Pinecrest Schools have been offering affordable and outstanding education to children in Southern California for the past 60 years. With eight campuses, Pinecrest is one of the largest private school programs in the U.S. The schools welcome students from kindergarten to middle school. As part of the Pinecrest Schools, the Simi Valley campus thrives to achieve excellence in educating children from kindergarten through middle school. Like all other Pinecrest Schools campuses, Simi Valley offers a broad and strong education, emphasizing in the importance of working hard in and out of the classroom. Campus Director, Kris Nilsen sat down with us to answer a few questions about the campus’ programs.
Hi! This is Lisa Williams with Local Online Visibility and I am with Pinecrest Schools Simi Valley. Hi Kris, what is your title?
Kris Nilsen: I am the Campus Director here.
How long have you been with Pinecrest Kris?
Kris Nilsen: I’ve been with them over 26 years.
Wow, that’s a long time these days. When you think of Pinecrest, what comes to mind?
Kris: Nilsen Family-orientated education, high quality education. Extremely enriched education. The best quality education you can get.
Kris, what special events and programs do you have in Simi Valley?
Kris Nilsen: The best program we offer is small class sizes that emphasize the personal attention all students deserve. We do have an accelerator reader program where students read interesting things on their own and they take quizzes online. We have a lot of speciality classes and we also are very lucky to have a Grammy-nominated music educator that teaches our students from pre-school to eighth grade the different kinds of music.
What would you say is unique about your location?
Kris Nilsen: We have really embraced technology working with Apple and we have redone our library where we have 15 mini iPads. Now, each class can come in and each student can have their own iPad and explore the world of apps and education, technology. We have Apple TVs so the teachers can access all kinds of information on the web and bring the web into their classroom.
That is very interactive learning. What would you like prospective parents to know about your school Kris?
Kris Nilsen: I would like them to know how much we care about their child. Not just about their education, but are we preparing them for life experiences, we are preparing them to be positive citizens when they leave our school and leave high school. Every day we come to work to make sure their child is successful.
So as Campus Director what would you say about your school?
Kris Nilsen: I would say I want every student to be happy. Education is very important and curriculum is very important, but as a parent and educator myself, I think it is so important that students are happy and want to come to school and they won’t want to leave at the end of the day because their friends are here. They have staff they can be close with and can talk with, and we are here to ensure their success and once they leave, they will want to come back and see us because they have such wonderful memories of being here.
The Simi Valley campus teaches students science, art, languages, sports, but also how to respect each other and themselves. The school has an anti-bullying pledge as well as a dress code and a student conduct policy. Registration can be made any time all year long. Students must undergo a quick interview and test to see their abilities. Students can earn a great education for life at the Simi Valley campus. More information is available online at: http://www.pinecrestschools.com or at 4974 Cochran Street Simi Valley, CA 93063.