Pacifica Stories

Remembering September 11th: 25 Years Later

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Twenty-five years ago, on September 11, 2001, our nation experienced a day that changed us forever. For those who remember that morning, the memories remain vivid. The confusion. The disbelief. The realization that our country was under attack.

At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Seventeen minutes later, Flight 175 struck the South Tower. Flight 77 struck the Pentagon at 9:37. At 9:59, the South Tower collapsed. At 10:03, the passengers and crew of Flight 93 fought back against the hijackers before the plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. At 10:28, the North Tower collapsed.

By the end of the day, 2,977 people had been killed. They were parents, children, husbands and wives, friends, colleagues, and first responders who ran toward danger while others were running away.

In the days and weeks that followed, Americans experienced an extraordinary sense of unity. Flags appeared everywhere. Strangers helped strangers. People lined up to give blood. Communities gathered to pray. First responders, medical professionals, clergy, teachers, and ordinary citizens came together to serve. For a time, many of the divisions that so often define us seemed smaller. We remembered that we belonged to one another.

The Inheritance We Have Received

Today, twenty-five years later, many of our students were not yet born. September 11th is history to them rather than memory. That creates a responsibility for those of us who remember.

We are inheritors. Every generation receives a world it did not create. We inherit institutions we did not build, freedoms we did not earn on our own, traditions we did not begin, ideas we did not discover, and sacrifices we did not make.

C.S. Lewis warned about what he called “chronological snobbery”, the tendency to assume that because something belongs to the past, it is old, backward, or less intelligent than what we believe today. We want to resist that temptation at Pacifica.

We honor, respect, and learn from the past. We stand on the work of generations who came before us. We preserve what is true and good; we learn from their mistakes, and where previous generations have done wrong, we have the humility to acknowledge it and ask forgiveness. We do not worship the past, but neither do we dismiss it. We inherit gifts from those who came before us. And with that inheritance comes a responsibility: to remember, to understand, to honor, and to pass on what is good.

The proper response to our inheritance is stewardship. We ask: What have we received? What is worth preserving? What needs to be strengthened? And what will we pass on to those who come after us?

Unity, Courage, and Care

These are values we want our students to understand, not simply as words, but as ways of living. Unity reminds us that our differences do not have to divide us. For Christians, this conviction goes even deeper: every person is made in the image of God. Unity does not mean we all think alike. It means we recognize that we belong to one another.

Courage is choosing what is right when we are afraid. The firefighters, police officers, and passengers of Flight 93 demonstrated a courage that remains part of our national memory. Christian courage calls us to stand for truth, defend the vulnerable, speak when silence is easier, and love when it is costly.

Care for others reminds us that we are responsible for one another. Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. That command is lived in the classroom, on the athletic field, in our families, in our friendships, and whenever we see someone who needs our help.

Remembering Forward

To remember September 11th well is not simply to remember what happened. It is to ask what we will do with what we have inherited.

Our students will inherit a world with challenges we cannot fully anticipate. Our responsibility is to give them more than information with which to face it. We want to give them wisdom, faith, and character.

At Pacifica, we are not simply preparing students for college and careers. We are teaching students to think and live well, to seek truth, recognize what is good, pursue it with courage, disagree without becoming enemies, and understand that freedom is not simply doing whatever we want, but becoming the people we were created to be.

Today, we remember. We remember the lives lost. We remember those who ran toward danger. We remember the families whose lives were permanently changed. We remember the strangers who became neighbors. And we remember a nation that, for a time, rediscovered its unity.

Today, we honor and remember September 11, 2001. We remember because we are connected to the past. We remember because we have received an inheritance.

Sincerely,

Jim Knight

Head of School

Meet Ryan Tahbaz, Spanish Teacher and Soccer Coach

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Pacifica is proud to spotlight Ryan Tahbaz, who teaches Spanish and coaches soccer. In only a year at Pacifica, Ryan has already made a meaningful impact through both his classroom and coaching roles.

Ryan’s educational journey took him from Chatham University in Pittsburgh to earning a Master’s Degree from Rome City Institute in Italy. Over the past two years, he has focused on education and coaching soccer, combining his love of languages, athletics, and mentoring students.

