VALUES-BASED LEARNING
PBA's value-based curriculum emphasizes rigorous academic, universal Buddhist values, and the development of students' courage to nurture peace.
PBA's core academic graduation requirements - students must earn four full credits of language arts, four of social studies, three of science, three of math (including the requirement to complete Algebra 2) and three foreign language - serve as a baseline to qualify PBA graduates for admission to most colleges and universities.
In 2013-14, the school changed from a traditional six-period school day of five core classes across two semesters to a modified block schedule of two daily core classes meeting five days weekly for six weeks. There are six cycles in a school year, three per semester. All core classes meet in the first two blocks of the day; students take semester-long electives in the afternoons. The innovation permits the school to schedule students for 6.0 academic credits per school year rather than 5.0 academic credits, and for the creation of the new line of don courses for grades 9-11, that the school called "Peace Cores."
