You take the lead, we have your back.
Our student-centered program sets you on your own journey. Vistamar’s intimate school size and supportive environment allow you the freedom to take risks, explore, and discover your unique talents and passions.
Vistamar’s academic and student life programs provide challenges and opportunities to ensure
you become the best version of yourself. We offer personalized and experiential opportunities that give you the space to explore who you are and the impact you want to make on the world. And we’re also a community that cares about health and wellness as much as goal setting and achievement.
"The most important lesson Vistamar has taught me is to never be afraid of failure. Whether deciding to take a hard class or taking a clutch shot in a basketball game, Vistamar has shown me that true success never comes without a few leaps of faith."
AP & HONORS PROGRAM
Choose your path by making a commitment to stretch yourself. At Vistamar, we support wide access to the AP experience and remain open to all students participating who are willing to make the commitment they require.
—Justin H. Vistamar ‘24
Our challenging academic program includes a robust offering of AP, Post-AP, and Honors courses. As part of this approach, we stress balance to ensure individual academic programs allow students to live full, happy, and healthy lives. Recent alumni often remark that college was manageable for them because of what they learned and how they learned at Vistamar.
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
21 full-year course credits including:
• Four years of English
• Three years of History
• Three years of Math
• Three years of a World
• Language other than English
• Three years of Lab Science
• One year of Visual or Performing arts
• Three years of Electives
• 9 out of 12 trimesters of Fitness or Athletic team participation
• Four years of ungraded “Exploratories” investigating co-curricular interests
• A Capstone Senior Project
Learn more about Vistamar’s unique curriculum at vistamarschool.org/academics
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You take the lead, we have your back.
Justin H. ‘24
Our student-centered program sets you on your own journey. Vistamar’s intimate school size and supportive environment allow you the freedom to take risks, explore, and discover your unique talents and passions.
Vistamar’s academic and student life programs provide challenges and opportunities to ensure
you become the best version of yourself. We offer personalized and experiential opportunities that give you the space to explore who you are and the impact you want to make on the world. And we’re also a community that cares about health and wellness as much as goal setting and achievement.
Justin is heavily involved in the life of the school. He’s part of the school Honor Council; the Ambassador Leadership Team that helps with Admissions events; the Student Hiring Committee; and tutors in the peer math tutoring program and our Writing Center. He is also on the Varsity Basketball and flag football teams. Outside of school, he is the co-founder of a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization centered on fighting food insecurity in developing countries and interned this summer at a venture capital firm focused on investing in women of color entrepreneurs.
AP & HONORS PROGRAM
Choose your path by making a commitment to stretch yourself. At Vistamar, we support wide access to the AP experience and remain open to all students participating who are willing to make the commitment they require.
Our challenging academic program includes a robust offering of AP, Post-AP, and Honors courses. As part of this approach, we stress balance to ensure individual academic programs allow students to live full, happy, and healthy lives. Recent alumni often remark that college was manageable for them because of what they learned and how they learned at Vistamar.
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
21 full-year course credits including:
• Four years of English
• Three years of History
• Three years of Math
• Three years of a World
• Language other than English
• Three years of Lab Science
• One year of Visual or Performing arts
• Three years of Electives
• 9 out of 12 trimesters of Fitness or Athletic team participation
• Four years of ungraded “Exploratories” investigating co-curricular interests
• A Capstone Senior Project
Learn more about Vistamar’s unique curriculum at vistamarschool.org/academics
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HUMANITIES
We integrate English and history rather than teach them as two separate subjects. Our innovative curriculum incorporates economic, cultural, religious, and geographic study to provide a foundational understanding of cultures across time and space. We emphasize project-based learning. Interdisciplinary topics, projects, and discussions maximize the crossover benefits of investigating the historical context of literature and exploring the cultural production of political action.
WORLD LANGUAGES
Our goal at Vistamar is that you become proficient in a world language with the ability to communicate effectively in real-life situations.
We offer Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, which are the most spoken languages in the world along with English and Hindi. All of our classes are 100% immersive and scaffolded based on the level of the class. At the entry level, we focus on fluency and everyday usage of the language. Students progress to a cognitive academic language proficiency curriculum, focusing on topics they might encounter in a multidisciplinary humanities curriculum, such as literature, arts, or music, taught in the new language. We also offer an option for heritage speakers.
VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS
Student artwork and original music fill walls and halls of Vistamar, as creative expression is part of the culture of the school. We encourage you to develop your passions and experiment outside your comfort zone. Our faculty of “working artists” fosters your creativity as doers and creators. You’ll choose from among jazz band, rock ensemble, theatre and film including acting and production, and visual arts such as 2D and 3D art, photography, and digital composition. We offer classes through the advanced and AP level including AP Music Theory. Our many performance opportunities give you the space to develop and showcase your talents.
MATH
We do math differently here. VistaMath is an integrated mathematics program adapted from Phillips Exeter Academy. This is a fully problembased, student-centered, investigative approach. At Vistamar you learn to speak the language of math – gaining the conceptual and practical math skills to apply to your future work.
Learn more about Vistamar’s unique curriculum at vistamarschool.org/academics
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SCIENCE
Our science curriculum at Vistamar focuses on integrating disciplines taught by subject specialists each year. You'll gain a solid foundation in physics, chemistry, and biology your first two years, which prepares you for advanced courses in areas that interest you in your last two years. This design allows subject knowledge to build as your critical thinking and math skills develop.
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ROBOTICS
At Vistamar, you can expand your critical thinking and problem solving skills through learning and applying computer science and robotics skills. Our project-based curriculum gives you an active role in choosing your learning goals and developing competencies. Programming classes, AP Computer Science, Robotics classes, and team competitions challenge students to grow as designers, computational thinkers, and global collaborators.
ATHLETICS AND FITNESS
We offer 20 teams in 13 sports at the varsity, junior varsity, and freshman/sophomore levels. Some 60 percent of our student body participates on a team during the year. Some of our graduates go on to play in college. All of our student-athletes gain valuable life experience through our athletics program. Those who do not join a team can participate in on campus fitness electives to fulfill their fitness requirements.
EXPLORATORY
We build time into our schedule for experiential learning. We want you to have opportunities to explore what you’re passionate about and develop new interests. Some ways our students explore their interests: VistaSports Network, Life Drawing, Campus Mural Project, Vistamar Podcast, Yearbook, Classic SciFi Book Club, Gardening and more.
Learn more about Vistamar’s unique curriculum at vistamarschool.org/academics
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7:1 student- to faculty ratio
78% of faculty have advanced degrees
SMALL CLASS SIZE
With a 7:1 student/teacher ratio and an average class size of 14, Vistamar’s exceptional faculty provide strong individual support as you navigate the rigorous and innovative academic curriculum and wider school program.
BEST IN CLASS TEACHERS
Our teachers are not only extraordinary academics and administrators; they are also passionate and dedicated educators who form respectful and long-lasting relationships with students. Every day, our faculty works to inspire you to think expansively, find connections between yourself and others, and consider your place as world citizens.
78 percent of our teachers have advanced degrees, including eight with PhDs.
Learn more about Vistamar’s unique curriculum at vistamarschool.org/academics
"One of my favorite memories of Vistamar is campaigning to help found the swim team... I shared my goal to swim the Catalina Channel with the coach and she was so supportive that I would achieve it one day. She was one of the first people to believe in my dream."
VISTAMAR SCHOOL —Abby Bergman, Vistamar '14
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7:1 student- to faculty ratio
78% of faculty have advanced degrees
Abby Bergman, Vistamar ‘14
NOW A PHD CANDIDATE AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Teachers provide strong support as students navigate the rigorous curriculum.
SMALL CLASS SIZE
With a 7:1 student/teacher ratio and an average class size of 14, Vistamar’s exceptional faculty provide strong individual support as you navigate the rigorous and innovative academic curriculum and wider school program.
BEST IN CLASS TEACHERS
A founding member of Vistamar’s swim team, Abby swam the Catalina Channel and the English Channel and is now part of a Master’s team at Stanford. She credits her Vistamar swim coach as the first coach to encourage her to pursue her dream of swimming the channels. Reflecting on her time at Vistamar, Abby believes Vistamar helped her to become a better thinker and she truly appreciates that her mentors and teachers were supportive of her pursuit and her academic and personal endeavors.
Our teachers are not only extraordinary academics and administrators; they are also passionate and dedicated educators who form respectful and long-lasting relationships with students. Every day, our faculty works to inspire you to think expansively, find connections between yourself and others, and consider your place as world citizens.
