Middle Campus. “We want every student to experience that he or she has some thing to offer.”

The school strives to balance structured academics with enrichment programs in the arts and athletics. Its language arts curriculum is modeled on the Carden Method, which is used by public and private schools in 22 states.

Pinewood students have many opportunities to share the spotlight. Every grade stages an annual theatrical production, in which all students are invited to participate. Sports teams compete at Central Coast Section (CCS) and state levels. At the high school, if at least five students express a strong interest in a subject, the school endeavors to offer a relevant program. The school offered photography when students asked for it, and reintroduced speech and debate at the request of senior high school students who went on to participate in a model United Nations conference in San Francisco this year.

While Pinewood contrasts in many ways with public schools, the two share a common challenge: teacher retention. Pinewood teachers live primarily in the Peninsula area. Their salaries, on average, are slightly lower than those of their public school counterparts and comparable with salaries at other private schools.

“Keeping quality teachers, by being able to pay them a wage so they can remain in the Bay Area, is an ongoing challenge,” said Upper Campus Principal Mark Gardner.

Parents are spearheading the Pinewood Golf Classic next month. Proceeds from the tournament fund-raiser will go toward the Pinewood Faculty Retirement Fund, which matches teachers’ contributions toward retirement.

“We focus on giving our teachers all the resources they need,” Brady said. Pinewood’s lean administrative staff can respond quickly, without red tape, when teachers need equipment or other resources for their students. School administrators worked to enhance the school’s e-mail and voice mail systems, resulting in improved campuswide communications.

Pinewood teachers are hired for subject-area expertise, teaching ability and mentorship potential. Particularly at the elementary school level, this distinguishes Pinewood from other schools.

“With smaller class sizes, built-in prep periods, and a departmental organization, our teachers are more focused, they have more preparation time, and they can teach the subject they love most,” said Kathleen Pickett, the school’s curriculum director. “At the same time, our children gain exposure to several mentors and role models during their formative years.”

Pinewood is occasionally mistaken for a religious school or a school for children with learning disabilities. “We’d like people to know we are a challenging college prep school for hard-working students who score in the top 25 percent of their age group, and whose main post-high school goal is to go to the college of their choice,” Gardner said.

Between 2000 and 2002, a high percentage of Pinewood’s graduates went on to universities in the University of California system as well as New York University, Boston University and Northwestern University. Other graduates chose from a variety of private schools and smaller colleges across the country.

Parents looking toward their children’s college prospects are reassured by Pinewood’s accreditation, granted by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. To earn accreditation, school administrators, teachers, students and parents conducted an intensive yearlong evaluation of school goals, plans, curriculum and performance. Officials from the association reviewed evaluation results, visited the school for a reality check, and granted Pinewood the maximum six-year accreditation.

“We received accolades from WASC for the strength of our mentorship of students at Pinewood,” Pickett said.

As a son of the founders and a former Pinewood student, Pinewood President and CEO Scott Riches is ideally suited to guide Pinewood on its mission, and he doesn’t see the need for major changes. “There’s always room for improvement, and we’re continually tweaking here and there, but our fundamental educational philosophy is working well for our students,” he said. “What we are doing differently is developing a more collaborative style and communicating more with parents, who want to be apprised of our big-picture plans.”

A parent representative for each grade level meets regularly with teachers and administrators to create a shared perspective and encourage feedback.

Pinewood parents are responding enthusiastically. Recently, 11th-grade parent representative Joan Mosher led efforts for a career day at the high school. Students attended presentations by 16 Pinewood parents with careers in such areas as government, law enforcement, high technology, architecture, medicine and entertainment.

U.S. Naval Reserve captain and Pinewood teacher Carol Zink addressed careers in the military. Pete Slosberg, founder of Pete’s Wicked Ale and Cocoa Pete’s, discussed entrepreneurship. Kaiser Hospital Chief of Cardiology William Raskoff gave students a virtual look at an angioplasty procedure and talked about careers in medicine.

Kelly Endersby, Katie Fields and other parent volunteers recently chaperoned junior high school students for a day of community service.

“We want parents to understand how our curriculum and teaching methods support our goals for developing the whole student,” Brady said. “If we can instill in our students positive learning attitudes and habits, and help them build a sense of self-worth and self-confidence, they will be better equipped to make sound decisions and be successful throughout their high school and college years.”