One key takeaway from college, Ryan says, is the importance of personal responsibility: “Take as much responsibility upon yourself as you can. You will get out what you put in.” He brings this mindset into his classroom and soccer program, encouraging students to invest fully in their learning and growth.

Faith has been a grounding force throughout Ryan’s life, particularly during his travels and time away from family. “Raised Catholic, it was a life-changing moment to have received the Eucharist directly from Pope Francis at the Vatican in September 2022,” he reflects. He feels blessed to bring his skills and passion to Pacifica and to leave a positive impact on his community.

Ryan has faced profound personal challenges, including the loss of his sister, Denine, to a brain tumor at age 22. “It was the most difficult period of my life, but I had some incredible people around that inspired me to move forward with my life, honoring her legacy and radiating joy and kindness along the way,” he shares.

When asked what he loves most about Pacifica, Ryan says it’s the people. “All members I have met on the staff are friendly, sociable, and have their own personality. It’s a community I was immediately welcomed into and one I have really enjoyed being a part of!”

In the classroom, Ryan hopes students develop a lasting connection with Spanish: “I want my students to come out of the classroom with a comfortable intimacy with the Spanish language that they may never lose.” On the soccer field, he aims to teach teamwork and dedication: “I need the players to come out of the soccer program knowing what it takes to work hard and be a member of a team while playing the sport they love.”

Outside of school, Ryan enjoys playing and watching soccer, traveling, learning new languages, tasting new foods, and enjoying these experiences with friends and family. With his passion for teaching, coaching, and community, Ryan continues to make Pacifica a vibrant place for students to learn and grow.

Heroes Assemble: Marvel vs. DC at This Year's All School Retreat

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Picture a dining hall full of high schoolers and faculty screaming "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver or "Firework" by Katy Perry at the top of their lungs. Imagine a cabin full of freshmen debating, with total seriousness, whether Superman could actually beat Spiderman in a fight. That's the kind of atmosphere that filled the buses, bunks, and ball courts last week as Pacifica's entire student body headed to Lost Canyon, a Young Life camp tucked into the high desert of Northern Arizona, for All-School Retreat.

This year's theme split campus into two rival universes: Marvel versus DC. Team Marvel came dressed in red, Team DC in blue, and for four days the competition played out across water olympics, team games, puzzles, and a lip-sync battle that had the whole camp on its feet. When the scores were tallied, Team DC walked away with the Pacifica Cup, led by Ryan Tahbaz as Superman and Violet Comer as Wonder Woman.

But underneath the wigs, capes, and friendly trash talk, Retreat has always been about something quieter. Each evening, students gathered for talks led by PACARTS Director Nate Overby, who challenged them to think about their life journey, identity, and where Jesus might come in to both. Those conversations carried into cabin time, where students sat with their cabinmates and faculty leaders to talk honestly about doubt, faith, and the questions that don't come with easy answers. On the last night, campers took ten quiet minutes under the Arizona sky, no talking, no phones, just space to think or pray or simply notice how big the stars are out there.

None of this happened in isolation from the fun. Between sessions, students filled their free time on the zip line, the rock wall, the big swing, or down at the pool, and the Device-Free Policy meant they were doing it with each other instead of a screen. That combination—high energy by day, real conversation by night—is what makes Retreat feel less like a trip and more like a reset. Students come home tired, sunburned, and a little closer to the people sitting next to them in class every day. That's exactly the point.

Back-to-School: First Week Recap

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Pacifica’s first week set the tone for a meaningful year ahead. The campus was alive with conversation, friendship, community, and formation as students, faculty, staff, and parents came together across so many moments, from New Student Orientation and our Dedication Service to Dr. Peter Kreeft’s evening lecture, Triple MMM, Triple PPP Parent Dinner, athletics, and the beginning of classes.

By the end of the week, we were more connected, more engaged, and, hopefully, more present to one another and to the opportunities in front of us.

It was wonderful to see so many of you throughout the week. We are grateful for the energy, joy, and sense of community that marked these first days and look forward to all that lies ahead.