78 percent of our teachers have advanced degrees, including eight with PhDs.
Learn more about Vistamar’s unique curriculum at vistamarschool.org/academics
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ADVISORY
Vistamar teachers value you as an individual and work to support you through careful listening and collaboration. In weekly advisory meetings, teachers engage with small groups across grade levels to mentor and advise. Formal and informal discussions and a slate of activities help you make connections as you develop a sense of com munity. Students stay in the same multi-grade level advisory groups for all four years. This allows underclassmen to make friends and be mentored by older students, and eventually mentor younger students themselves.
OFFICE HOURS
We prioritize student-teacher collaboration, so we build time into your weekly schedule for mentoring and collaboration. This is a powerful habit to nurture in high school because it leads to success in college, career, and beyond.
Learn more about Vistamar’s supportive learning environment at vistamarschool.org/vistamar-experience
Life Planners give you the attention you deserve because they work with fewer than 23 students per grade.
LIFE PLANNING
College planning is embedded in our broader concept of Life Planning, reflecting Vistamar’s commitment to preparing students for the real world. It’s a four-year process that helps students build their life skills, understand their strengths, and develop a college plan that aligns with their values. You’ll develop the tools to succeed beyond Vistamar – excel in college, do meaningful work, be engaged with your communities, and sustain fulfilling relationships. Colleges and universities appreciate our intellectually engaged and culturally competent graduates.
During the last three weeks of the school year, Vistamar seniors work in Los Angeles, across the US and abroad on their capstone experience. Working with off-campus mentors, they explore a vast array of personal interests, possi ble career paths, or something entirely new that they would like to explore.
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Grow together
Our comprehensive school program was designed with a healthy you in mind. At Vistamar we expect you to work hard, play hard, and pursue your passions in all aspects of your life.
LATER START TIME
8:55 AM Class Start Time
It’s been proven physiologi cally that teens perform better when they get the recommended amount of sleep. With our later start time, you’ll get the opportunity to get more sleep and have the energy to participate fully in school and other activities.
OFF-CAMPUS LEARNING
HEALTH & WELLNESS SUPPORT
Vistamar provides a year long series of programming supporting the wellbeing and mental health of teenagers. It’s designed to provide appropriate grade-level learning for students, as well as useful information for families. The program equips you and your parents with tools to thrive.
Our expanded Off-Campus Learning Program helps you develop new skills at each grade level, providing greater challenge, new experiences and a high level of satisfaction as you grow. By joining various off-campus trips and available field study opportunities, you enlarge your comfort zone in a supportive and encouraging environment. Students in grades 9, 10 and 11 take part in a grade-level program each year. Getting off campus for this overnight retreat allows you to get to know other students better, recharge your battery, and build community. Seniors take an off campus trip together in May for bonding and goodbyes before graduation.
Learn more about student experience at Vistamar at vistamarschool.org/vistamar-experience
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VIKING COMMONS
The Viking Commons provides all of us with a healthful, nutritious, and delicious lunch daily as a part of coming to school. We all eat lunch at the same time, so students, faculty, and staff can meet informally over a great meal every day.
MORNING MEETING
Morning Meeting builds our community. Our entire student body, faculty, and staff come together three times a week to foster a community of connection and collaboration.
Learn more about student experience at Vistamar at vistamarschool.org/vistamar-experience
"My teachers have inspired me by believing in me and encouraging me to excel. I've discovered that developing strong bonds with my teachers has benefited me all year because learning is easier and more enjoyable when I feel safe and comfortable."
—Chloe F. Vistamar ‘23
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Chloe F. ‘23
Chloe is a student leader with VistaCrew, a group of seniors who serve as mentors, leaders, and role models for the school. She’s also a leader of the Black Student Union and the African American Association. Beyond our walls, she has her own business called Chloe’s Delights, creating and selling chocolate covered desserts. Creative, hands-on classes such as 3D Art and sciences are her favorite.
VIKING COMMONS
The Viking Commons provides all of us with a healthful, nutritious, and delicious lunch daily as a part of coming to school. We all eat lunch at the same time, so students, faculty, and staff can meet informally over a great meal every day.
MORNING MEETING
Morning Meeting builds our community. Our entire student body, faculty, and staff come together three times a week to foster a community of connection and collaboration.
Learn more about student experience at Vistamar at vistamarschool.org/vistamar-experience
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