Black Pine Circle School is a private, non-profit elementary and middle school in West Berkeley. It offers a series of workshops in the Sierra Nevada and a weeklong field trip to Yosemite. The school prides itself on its Socratic method of instruction, based on inquiry and questioning. History of philosophy is part of the eighth-grade curriculum. Detailed curriculum material is available on the school's website, including grading standards and planned textbooks. About 30 percent of students receive financial aid of up to 75 percent of tuition. There is a 10 percent sibling discount. Extended-day programs are available. John Carlstroem is the school's head.
Berkeley Arts Magnet, or BAM as it is called, has a history in the alternative-school movement of the 1960s and '70s. Of several alternative schools at Berkeley Unified sites in the early '70s, BAM emerged the sole survivor thanks largely to dedicated parents and staff who lobbied hard and won several state and private grants to keep it open. All students receive visual arts, drama, music and performing arts instruction weekly. BAM has been named a California Distinguished School four times, most recently in 2000. Its current self-described challenges include closing the achievement gap between white and Asian, Latino and black students, and meeting the improvement standards required by the federal "No Child Left Behind" Act. Kristin Collins is the principal.
This K - 6 school and Bay Area Certified Green Business offers classes in traditional academic subjects while also focusing on arts, music and drama as essential elements of a well-rounded education. The teachers run the school, ensuring their independence, and each child is given highly individualized attention. Walden Center & School also runs before- and after-school programs as well as a summer camp.
LeConte Elementary School is famous in Berkeley for its butterfly garden, landscaped with butterfly-attracting plants. LeConte's Farm and Garden program is entering its 25th year; kids care for chickens and bunnies as well as plants. LeConte has a two-way Spanish/English immersion program in which native speakers of each language become proficient in both languages. Cheryl Wilson is the school's principal.
This independent, alternative K–8 school was once a Montessori school and comes from that tradition. It also incorporates practices based on modern research. It prepares students for the modern workforce by focusing on developing competencies in not just reading, writing and math but also in media and technology. It maintains a diverse student body and employ a wide variety of teaching methods suitable for a range of learning styles.
Jefferson was named a California Distinguished School in 2010 by the State Department of Education. The North Berkeley campus offers PTA-sponsored enrichment programs in math, art, music, sports and chess. Test scores at this school are admirable, with 87 percent of kids rated "proficient and higher" in math on the district's Spring 2010 proficiency tests and 94 percent rated "proficient and higher" in reading. Jefferson's most recent score on the state Academic Performance Index was 894. Maggie Riddle is principal.
This North Berkeley school has an imposing new campus with large green fields and lots of play equipment, well set back from the street. Kids in fifth and sixth grades receive science enrichment, and kids from third grade up receive music enrichment. Check out the Thousand Oaks PTA website for more information. Julianna Sikes is principal.
The oldest bilingual school in the East Bay, the Ecole Bilingue offers a diverse student body an education in English, French, Mandarin, Spanish and Latin. A majority of their students are native French speakers, more than a third are people of color, and nearly half receive financial aid. With more than forty nationalities represented, this school gives preschool through eighth-grade students a real education in multiculturalism as well as traditional academic subjects.
Washington Elementary School is in downtown Berkeley, across the street from Berkeley High School, allowing the 353 students access to many programs and facilities. Students can read with buddies from nearby Berkeley Senior Center, and all kids from kindergarten through third grade get swimming and water-safety lessons at the nearby Berkeley YMCA. There are dedicated classrooms for music and science, and an art instructor from the nearby Museum of Children's Art. Rita Kimball is the principal of the school.
The German International School of Silicon Valley, Berkeley is located in the historic Hillside school building, which is located in the Berkeley Hills. This is a satellite school that is an extension of the greater German International School in the Bay Area, serving K - 5th grade students. The GISSV East Bay campus shares the same bilingual and educational philosophy, curriculum guidelines and student-to-teacher ratios as the parent school in Mountain View.