See our highlights from our First Week in the galleries below.

Sincerely,
Jim Knight
Head of School

Dedication service: welcoming the class of 2030 into pacifica

MMM: Movies, Munchies & Madness
& PPP: THE PACIFICA PARENT PARTY

Senior Peyton Gendall's Address to Pacifica's Newest Seawolves

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

At Pacifica's Dedication Service, senior Peyton Gendall welcomed new freshmen with a message on courage, grace, and truth. Read her poignant words below.

Good Evening,

My name is Peyton Gendall, and I am about to begin my senior year. I am here as a fellow student, filled with gratitude for my first three years at Pacifica, filled with excitement to welcome you all, and eager to extend some words of counsel from someone who once sat where you are now.

This past summer, my family and I were in the Canadian Rockies, and one of the many beautiful places we saw was a famous mountain called Snow Dome in the Columbia Ice Fields. It is not one of the tallest mountains - at only 11,000 feet - but it is famous because it is capped by a glacier that supplies water that flows to three different oceans. It is known as an apex mountain - one of only two on this continent. Some of Snow Dome’s water makes its way into streams that feed the Columbia River, which ultimately empties out into the Pacific Ocean. Some enters streams that feed the Athabasca River which flows north – through the Mackenzie Basin – and ultimately into the Arctic Ocean. Some water flows into the Nelson River basin to converge with the North Saskatchewan River all the way to the Hudson Bay, then out to the Atlantic Ocean. It is astounding to think of how far those waters travel, and how different their travels are.

Let’s pretend that today we are that glacier on top of Snow Dome. Though you will be together for the next four years, you will each be formed in different ways that will set you on course for the oceans of your future.

Will you take steps of courage and faith?

In a few weeks the entire Pacifica student body will be headed off to Arizona for our all school retreat. Looking back on my freshman year, retreat was an incredibly formative experience into the rest of my time here at Pacifica. I encourage you to be bold. When stepping onto the bus, challenge yourself. Sit with someone new and take the opportunity to get to know them. You’re embarking on this beautiful high school journey together, so make the most of every connection. In your retreat cabins you will talk about life. You will discuss the joy that life brings, but you will also discuss its hardships and learn how to best support each other. I ask each of you to not be afraid of being vulnerable. During my junior year I was placed in a cabin with some of my best friends, along with some classmates I was still getting to know. We had some of the most beautiful conversations that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. We talked while sitting in wonder and awe of the creation that was around us. We talked about the love of Christ and what faith actually means to us. We talked about how each person has meant so much to us throughout the years at Pacifica, even if we didn't see each other everyday. We all took steps of courage to be vulnerable in the cabin, but the best part about the Pacifica community is that you never have to do courageous things alone. When your heart is willing, God will use it. When you step out in courage and faith, He will meet you there.

Will you take steps of courage and faith?

Here is my second question:

Will you receive grace and truth?

As new students, you are entering into a community that is different than any you have entered before, and here is why: this is a community that is relentlessly committed to a shared experience of God’s grace and truth. Yes, this is the Pacifica motto, but it is much more than that. It is a daily, moment-by-moment recognition that all truth belongs to a wise and benevolent God who knows each of our stories, beginning to end, and whose heart of love is expressed in the giving of his Son for our redemption. Our experience of grace and truth, then, is not limited to the classroom, but is meant to be lived out in our sports teams, performing arts productions, our STEM clubs, and on the Knight Quad.

What does it look like to live in grace and truth?

It means that we challenge and pursue one another. We serve and sacrifice on one another’s behalf. We allow each other to make mistakes, but we take responsibility and seek forgiveness when mistakes happen.

It means that our confidence does not come from our intellect, our accomplishments, or our social influence, but it comes from our recognition that we are made in the image of God, and made to walk in fullness of joy.

When we are confronted by challenges and obstacles - as we inevitably will be - we are humble enough to seek help, and to lean on our teachers and peers. When someone comes to us for help, we remain committed to them and we speak to them the wisdom and grace of God.

Will you take steps of courage and faith? Will you receive grace and truth?

