Ohlone Land

We Are on Ohlone Land

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We recognize that The Berkeley School sits on the territory of Huichin, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone people, the successors of the historic and sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County.

From the US Department of Arts and Culture, a non-governmental grassroots organization: “We recognize that for more than five hundred years, Native communities across the Americas have demonstrated resilience and resistance in the face of violent efforts to separate them from their land, culture, and each other. They remain at the forefront of movements to protect Mother Earth and the life the earth sustains. Today, corporate greed and federal policy push agendas to extract wealth from the earth, degrading sacred land in blatant disregard of treaty rights. Land acknowledgement is a critical public intervention, a necessary step, toward honoring Native communities and enacting the much larger project of decolonization and reconciliation.”

In 2019, as a part of their study of the Ohlone People, 3rd graders visited the Oakland Museum and heard from indigenous rights activist Corrina Gould about the campaign to protect local Ohlone shellmounds. With the help of their 7th grade buddies, 3rd graders wrote letters to Berkeley Mayor Arreguin to express their support of the city’s recent decision to reject a housing construction proposal on the West Berkeley shellmound and urge him to guarantee protection of all sacred Ohlone sites.

Temescal Shellmound letter

 

Suumi TaxVisit Shellmound.org to learn more about actions you can take to protect Ohlone land. Acknowledgment does not stand in for relationship and action. If you live on Ohlone Land, we invite you to learn more about the voluntary shuumi land tax via the Sogorea Te Land Trust.

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Flowers for Magnolia: Hard Pruning During COVID-19

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By Rebecca Blythe, Preschool Head Teacher
Magnolia Classroom, The Berkeley School

When I left my classroom for the day on March 13, 2020 the plan was to close for three weeks. I thought that seemed a little optimistic at the time, but I never in my wildest imaginings thought that our COVID 19 closure would wear on as long as it has. The Berkeley School’s early childhood campus will reopen for the 2020-21 school year this fall looking very different. Among the most significant changes is a steep reduction in class sizes and the accompanying faculty required to support those classes. Complicating matters even further for me personally, while preschools are allowed to be open with wide ranging health and safety protocols in place, K-12 schools in our county (and most other California counties) must remain closed until community spread of the virus declines significantly. As a parent of three school-aged children who will be at home for the foreseeable future, I have opted to go on furlough for the coming school year. While heartbreaking and scary, it’s the best (least worst?) choice for my family.

face shieldsToday I went into my classroom to collect a few personal items and make sure things are in order. As I walked around campus I found myself feeling demoralized. Newly purchased child and adult sized face shields hang ready for use when singing (or, I imagine, the equally common preschool vocal activity, crying). Their presence is a stark reminder of the times we are in.

I found myself looking for signs of hope. I found it in a corn plant I left behind back in March. When we first learned that our closure would last well beyond 3 weeks, I went in and collected most of the indoor plants in the classroom. There was an old corn plant that was too big and unwieldy for me to move, so I tucked into a shady spot outside that would be convenient for occasional watering.

 

 

flowers for magnolia ()A few weeks later I came by and discovered that it had been moved into the full sun and was scorched to a crisp. I moved it back into the shade, cut back all the dead leaves, gave it a little water and left it for the fates to decide. Well, today as I was packing up, I checked on it and noticed lots of little green signs of life. The hope I was looking for! One year from now I will report back, hopefully, the plant and I will both be better for the hard pruning.

Follow Rebecca on Instagram (Flowers for Magnolia) to stay connected with her during her furlough and watch the short video below to see Rebecca’s innovative and inspiring teaching in action!

 

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Community, Advocacy, Pride: The Value of GSA in Elementary and Middle School

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By Kate Klaire, Director of Civic Engagement and GSA Facilitation Supporter
with contributions from Jackie Sa, 3rd Grade Teacher and GSA Jr. Facilitator

The Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) at The Berkeley School is a student-run group open to all LGBTQ+ and allied students who want a space to celebrate, educate, and advocate on behalf of their community and discuss issues that impact members of the LBGTQ+ community.

