Directory

Protestant · Pacifica (Peninsula)

PacBay

“Ambitious, Joyful, Engaged”

Students
~80
Ratio
9:1
Tuition
$28k

What makes this school special

  • Students declare a concentration the way a college student picks a minor, choosing one of four Major Distinctions that match their interests
  • A 37-acre campus overlooking the Pacific, with a cross-country trail on school grounds and an outdoor-education block of surfing, mountain biking, and hiking
  • Every senior takes a seminar on where their own ambitions meet questions of faith and justice
  • Opened in 1955 as Alma Heights Christian Academy, named for a Pillar of Fire bishop who publicly defended the Ku Klux Klan; the school incorporated separately and reopened as PacBay in 2018, a change its incoming principal made a condition of taking the job

Academics

Curriculum

Four Major Distinction tracks (engineering, philosophy, design, global studies) over a UC-approved core, with Bible and world-religion electives

Advanced Placement

15 AP courses

See the course list

World languages

French, Mandarin, Spanish

Signature programs

  • Major Distinction Program — engineering, philosophy, design, global studies
  • Outdoor education on the coast (surfing, mountain biking, hiking)
  • Senior seminar on faith and justice
  • World Vision Ignite service-learning partnership
  • Weekly flex days and faculty office hours

College matriculation

Princeton University, Boston University, Biola University, Westmont College

See the full list

UC admissions

In fall 2025, 18 students applied to the UC system from this school; 16 were admitted to at least one campus, and 7 enrolled.

What these numbers can and can’t tell you

Athletics, arts & activities

Athletics · Private School Athletic League (CIF Central Coast Section)

SoccerCross CountryVolleyballBasketballTrack & Field

Arts

Art FoundationsAdvanced ArtCeramicsContemporary PhotographyGraphic & Digital DesignDesign for PublicationFashion DesignArchitecture & Interior DesignTheatre Arts

Life there

Tuition includes

  • Student fees

Often on the same list

San Francisco Christian School

Protestant

Nativity High School

Catholic (co-ed)

Rise University Preparatory

Protestant

Sources

  1. Admissions — the inquiry-form-first process, the interview, decisions within a week, space-available applications after the winter deadlines, the ISEE dropped and scores optional, school hours, the "teacher/student ratio is 1:9", the high-school sports, the visual and performing arts classes, and the colleges graduates have been accepted to (Princeton, Boston University, Biola, Westmont, plus UC campuses; the complete list is only available from the admissions office). The posted deadlines are the 2026-27 cycle's, now spent, so ours render as windows
  2. Affording PacBay — 2026-27 domestic high-school tuition ($27,878.40 annual; international tuition is $33,501.20), the $300 per-child enrollment deposit in place of an enrollment fee, tuition covering student fees, and what it doesn't cover (field trips, graduation, AP course and exam fees, textbooks, athletics); the $60 third-party application charge, the two payment plans, and the mid-February aid deadline with tax forms due mid-April
  3. High School — the small-college framing, the four Major Distinctions, the 37-acre campus, CIF Central Coast Section membership and Private School Athletic League play, the strength and conditioning club. Its quick-stats marquee also claims 25 AP courses and five world languages; both run ahead of the course list the school files with UC, so this page isn't our source for either number
  4. About Us — vision, mission and core values, the 2018 renaming and separate incorporation, the elementary school phased out in 2020, the cross-country trail, the senior seminar on faith and justice, the World Vision Ignite partnership, outdoor education, the flex days, and the motto ("Ambitious, Joyful, Engaged", the site-wide tagline)
  5. UC A-G course list — Pacific Bay Christian School — the 2026-27 list the school files with the University of California: 15 AP courses, and French, Mandarin, and Spanish as the languages taught. UC's own record notes the school was formerly Alma Heights Christian Academy. The 2025-26 list carried 16 APs and five languages (Latin and Biblical Greek have since come off), and swapped physics and computer science for chemistry and environmental science, so the roster moves year to year
  6. Some Christian schools are finally grappling with their racist past and segregated present — Andscape / The Hechinger Report (Aug 2020) — the 1955 founding by the Pillar of Fire Church the year after Brown v. Board, the Alma White namesake and her 1925 statement defending the Klan, and Michael Chen's hiring as the school's first principal of color on the condition that the name change
  7. CDE Private School Affidavit, 2025-26 — high-school enrollment (83 in grades 9-12; 137 across the whole school, with nobody enrolled below 6th grade)
  8. NCES Private School Universe Survey — students of color (60 of 181 students white in 2023-24, whole school), the 9.9 school-wide student/teacher ratio, coed, grades 6-12, ACSI membership
  9. ACS WASC Directory of Schools — accreditation status: Accredited (checked August 2026; the directory's "K-12" span predates the elementary phase-out)
  10. SamTrans PCX and Route 110 — the two routes between Linda Mar Park & Ride and Daly City BART

Details checked August 2026