My third and final question is this:

Will you be a good steward of this opportunity?

Our theme for this year at Pacifica is… Be present. Everyone in this room, you, your family, and the people beside you have worked so hard to get where you are sitting right now. Take a moment to soak everything in. You are entering high school. This moment is a gift, and like any gift, what you do with it matters. Don't let a moment, or these years, pass you by. I believe that being thankful is how we honor and steward the time we've been given. Speak kindness while you have the chance. Encourage one another because that is what Christ calls us to do. Don’t ever be afraid to raise your hand in class, we are all learning together. I invite you to live in wisdom, humility, kindness and generosity while you are here at Pacifica.

In the guidance and wisdom of God, on a warm afternoon - in May of 2030 (or earlier for some of you!) - you will be sent out from this place having been known, loved, shaped and challenged by our staff, faculty, teachers, coaches, and friends. You will then head out into different oceans, like the waters of the Snow Dome glacier. My yearning for each of you - and my words of welcome to you - are a hope that you will be able to take joy (when your time here is done) in the ways that you deepened and enriched this community. We believe that you will!

We are so thankful for each of you, and we are excited to welcome you to Pacifica!

The Long Way Home: A Letter to Pacifica Families and Students on 2026-27 Changes

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Dear Pacifica Families,

I spent a good part of this summer in the company of a man trying to get home.

Over the month of June I read The Odyssey straight through, not in excerpts the way most of us met it in tenth grade, and then went and saw it on the big screen. What struck me this time wasn't the monsters. It was the ache. Odysseus had every reason to stay put. He was offered comfort, ease, even immortality. He wanted his own rocky, unimpressive island instead.

The Greeks had a word for that: nostos, the homecoming. Pair it with algos, their word for pain, and you get a word we still use: nostalgia. Literally, the ache to get home.

I want to be careful here, because nostalgia has a bad name in education. It usually means an adult insisting that things were better when they were young. That is not what this letter is about. But there is a sturdier version of the word, the one Homer meant, and it describes where our faculty landed after a long year of asking hard questions about how our students are actually doing.

This year, Pacifica is going home.

If you were in high school in the 1990s, a good deal of what your student describes at dinner this fall is going to sound familiar to you. That is on purpose. Three changes, and the reasoning behind each.

1. Dressing for the Work

Beginning Wednesday, August 19, students will wear Pacifica polos Monday through Thursday, with spiritwear on Fridays. This is not a new idea for us. It is what we did before 2020, and we are picking it back up.

Homer never lets a hero go into anything important without telling you what he put on first. The armor, the cloak, the sandals. It is never decoration; it is a signal about what is about to be asked of him.

Clothes tell us what kind of room we are walking into. Students who dress for class are, in a small and undramatic way, agreeing that class is a place where something is expected of them. It also quietly removes a daily social calculation that no fifteen-year-old needs before first period.

2. Binding Ourselves to the Mast

Beginning that same morning, Pacifica will be a phone-free campus, bell to bell. We will be using a system called NuKase: a hard-shell locking case. Students secure their own phones each morning and carry them, locked, throughout the day. Nothing is confiscated. Nothing is stored in an office. At dismissal, students unlock at a station on their way out.

Here is why I keep coming back to Homer on this one.

Odysseus wants to hear the Sirens. He knows the song will destroy him, and he wants to hear it anyway. So he does something remarkable: he does not resolve to be strong. He has his crew tie him to the mast before the ship gets close, because he understands that his future self, in that moment, will not be able to be reasoned with.

That is the honest case for phone-free school. It is not a judgment about your child's character. Some of the most disciplined adults I know cannot leave a phone face-up on a table. These devices are engineered by very talented people to be difficult to resist, and asking a fourteen-year-old to win that fight alone, forty times a day, from a pocket six inches from the notebook — that is not a fair fight, and we have watched enough students lose it.

So we are tying ourselves to the mast. Not because our students are weak, but because the song is strong.

