About Pioneers

Pioneers Baccalaureate School, located in Nablus, Palestine, was founded under the auspices of the Future Pioneers Society, a non-profit organization created in 2005 by a group of Palestinian businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and academics in order to address current educational needs in Palestine.

We offer an American-style education alongside a strong foundation in Arabic, religion, and social studies. Our local and international staff work side-by-side to provide a quality education, founded in critical thinking and creativity, to each student. Over the course of fourteen years and four locations, Pioneers has grown from 200 students in Grades 1-3, to approximately 680 students in Grades 1-12, in addition to over 100 students in the affiliated Montessori kindergarten. We celebrated our first graduating class in 2017, and are proud to see our graduates attend wonderful universities both at home and abroad.

Vision

To inspire and equip students with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to be life-long learners, leaders in their communities, and global citizens, who:

are firmly-rooted in their religion and nationality, believing in the justice of their cause and identity, and upholding their values and morals;
understand and respect people with differing convictions, heritages, and identities;
are intellectually, culturally, and socially open to the world and striving for knowledge;
understand the importance of laws and regulations;
are instilled with a sense of belonging and love for their society and community; and
demonstrate academic, intellectual, and linguistic excellence.

Mission

PBS seeks to challenge and inspire students to realize their intellectual and personal potential by developing their academic, socioemotional, and ethical competencies. Utilizing the best of modern pedagogy while staying true to our Palestinian roots, we prepare our students to be the next generation of pioneers.

Definition of Learning

The formation of a supportive, inspiring, inclusive, and close-knit school community is crucial to the academic, social, and emotional success of all students. The Pioneers school community is built around our definition of learning, which exemplifies the skills and capabilities we want to foster in our students.

Academic Competencies

Critical Thinking
- Students synthesize information, including background knowledge and conflicting sources, to formulate a judgement on a subject.
- Students evaluate information and sources for bias.
Creativity
- Students use multiple approaches or develop new approaches to identify and solve problems around them.
- Students draw on what they have previously learned in order to produce innovative work.
Communication and Collaboration
- Students share ideas, opinions, and needs through verbal and non-verbal means in a respectful manner, while also listening and responding to those of others around them.
- Students work with others through collaboration and compromise.

Socio-Emotional Competencies

Resilience and Perseverance
- Students view challenges as opportunities to improve, learn, and grow.
- Students approach challenges with tenacity and persevere despite difficulties.
Empathy
- Students are able to understand the relationship between their feelings and their reactions to people and attitudes.
- Students try to understand situations from others’ perspectives.
Self-reflection
- Students are able to identify and manage their own needs and feelings.
- Students set goals and evaluate their own work and effort realistically, in order to improve/change.

Ethical Competencies

Integrity
- Students follow their moral compass, both in and outside of the classroom, even in the face of difficulties.
- Students are honest and trustworthy, and take pride in their work.
Respect
- Students are considerate toward those with differing convictions, heritages, and identities.
- Students recognize that their success in life is dependent on their ability to learn from others.
Civic Responsibility
- Students believe in the justice of their cause and identity.
- Students seek to serve their community and their world.