Pacific Oaks College is private college with its main campus in Pasadena, California and a second branch campus in San Jose. The college draws on Quaker principles and focuses on social justice. It offers full and part-time undergraduate and graduate courses at Pacific Oaks' California campuses as well as online. Pacific Oaks' anti-bias curriculum has created strong efforts to challenge social injustice and point out issues related to social changes, human development, and child development. Pacific Oaks also operates a children's school that has been in operation since 1945.
History
As World War II dragged on, members of the Orange Grove Monthly Meeting group actively participated in aiding refugees as part of the Pasadena Friends Center. The woman's group originally came together for mutual support, following their husbands sequester to mandatory work camps as conscientious objectors to the war. Six of these member families created a joint fund to launch a progressive education institute aimed at creating a utopian society of peace. The institute would focus on human development starting from early childhood and continuing to adulthood. On October 1, 1945 the Pacific Oaks Friends School opened with 10 teachers and 65 children ages two to four. The school was founded on the Quaker values of inclusion, social justice and valuing every human being. Pacific Oaks College was founded in 1958 following five years of offering upper-division courses through the UCLA Extension.
Academics
The college offers Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in addition to post-graduate teaching certification. These programs are focused on education, human development, and organizational leadership and change. The programs are organized into three schools:
In addition to its main campus in Pasadena, Pacific Oaks offers classes at sites throughout the state of California.
Andrew Norman Library
The Andrew Norman Library on the Eureka Campus supports the degree programs of Pacific Oaks College and Pacific Oaks Children's School, as well as independent faculty research. The collection, which comprises more than 17,000 titles, reflects the most current research and centers on early childhood education and curriculum development, human development, family systems and therapy, and child care.