We know that children begin developing ideas about gender at a very young age. By preschool, kids recognize physical and social gender differences and by age 4, most children have a stable sense of their gender identity. We also know that children internalize stereotypes at a very young age, so the sooner we, as educators, can encourage them to recognize, challenge, and reject stereotypes, the better. When we allow our adult fears to limit children’s exposure to these topics, we discredit students’ agency and ability to be critical thinkers. 

Research shows that offering student groups like a GSA and other identity-based affinity spaces at school helps the entire school community feel included — even for students who don’t participate.

Whereas GSA student groups are often found at the high school and middle school level, they are rarely offered to elementary students. At TBS, we understand and can show evidence of the value that a GSA group brings to an elementary school community. Members of our GSA range in age from 2nd grade to 8th grade. Since it’s important to keep kids in age-affinity groups, we offer separate meetings for 5th-8th graders and for 2nd-4th graders.

Research shows that offering student groups like a GSA and other identity-based affinity spaces at school helps the entire school community feel included — even for students who don’t participate. Just knowing that these spaces are provided and that every identity is embraced gives students of all ages the sense of safety and inclusiveness they need to be successful learners.

Student members of the GSA at The Berkeley School plan their own meetings and introduce discussion topics. Recently, students talked about gendered awards at awards shows like the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, and Tonys. The kids discussed how forcing performers into female and male categories can be exclusionary to a lot of people and wondered why categories have to be gendered at all.

GSA members at TBS also choose to play a big advocacy role on our campus. Students regularly lead all-school assemblies about gender and sexuality and visit classrooms to offer presentations — tailored by age — in an effort to increase education and awareness.

7h grader Cole, who has been a GSA member for 3 years, points out, “There’s lots to teach people, no matter the age group. Some people may think middle schoolers know so much more about all this stuff, but sometimes second graders can know more than middle schoolers, so it’s important to give everyone the chance to educate.”

Here are just a few pieces of feedback from students at The Berkeley School about what the GSA has taught them.

Pride Flag USE THIS websiteIn 2018, GSA students educated our school community about the Progress Pride Flag, designed by Daniel Quasar. The Progress Pride Flag adds five arrow-shaped lines to the original Pride Flag, a six-colored rainbow flag designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978. Quasar’s flag includes black and brown stripes to represent marginalized LGBT communities of color, those living with AIDS, and those no longer living. The pink, light blue, and white colors are used on the Transgender Pride Flag. Students explained that the additional colors were added to be inclusive of the specific challenges of racism and transphobia faced by nonwhite and transgender members of the community. 

The Progress Pride Flag, which can be seen flying outside on our University Avenue Campus, celebrates those who were previously unsung in the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement. 

 

It has been our honor to facilitate our GSA and GSA Jr. groups at The Berkeley School and we encourage other schools to offer their elementary students this opportunity to be a part of something that celebrates identity and promotes education. Give it a try with one meeting and see how it goes! Please feel free to reach out for further information.

Below is a resource list of books and videos for parents and educators.

GSA Books and Resources compiled by the CATDC (California Teachers Development Collaborative) 

LGBTQ+ and Social Justice Videos for All Ages

Resources about LGBTQ+ Rights History

Articles Highlighting the Intersection of LGBTQ+ Rights History and Black Lives Matter

Resources for LGBTQ+ Educators, curated by Tamisha Williams, Dean of Adult Equity & Inclusion at Lick-Wilmerding High School, and Laura Cartwright, National Training Director for One Circle Foundation

Affinity Group Resources 

BLM

Black Lives Matter

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As we read and react to the horrific events happening in Minneapolis and around the country, we are holding in our hearts these individuals, families, cities, and communities and have redoubled our efforts as we take action in support and solidarity of those suffering under the weight of institutionalized racism and systemic injustice. As educators, it is both our job to be objective and fair in perspective, and to teach students compassion and empathy and justice. These two responsibilities can be really hard to balance when living in a world that so often displays the opposite for those values. In regards to the BLM movement and the insidious issue of police brutality, we can not be neutral, as a citizen of the world and as a teacher.

