~ Our history ~
Over 30 years of experience, working for the all-round development of young people
VIII Private Academic High School has been running since 1993. That is more than three decades of building relationships based on trust and empathy, of intensive academic and international cooperation, of continually developing what we teach and of consistently strengthening the quality of the School.
The history of VIII PALO is not merely a story about the past. It is proof that a School can keep its identity while responding to the changing needs of young people, of parents and of the contemporary world.
Vision and growth
A school with a long tradition and an unchanging purpose
VIII PALO came into being as an alternative to an anonymous system that does little to respect people as individuals. We started in 1993, in our first home on Studencka Street in Krakow, as a small group gathered around Jerzy Waligora – an enthusiast and visionary, the School founder and, for many years afterwards, its headteacher. Because we grew very quickly, in 1997 we moved to the townhouse at 45 Karmelicka Street, where we remain to this day.
Today VIII PALO is a large high school and an important one on the educational map of Krakow. We combine experience with openness to the future. We have an extensive IB programme, work closely with numerous academic and cultural institutions in Poland and abroad, rank very highly in national listings, and our students achieve outstanding educational results and go on to brilliant careers.
At VIII PALO we know exactly what responsibility means, which is why the young person remains at the centre of our attention – their potential, their all-round development, their preparation for the next stage of education and for life in general.
The history of VIII PALO is our Vision put into practice:
We take as the foundation of VIII Private Academic High School in Krakow our respect for the innate and inalienable human right to dignity, personal agency and freedom, inseparably bound up with responsibility.
The moral space in which the School acts is defined by universal values common to all humanity, such as truth, goodness, beauty, justice and solidarity, while relationships between people are built on honesty,kindness and trust.
The reason the School exists is the good of every person who attends it and care for their all-round and harmonious development, grounded in positive motivation.
Conscious of the dangers of the modern world and refusing to accept helplessness in the face of them, the School creates the conditions for forming a many-sided human being, ready to use the gift of freedom responsibly, open to the world and to dialogue, who understands what the common good is, is disposed to cooperation, is guided by respect for other people and their beliefs, is capable of solidarity, empathy and self-sacrifice, respects civil rights, the principles of democracy and the property of others, and wishes to go on learning throughout life.
The School inspires young people to ask fundamental questions – about identity, about the meaning of life and death, about freedom and responsibility, about the existence of values greater than life itself and about the hierarchy of values – and helps them search for answers.
What matters most in the system of rules by which the School operates is its clarity and the consistency with which it is applied – by those who learn at the school and by those who teach there alike.
Our path
A timeline of VIII PALO
You need only look at the extended-level Matura results: no one in Malopolska did better in mathematics (our mathematics class achieved a stellar 95% nationally), and no one in Poland did better in history of art… Add to that excellent placings in geography, history, chemistry, computer science, physics and more.
In the 2025/2026 school year we won the Golden School title once again, we rank highest among independent schools in Krakow (WaszaEdukacja.pl), we hold 6th place in the Perspektywy 2026 ranking among all high schools in Malopolska, and we have more than a dozen winners and finalists of prestigious subject olympiads…
We have no intention of slowing down!
VIII PALO maintained a high position in national rankings. In 2024 the School came 7th in Malopolska in the Perspektywy ranking and once again won the Golden School title. In 2023 it took 3rd place in Krakow in the Gazeta Krakowska ranking based on standard-level Matura results.
In 2021 and 2022 VIII PALO won the Golden School title in the Perspektywy ranking. The School again ranked highly in listings based on educational value added.
In 2021 the VIII PALO team won the European Championship in the European Space Agency CanSat competition. It is one example of what students achieve when their interests reach far beyond the standard curriculum.
In 2017 the VIII PALO team took 1st place in the prestigious Oxford-style debating competition School of Debate, and one of our students was named Best Speaker.
In 2018 the VIII PALO team won a bronze medal at the International Chemistry Tournament in Moscow. Further proof that the School enables and supports the all-round development of young people – in the sciences as much as in the humanities and social sciences.
