Welcome from Dr. Erickson

Thank you for taking time to visit our website and learn about our school. As you watch videos, browse photos, and read about our program, you’ll become acquainted with engaged, active, and joyful student-learners.

You’ll meet their teachers – dedicated early-learning and elementary educators and life-long learners in their own right whose commitment to academic excellence is matched with extraordinary care for children and their growth.

You’ll hear from their parents, as well, who partner closely with the school and show their commitment and generosity every day, in ways big and small.

You will read about the core values and mission that ground our school, tie us to the legacy of our visionary founders, and establish a moral foundation for PBS alumni who are making a difference in their communities.

Phillips Brooks School distinguishes itself with a unique combination of academic strength and an emphasis on emotional intelligence. This approach to program excellence ensures that PBS children flourish because we pay attention to them as individual learners, in partnership with their families. PBS students graduate as confident and empowered learners.

I invite you to visit so that you and your family can experience first-hand this extraordinary school and our beautiful campus. Come see the excitement on students’ faces, experience their teachers’ enthusiasm, and feel the strong sense of community.

Warmly,

Dr. Scott Erickson
Head of School
serickson@phillipsbrooks.org
650-854-4545 x112

P.S. If you’re looking for a place to start your exploration of our site, you might want to read Where We Begin – a description of our Early Learning Center and Kindergarten Programs – or take a look at the 10 Things We Know and Love About PBS.

ENGAGE: Notes from Scott

Dr. Scott Erickson is an independent school leader and has been Head of School at Phillips Brooks School since 2011. He successfully led a negotiation process to extend the school’s lease through 2062, an effort to re-imagine PBS’s approach to educational technology, an entitlement process to grow the school, and a market study to launch a new brand in 2014. He has positioned PBS to initiate its first-ever comprehensive capital campaign to invest in faculty with creative solutions for talent retention, establish an innovative Invention Program, and build a community center.

Scott implemented the school’s first formal curriculum review process called the PBS Curriculum Deep Dive and designed a Program and Teaching Dashboard that uses an evidence-based methodology to track success metrics and key performance indicators. He designed a new faculty compensation system, added a new Emotional Intelligence Program, expanded PBS’s STEM-curriculum, and revamped the Early Learning Center into a full-day program. Scott has also focused on expanding parent education, optimizing community relationships, and partnering with the board to strengthen the school’s financial position.

A frequent speaker at workshops and conferences, Scott serves on the Board of Directors at Common Sense Media as well as the Advisory Boards for Independent School Management and Art & Science Group. He founded and convenes the Peninsula Heads Group to create a collaborative environment among independent schools on the Bay Area Peninsula. Prior to moving to San Francisco, Scott was Middle School Director at the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington D.C. He began his independent school career as a teacher, chaplain, and humanities department chair at St. Paul’s School, a coeducational boarding school in New Hampshire. An Iowa native, Scott’s undergraduate degree is in music, and he holds a doctorate from Uppsala University in Sweden, where he lived for six years.

Welcome from Dr. Erickson

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