TBS students have been such an example of friendship, patience, flexibility, support, acceptance, inclusivity, problem solving, and kindness. If the world was following the lead of these children, we’d all be better for it.

If you are in search of resources to help you talk to your children about race and racism, we’ve included some at the bottom of this email. And if you’ve found resources that you feel are helpful, please send them our way!

Resources Suggestions for Preschool

  • The teachers from our Eugenia Classroom has curated this blog post with resources for healing and a celebration of Black joy as well as strategies for around talking to children about these protests, racism, and Black Lives Matter  This blog is by no means exhaustive and there are many amazing resources out there.

Resource Suggestions for Lower Elementary

Resource Suggestions for Upper Elementary and Middle School:

Resource Suggestions for All Students

 

Follow and read Black and brown voices and media outlets. Use what you learn to inform conversations with your kids. Here are some places to start:

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Community & Consent

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By Bliss Tobin, K-5 Division Head

BlissWhen interviewing a candidate for our K-2 Information Literacy position this week, we asked, “Why TBS?” She replied that in listening to the promotional statements among several peer schools, our message stands out as authentic and she sees it demonstrated in the warmth of our community. 

The strength of a school community cannot be taken for granted, where the fits and starts of growing up are inherent in the purpose of the institution. What do the well-worn words “respect” and “inclusion” look like in action among 200 children, ages 5 – 13, not to mention the teaching and parenting adults? They look and sound like consent and boundaries.  

Over the past 3 years, we’ve developed a strong relationship with KidPower, a non-profit organization that teaches personal safety skills to all ages. (Some of you attended the KidPower Family Education events offered at both the ECC or UAC campuses in the past week.) KidPower works to prevent abuse and violence in its worst form, and, as they remind us, the basic tenets about consent and boundaries apply to our youngest children on the playground. Games, affection and the way a group sits at a lunch table all contain messages of consent and boundaries. Students require the tools to respect their own and others’ personal boundaries by asking for and giving consent. 

If the kids aren’t clear on expectations for interpersonal behavior, it’s because the adults around them are not clear. KidPower’s approach has inspired coordinated professional development and family education as we clarify our expectations, deliver consistent messages, and ensure that our students have plenty of practice with the social-emotional tools they need. 

We’ve taken several steps to move from learning to action, including:

  • Hiring an educational consultant from Pathways to Learning to assess for areas of strength and growth regarding how we support positive student behavior. 
  • Creating a tiered structure of academic and social-emotional learning supports in order to meet a range of needs
  • Re-aligning roles and responsibilities with the establishment of our K-8 Student Engagement Team (SET), consisting of our Social-Emotional and Academic Learning Specialists and Division Heads in K5 and MS
  • Extending Middle School Second Step health curriculum into 3rd-5th grades
  • Providing workshops for K-8 and ExDay faculty to ensure fidelity in upholding our expectations across all learning spaces
  • Providing regular Family Education events regarding social-emotional wellness at each developmental stage

How can you support this work? 

  • Stay informed! Read your blogs and Newsnotes weekly!
  • Attend Family Education events whenever possible  
  • Learn our School-Wide Agreements, and model them for all of our children.  
    • Be Inclusive
    • Be Respectful of Ourselves, Others and Our Surroundings
    • Be Safe and Responsible
    • Try Our Best

Click here for more information about KidPower and to sign up for their workshops.

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Introducing Students to the Beauty of Math

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By Sima Misra, Director of Teaching & Learning

As K-8 Director of Teaching & Learning, I am grateful to focus my efforts on ensuring that student learning is always at the center at The Berkeley School, and that teachers and students have the curricula, resources, motivation, and skills to support that learning. My background as a PhD Molecular Biologist explains part of my passion for math and science education, and why Math Night is my favorite evening of the year. I wanted to provide you with some behind the scenes understanding of the math teaching and learning families experienced at Math Night earlier this month.