Reaching your student during the day: If you have an emergency and need to get in touch with your student, please call the front office at 310-828-7015 and we'll bring your student to the phone. Students can also come to the office to make calls, and they will be allowed to unlock their phones when leaving campus for lunch, off-campus events, and other special circumstances. And if your child needs a phone for use with a medical device or another specific accommodation, please connect with your child's academic counselor so we can discuss how best to support your student.

3. The Long Way Home

You will see more paper and pencil this year. More writing done in class, by hand. More reading from physical books. Fewer assignments that begin and end on a screen.

Somewhere in the middle of the poem, Odysseus is offered a shortcut. Calypso will give him ease, beauty, and eternal life, and he will never have to make the crossing at all. He turns it down. He wants the harder thing, because the harder thing is the real one. And because the man who arrives at Ithaca is only that man on account of the crossing.

We are living through the arrival of an extraordinary shortcut. I am not a pessimist about it; our students will work alongside these tools their whole lives, and we will teach them to do it well. But there is a narrow and irreplaceable window in which a young person's mind is being built, and it is built the same way it always has been, by struggling with a sentence that will not come out right, by sitting with a problem past the point of comfort, by producing something mediocre and then making it better.

A finished essay is a product. The person formed while writing it is the process. We have decided, deliberately, to spend this year caring more about the second one. That means some assignments will be less polished than what a student could have generated in thirty seconds. We consider that a feature.

What We Are Asking of You

Two things, and I do not ask them lightly.

Expect the discomfort, and expect it to pass. The first two weeks will be the hardest. Some of that resistance will arrive at your kitchen table before it arrives at my office. Schools that have made these changes report the same arc almost universally: real friction early, and then something unexpected — hallways that are loud again, and students who look up.

Tell us what you are seeing. If something isn't working, I want to hear it from you rather than read about it in October. You can reach me at whirsch@pacificachristian.org.

To Our Students

You are going to think some of this is unfair. I would have at your age, and I am not going to pretend otherwise.

So here is the honest version. We are not doing this because we think you are irresponsible. We are doing it because we would like to give you something back that has been quietly taken from most people your age: long stretches of uninterrupted attention, and the particular satisfaction of having done something difficult yourself.

Telemachus spends the opening of The Odyssey stuck, waiting on someone else to fix his situation. Nothing changes for him until he gets up and goes looking. That is the year we want for you. Not comfortable. But yours.

Also: the lunch table is going to be a lot funnier. Give it three weeks.

A Last Word

Odysseus does not return to the same island he left, and neither will we. We are not trying to undo twenty years or pretend the world outside our gates is the one our parents graduated into. That would be sentimentality, and sentimentality is not a strategy.

But it is worth saying plainly that the oldest story we teach here is also a homecoming story, a father watching the road, a son a long way off, and a welcome that was never in doubt. The instinct to return to what is good is not nostalgia in the weak sense. It may be the truest instinct we have.

We will see you on Wednesday morning, bright and early at 8 a.m. Polo on. Phone locked. Pencil sharpened.

Warmly,

Wally Hirsch

Associate Head of School for Student Affairs
Pacifica Christian High School

Movies, Munchies & Madness (MMM) & The Pacifica Parent Party (PPP)

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

At the start of every school year, it is a Pacifica tradition to begin with two great gatherings, one for our students and one for our parents.

For students, Triple MMM, Movies, Munchies & Madness, takes place on Friday of the first week of school. Then, on Saturday evening, we welcome our parents to Triple PPP, the Pacifica Parent Party.

The two events are similar in purpose, even if they feel a little different in practice. Both are incredibly well attended, both are on campus, and both are designed to do something that matters deeply at Pacifica: build community, strengthen friendships, and create connections.

Typically, about 85% of our student body attends Triple MMM. It is energetic, loud, a little chaotic, and a lot of fun, exactly what you might expect when hundreds of high school students gather together to kick off a new year.

Triple PPP has a slightly different feel, perhaps a bit more reserved, but every bit as important. This year, we already have more than 300 guests planning to attend. It is a wonderful opportunity for parents to reconnect with old friends, meet new families, and begin the year feeling connected to the broader Pacifica community.

There is no RSVP required for Triple MMM. Parents, however, we would love to know you are coming to Triple PPP. Please register here.

