A Short History of Language Pacifica In the summer of 1979 two young ESL teachers founded a two-room school called Language Pacifica in Mountain View, California, right in the heart of Silicon Valley. The school consisted of a front office and one classroom. At that time students were mainly interested in conversational English and many of the students worked for international corporations setting up shop in Silicon Valley. By 1981 the school expanded to five classrooms and for the first time Language Pacifica issued the I-20 so students could study full-time. That year Language Pacifica began offering TOEFL preparation and sent its first graduate to Foothill College. Language Pacifica’s first big change came in 1985 when it moved one town north to Palo Alto, California just a few blocks from the campus of Stanford University. Within a few years the school occupied more than 10 classrooms and sent students to De Anza College and Canada College, in addition to Foothill College. By the mid-1990’s Language Pacifica grew to 20 classrooms, a faculty of 20 teachers, with an average of 200 students per month. In 2002 Language Pacifica made one more move, going to Menlo Park, California, on the other side of Stanford University. For the first time the school occupied its own building. Located across the street from Menlo College, the school now worked in close partnerships with seven different colleges and universities. Unlike most ESL schools, Language Pacifica draws its students from a wide cross-section of nations. In our three decades as a Silicon Valley college-preparatory institute, young students from over 60 nations have joined our student body. We are proud to be one of Northern California’s most respected schools.