What is Math?
I love this short video, because it captures the richness and power of mathematics.

Our goal is to open up students to appreciate the beauty of math, while giving them the skills and conceptual understanding to use it in flexible ways.

Early Childhood
Our school’s early childhood and elementary math program evolved from Montessori roots, which you can still see today, particularly at the ECC. The beautiful Montessori materials help make abstract concepts concrete, build a sense of order and attention to detail, and provide geometrical and numerical ways of looking at mathematical concepts. Students continue to learn math using Montessori and other materials, building their understanding of number sense, geometry, and sequence by counting, building, and comparing. As students mature, they use materials to add, subtract, multiply, and divide; learn to recognize and read numbers through 1000; skip count; and even compare odd and even numbers.

Elementary
Last year we switched to the Bridges Mathematics (2nd edition) curriculum, which dovetails nicely with Contexts for Learning Mathematics units we have taught for the past few years, providing rich problems with low entry points for all students and high ceilings for those who need more challenge.

In the Bridges program, mathematical routines are practiced during Bridges Number Corner, an engaging calendar activity, and during explicit instruction, games and activities, including pattern recognition and prediction; number skills, geometric shapes, money, and time; and Problem Strings, a set of problems which are woven together conceptually to help students identify strategies. The students are encouraged to share and internalize strategies, use them flexibly, and choose strategies that will be efficient. Articulating their thinking allows them to solidify their learning, apply their approaches to more complex problems, and make meaning together. Enjoyable games encourage practice and build fluency and skills.

This year all of our 1st-5th grade students have subscriptions to DreamBox, an online personalized learning tool which meshes well with the Bridges curriculum, and which students can use both at school and at home. Teachers can quickly gauge students skills and understanding, assign lessons, and measure growth. We have already noted increased growth in students who use the tool regularly. In addition, our Learning specialists Katherine Campbell in K-3rd offer students support by pushing into math classrooms and providing intervention outside of class where necessary.

Middle School
Last year, Middle School math teacher Kim Huie led a task force to seek out the best research-based math curricula with NCTM standards, engaging floor to ceiling problems, alignment with the elementary math program, and strong preparation for a wide variety of traditional and more progressive high school math programs. After a very successful pilot last spring, the faculty chose Illustrative Mathematics, which we rolled out in the 6th and 7th grades this fall. Kim will pilot this program in the 8th grade this year, in addition to the standard Elementary Algebra textbook we have used for many years.

Supporting Your Math Student
Research shows that one of the most important things you can do as a parenting adult is to develop a growth mindset about your own math abilities and your child’s. Every person can learn math, and there is no such thing as a “math person,” just people who have more experience learning math. There are many helpful resources at Youcubed.org, and support for elementary families at the Bridges 2nd Edition Family Support site. If your teacher suggests that your student needs more practice with math, support your student in using DreamBox; you might also consider purchasing apps from companies like Dragonbox or Brainquake. Students in older grades may be pointed to individualized practice by their teachers at sites like Khan Academy. And if you have concerns or questions, please talk to your child’s teacher, as they are the true experts in your student’s learning.

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Student Pathways for Civic Engagement

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by Kate Klaire, Director of Civic Engagement

Student pathways for civic engagement often start with noticing how environments, beings, and communities are doing – how their situations differ, recognizing whether they are thriving, and wanting to find ways to support them.

At The Berkeley School, we know that civic engagement requires rigorous goal-setting, planning, action, and reflection, and we know that children at all grade levels are capable of all of these. TBS students develop a civic and social awareness about the community around them, appreciate the impact of their choices, and hone their sense of agency in order to engage a changing world that requires their empathy, active participation, and effective leadership.  

Civic Engagement through Student Leadership

With such a strong focus on civic engagement The Berkeley School was invited to become a member of the global Ashoka changemaker network in 2014. As an Ashoka School, TBS is dedicated to cultivating a spirit of activism within our student body. Students in 5th through 8th grade have the opportunity to join the Ashoka Student Leadership Team, a group facilitated by the Director of Civic Engagement that meets regularly to plan and enact changemaking initiatives that impact their local and global community.

