A Proven Tradition

Following Sage Advise

Dr. Stuart Grauer is the founder and head of school to The Grauer School, one of San Diego’s premier prep schools, founded in 1991.  Grauer students have matriculated to the nation’s finest colleges and universities. Their campus and diverse programs accommodate approximately 150 students in grades 7 through 12. Dr. Stuart Grauer has selflessly dedicated his time, expertise and counsel to Discovery Prep’s founding head, Clint Davis. Under the wise mentorship of Dr. Grauer, the Discovery Prep School has been able to build on the successful model created in The Grauer School over the past 23 years ago. Below are a few of the cornerstone values we share.

Teach and Encourage

Our learning model fosters nurturing, close tutorial relationships between teachers and students. With a student to teacher ratio of 7:1, teachers know each student’s personality, learning style, strengths, weaknesses and academic objectives. This deep understanding between them results in personal attention and a genuine recognition of their accomplishments. Students get the support and monitoring they need, and their input is crucial in setting and achieving academic goals that allow them to distinguish themselves in a way that commands the attention of college admissions officers.

Resourcefulness

One of our primary tenets is to develop resourcefulness in our students. Ours is a community-based school, emphasizing real-world projects to make the curriculum come alive. While our resource-based model relies on technology (e-books) and primary texts to provide standard content, students learn to view our community as a primary resource which they use to generate knowledge; coming to their own conclusions while integrating texts with experiences makes learning authentic. Our unique Expeditionary Learning Program, developed by The Grauer School, is community learning at its best. We also encourage independent study at the university level, foreign travel, and student foreign exchange.

Compassion

To become compassionate community members, Discovery Prep students and teachers will participate in community service projects together throughout the year. Compassion is developed in the following ways:

• Through ecological and humanitarian service by all teachers and students.
• Through mutual teacher and student performance evaluations daily.
• In small classes where teacher/student relationships are fundamental.
• Through teaching methodologies which honor individual learning styles, and allowing students to work on that which has individual meaning.
• By fostering and honoring personal motivation in each student.
• By creating a positive academic environment where students’ efforts and attitudes help them achieve personal goals.