We hope you will join us as we begin another year together. At Pacifica, relationships matter, and these two traditions are a joyful way to start building them from day one.

PACARTS Season 2026–2027: Pursuing Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Through the Arts

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 04:00:00 +0000

A Note from the Director of PACARTS on The Art of Formation

At Pacifica Christian High School, student artists are formed by encountering the world with curiosity,imagination, discipline, and wonder. We believe that all truth, beauty, and goodness find their source inGod, and the arts provide a unique opportunity for students to reflect His creativity and explore His creation. At PACARTS, the creative process becomes an intersection of faith and learning as students develop artistic skill while growing in wisdom, character, and purpose.

Each year the PACARTS season tells a unique story designed to form student artists. This year’s journey moves through interconnected expressions of creativity: story, expression, imagination, collaboration, voice, harmony, and community. Each production, exhibition, and performance represents a different way students engage the creative process.

Our season begins with story through two fall theater productions from the genre of concept theater.The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again] and SIX the Musical invite students to examine how stories are created, preserved, interpreted, and retold. Through history, literature, humor, and theatrical innovation, students engage the complexity of the human experience, while participating in the Great Conversation that has shaped our culture.

The Winter Art Gallery moves
us into expression, as students transform observation, imagination, and artistic exploration into works of visual beauty. Through drawing, painting, mixed media, and photography, students experience the journey from practice to creation to exhibition as they learn how art invites us to see the world more carefully and understand it more deeply.As spring approaches, Peter and the Starcatcher invites students into imagination, challenging them to create new worlds through storytelling, collaboration, and inventive stagecraft. The Spring Music & Dance Concert celebrates collaboration, reminding us that artistic excellence is cultivated through trust, discipline, and shared creativity. Through SCREEN Student Film Festival and Wolf PACappella, students discover the power of voice and harmony—using film, music, and performance to communicate ideas, connect with others, and contribute their unique gifts to the world.

i.Sight Festival brings the entire Pacifica community together in celebration the PACARTS season. With more than 50% of the student body participating, i.Sight embodies the heart of PACARTS: creativity belongs to everyone. It is a reminder that the arts are not simply something we produce; they are something we experience together as a community.

The greatest accomplishment of a PACARTS season is not measured only by the quality of the final performance or exhibition. It is measured by the formation of students who emerge from the process—students who have learned perseverance through rehearsal, humility through collaboration, courage through vulnerability, and wisdom through engaging the world around them. Our hope is that every PACARTS experience forms thoughtful creators who recognize their gifts as a reflection of God’s creativity and understand their responsibility to contribute beauty, truth, and goodness to the world.
Thank you for celebrating this journey with us.

Nate Overby
Arts Director
Pacifica Christian High School

Meet Katie Ragins '26

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 04:00:00 +0000

As she begins her next chapter at San Francisco State University, Pacifica graduate Katie Ragins '26 leaves behind a legacy of leadership, service, and a deep commitment to helping others.

Throughout her time at Pacifica, Katie was involved in Young Life and Red Cross Club, while also serving her community through Girl Scouts and other volunteer opportunities. But one of the most transformative experiences of her high school years came last summer when she attended American Legion Auxiliary California Girls State, a leadership and government program for high-achieving young women from across California.

Selected to represent Pacifica, Katie spent a week at Sacramento State University participating in a hands-on simulation of local and state government. She was elected County Recorder/Auditor, helped manage county finances, and collaborated with students from diverse backgrounds across the state.

"It was the most amazing thing I've ever been able to be apart of by far," Katie says.

One of the highlights of the program was writing a bill focused on increasing social programs to help prevent abuse of foster children in foster homes. The bill was selected by her city's senator and ultimately passed in the Girls State Senate.

More than anything, the experience confirmed Katie's future aspirations.

"Getting be apart of the process of forming a government solidified my desire to work in human rights and social justice law."

That passion for serving others has been shaped by her years at Pacifica. When asked what she loves most about the school, Katie points to the community.

"Because I believe you're only as good as the people around you and I have the best people around me."