Ashoka students lead change by:

  • Identifying problems and opportunities 
  • Imagining a way forward that benefits everyone, not just a few
  • Investigating solutions and modes of support
  • Adapting and making changes
  • Bringing others into the action 

Ashoka student leaders started the 2018-19 school year with the student-driven goal of impacting the issue of homelessness in Berkeley. They met with educators, activists, and government officials to understand the ways Berkeley and Oakland have currently work to address homelessness. Students developed an ongoing partnership with Berkeley City Council member Cheryl Davila and worked over the course of the school year, built a relationship with folks living at the Sea Breeze encampment down the street from our University Avenue Campus. They made meals, held necessity drives, offered trash pickups for the encampment. Their main initiative was to advocate for the encampment to get the same regular trash pick-ups other Berkeley residents get by attending city meetings and promoting education within our school community to influence their advocacy. 

Students from our 2018-19 Ashoka Leadership Team with District 2 City Councilperson Cheryl Davila.

Members of the Ashoka Leadership Team mentor their younger peers in a group we call Ashoka Jr. comprising students in grades K-4 who are also interested in taking the lead as changemakers. After visiting the Berkeley Recycling Center on a field trip, Ashoka Jr. made a plan to raise funds for Peoples Breakfast Oakland by collecting recycled materials on campus and turning them in to the center for money. Over the course of 6 months, the students collected 384 cans and bottles, a haul which amounted to just $50. The exercise taught the Ashoka Jr. students what an incredible effort it took to raise just $50 and considered that, for some unhoused folks, this is their only income. 

At the close of the 2018-19 school year Ashoka students led their classmates in an “End Homelessness Now” walkathon and rally in Downtown Berkeley’s Civic Center Park to help keep the issue of homelessness at the top of mind.

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We opened the 2019-20 school year with a visit from Donald Frasier, Executive Director of Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS), who came to speak to our faculty about emergent issues affecting the unhoused and discussed ways to grow our partnership, including support for the Children’s Learning Center. 

In September, we welcomed 2013 TBS grad and current Northwestern journalism student Maggie Galloway back to speak about her experience interning with KQED investigating the complexities of homelessness in the Bay Area.  

Maggie presented at an all-school assembly and then worked with the Ashoka team to build their understanding about common biases associated with our unhoused neighbors. She then led them through an activity in small groups to generate ideas about ways they could support unhoused individuals with pets, as well as how to educate the community. 

Civic Engagement through Service Learning

Transitional Kindergarten students on our Early Childhood Campus were introduced to the complexities of food access through a service learning unit that combined their study of and partnership with the Berkeley Food Pantry with a yearlong focus on showing kindness. Students aged 4 and 5 were led through these five stages of service learning:

Investigation – The Director of the Berkeley Food Pantry came by the Transitional k classroom to talk about who they serve and why. Drawing from this visit, as well as from other discussions, the students presented what they learned to their peers in the other five classrooms on the Early Childhood Campus.

Planning & Preparation – Students thought about a meaningful action that could make a positive impact and meet a real community need.

Action – They spearheaded a food drive that resulted in 194 pounds of goods for local neighbors. They delivered their donations to the pantry and learned how to help stock the shelves.

Ongoing Reflection & Assessment – They reviewed together, noting how much and what types of food were needed (canned items, pasta & rice, no candy) and how food access needs remained, even after their action.

Demonstration & Celebration – By sharing the results of the food drive collection and offering thanks to those who contributed, students honored the fact that they couldn’t have made the impact they made without the help of others.

While students already had an understanding of the fundamental need for food to survive, the food pantry study helped them to realize food dependency impacts the way people live and helped them grasp the concept that some people have access to food while others don’t — and most importantly — we all must act to remedy that.