The PACK schools were admitted to the UNESCO Associated Schools Network. An important stage in the development of the School as a place open to dialogue, international cooperation, social responsibility and values-based education.
VIII PALO took 1st place in the Dziennik Polski and Gazeta Krakowska ranking based on educational value added.
This distinction matters particularly, because educational value added shows not only a student’s final result but also the progress they made along the way. For a parent it is a strong signal that the school genuinely helps a young person develop their potential.
VIII PALO received the International School Award at Full Accreditation level, granted by the British Council for 2014-2017.
That same year the School began working with Gjovik Videregaende Skole in Norway, signed a partnership agreement with Delhi Public School Gurgaon in India and started cooperating with Pompano Beach High School in the USA.
The School celebrated 20 years of activity. During the ceremony VIII PALO received the Polonia Minor medal, awarded by the authorities of the Malopolska Region in recognition of its contribution to education and its work for the region and its people.
That same year an anthology of student writing was published, Prose from Two Decades of VIII Private Academic High School.
VIII PALO obtained certification from the International Baccalaureate Organization and a positive decision from the Ministry of National Education, which made it possible to open international Diploma Programme classes.
The IB programme became one of the key elements of the school’s development. Its introduction was preceded by several years of preparation, including designing the curriculum, recruiting staff, training teachers and developing teaching facilities.
In the years that followed, VIII PALO regularly ranked highly in the Gazeta Wyborcza and Perspektywy rankings of upper-secondary schools. The School appeared near the top of listings of Malopolska high schools, strengthening its position in the region.
During this period the PACK schools also received ISO 9001:2009 Quality Management System certification, awarded by the Polish Centre for Testing and Certification.
VIII PLO was renamed VIII Private Academic High School. The new name places greater emphasis on the genuinely academic character of the School and on the direction of its further development.
The Private Academic Education Centre – PACK – was established as a civil partnership bringing together the independent schools run by the Waligora family.
That same year PALO celebrated its tenth anniversary, together with a ceremony at which the school received its banner.
VIII PLO appeared for the first time in the Gazeta Wyborcza ranking of secondary schools – straight in at 11th place.
It was one of the first external signals that the School was building a strong position on the educational map of Krakow.
The schools moved to 45 Karmelicka Street in Krakow. It is the address with which VIII PALO has been associated ever since.
VIII PLO began working with the Johanneum Gymnasium in Luneburg, Germany.
This event set an important direction for the School – openness to international cooperation, exchanges, projects and intercultural contact.
VIII Private High School began its work at 5 Studencka Street.
The School was born of a refusal to accept helplessness and of the need to create an alternative to an education system built on constraints and uniformity. From the very beginning we have stood for freedom, personal agency and responsibility.
The past is present today…
A history of consistency
The history of VIII PALO shows that the school has developed consistently – not through random change, but through a succession of deliberate decisions that strengthened the quality of its teaching.
For today’s students that means being able to learn in a place with rich experience which nevertheless does not shut itself in the past. The School combines tradition with openness to new challenges: the IB programme, international cooperation, academic contacts, projects, debates and academic olympiads…
Growing together
A history of people
More than 30 years of VIII PALO is a history of people – students, teachers, parents and alumni. They are the ones who built, and continue to build, a school that has spent years developing a system of individualised support for people with different educational needs, works with academic and cultural institutions in Poland and abroad, prepares students superbly for the Matura and for university, and takes high places in national rankings.
Today that history is the foundation for further growth. Strong in our heritage, we look to the future with confidence.
See for yourself
See whether VIII PALO is the right place for your child
The best way to get to know the school is to talk to us.
At the admissions meeting we get to know the applicant, their interests, needs and plans. Parents can ask about our programmes, the atmosphere, the support we offer, our results, class profiles, extended-level subjects and everyday life at the school.
Do get in touch and arrange a meeting with the headteacher.
Contact us
- +48 12 632 93 13
- sekretariat@pack.edu.pl
- Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.