Katie credits her friends with teaching her "how to value other people's opinion and what genuine friendship looks like." She also appreciated the way Pacifica strengthened her faith and expanded her perspective.

"Coming here and gaining more understanding of my faith has helped me to know that I want to spend every day helping people that need me like Jesus did."

Academically, Katie especially enjoyed U.S. History with Mr. Kim, whose interactive approach brought history to life. One of her favorite Pacifica memories was the school's 2024 Spring Break trip to the United Kingdom, where she was able to combine her love of history with her first trip to Europe.

As she begins college at San Francisco State, Katie plans to continue pursuing volunteer work, social justice initiatives, and her long-term goal of becoming a lawyer. With a heart for service and a passion for making a difference, she is well-positioned to leave a lasting impact on the communities she serves.

2026-2027 Theme of the Year

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Over the past several years, Pacifica has reflected on time and our place within it.

We began by Looking Up: lifting our eyes beyond ourselves toward God and the eternal. We then spent a year Looking Back: celebrating God’s faithfulness and remembering Pacifica’s first twenty years with gratitude and humility. Last year, we turned to Looking Forward: casting vision, embracing hope, and imagining what God might do in and through us.

This year, we arrive at the present.

Our theme for 2026–2027 is:

Be Present: Fully Here. Fully Known. Fully Alive.

In a distracted age, presence has become increasingly rare.

We live in a culture of constant motion, always remembering, recording, planning, scrolling, anticipating, achieving, and moving on to the next thing. We replay the past and worry about the future. We become fragmented, anxious, and disconnected. We are everywhere and nowhere at once.

But Scripture invites us into another way.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” - Psalm 46:10

Biblical stillness is not passivity. It is attentiveness. It is confidence. It is learning to stand firmly in reality because God is present and at work.

Because of the Cross behind us and the Resurrection ahead of us, we are free to live now. With the past and future in view, we enter the present with courage. We can be fully engaged in our classrooms, friendships, families, work, worship, and community. We can pay attention. We can listen. We can celebrate. We can forgive. We can create. We can serve.

We do not live trapped in regret. We do not live consumed by anxiety. We live in peace.

This year, Pacifica will ask:

What does it mean to truly pay attention?
What does it mean to love people who are right in front of us?
How do we cultivate depth in an age of distraction?
How do we become people of clarity, courage, kindness, confidence, humility, and wisdom?
How do we engage the concerns of our day without losing our souls?

Being present does not mean becoming trapped in the moment or worshiping the now. Presence is not immediacy. Presence is not self-focused.

Rather, understanding our past and our future frees us from being addicted to the present moment and from believing that this world is all there is.

Our understanding of time is ultimately held together by something greater: the eternal.

So this year, we integrate and claim all elements of time as we seek to think and live well. We are thankful for the past, look to the future with hope, and reach for the eternal as we are fully present today.

Blessings,

Jim Knight

Head of School

Pacifica Stories

Remembering September 11th: 25 Years Later

Meet Ryan Tahbaz, Spanish Teacher and Soccer Coach

Heroes Assemble: Marvel vs. DC at This Year's All School Retreat

Back-to-School: First Week Recap

Dedication service: welcoming the class of 2030 into pacifica

MMM: Movies, Munchies & Madness & PPP: THE PACIFICA PARENT PARTY

Senior Peyton Gendall's Address to Pacifica's Newest Seawolves

Will you take steps of courage and faith?

Will you receive grace and truth?

Will you be a good steward of this opportunity?

The Long Way Home: A Letter to Pacifica Families and Students on 2026-27 Changes

1. Dressing for the Work

2. Binding Ourselves to the Mast

3. The Long Way Home

What We Are Asking of You

To Our Students

A Last Word

Movies, Munchies & Madness (MMM) & The Pacifica Parent Party (PPP)

PACARTS Season 2026–2027: Pursuing Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Through the Arts

A Note from the Director of PACARTS on The Art of Formation

Meet Katie Ragins '26

2026-2027 Theme of the Year

MMM: Movies, Munchies & Madness
& PPP: THE PACIFICA PARENT PARTY