Civic Engagement through Project-Based Learning

7th graders tackled the same issue of food access through a collaborative interdisciplinary Project-Based Learning unit between their health class and humanities class. Students were invited to answer this guiding question: “How can we make healthy and nutritious foods more accessible in our community?” In order to take action to this end, students researched what makes food healthy and nutritious, what are the modern day barriers to access, what are the historical legacies of these barriers, and for whom these barriers exist. They covered the foundational elements of this project by examining a recent study undertaken by PolicyLink and The Food Trust titled The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why it Matters and hearing from guest teacher, Asia Hampton from Phat Beets Produce, an Oakland-based grassroots organization that aims to create a healthier, more equitable food system in Oakland and beyond by providing affordable access to fresh produce.

Additionally, students travelled to the Alameda County Community Food Bank to volunteer and to learn about why making healthy food more accessible in our community is so vital to the health and success of Alameda County residents.

To culminate their unit, students designed a digital map of our neighborhood’s food sources to share with the larger community, called FindYourGreens.org. In order to do this, students created an evaluation tool to assess the variety and cost of healthy foods at neighborhood food sources, as well as proximity from public transportation to indicate accessibility.In the art studio, they designed and produced tote bags to promote the FindYourGreens.org site within the community.

As a private school with a strong, outward-facing mission, we have a particular need to walk our talk. We believe that the way we educate our students will have long-term benefits for local and global communities alike. 

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Campus Tour, Open House or Info Session?

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The types of admissions events that are available at independent schools run the range from tours, to open house, information sessions to coffee mixers and it can be challenging to know the difference!

Preschool Open House is a fun and engaging way for your child to experience our space and for your family to get to know us. Parents are invited to bring their children for an exciting day of exploration at our beautiful Early Childhood Campus (ECC). Activities usually include exploring our certified Wildlife Habitat, sandbox play, rock wall climbing, singing, dancing, and other activities led by our experienced faculty. For parents, there is also an opportunity to view a “model classroom” and ask questions about our program. Bring your family. Bring friends for a play date. Open House means open to the community and all are welcome! Our Preschool Division Head, Kathy Duhl, and our Head of School, Mitch Bostian will also be on hand to answer questions.

Campus Tours are for families looking at Preschool through 8th grade. They provide an intimate view of our campus and program while teachers and students are in action. Families have time to observe in the classrooms of not only their grade(s) of interest, but also the subsequent grade levels within that division. At the K-8 level, there is also an opportunity to catch a glimpse of our some of our specialist areas such as Spanish and Art. Classroom Observations are led by myself and our Division Head, followed by a discussion with the Head of School and a Q&A session. We have two campuses (ECC & K-8), so be sure that you designate the correct one for your grade level of interest.

Information Sessions are specifically for families looking at kindergarten through 8th grade. They are designed to provide a more teacher-centered, experiential perspective of The Berkeley School. We focus more directly on the curriculum of TBS, learning outcomes, and how we teach. This is experienced through mini-lessons and demonstrations from our amazing faculty who teach at your grade level of interest. Classroom experiences are followed by a discussion with our faculty and Division Head. Middle School sessions also include a current TBS parent/student panel discussion. These events are held at our University Avenue campus.

Attend one event or attend them all to really get to know what makes The Berkeley School such a unique place to learn and grow for the whole family. You can find a list event dates here. If you are still not sure which one you should attend, just contact Paula Farmer in the Admissions Office and she can point you in the right direction.

Find Your Greens tote bags

Find Your Greens

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During the 3rd Trimester, 7th graders have been engaged in a collaborative interdisciplinary Project Based Learning unit between Health and Humanities. The guiding question for the project is, “How can we make healthy and nutritious foods more accessible in our community?” In order to take action to this end, students researched what makes food healthy and nutritious (in Health with Jared), what the modern day barriers are to access, the historical legacies of these barriers, and for whom these barriers exist. They covered the foundational elements of this project by first examining a recent study undertaken by PolicyLink and The Food Trust titled The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why it Matters. Students also learned from a guest teacher named Asia Hampton from Phat Beets Produce, an Oakland-based grassroots organization that aims to create a healthier, more equitable food system in Oakland and beyond by providing affordable access to fresh produce.

One thing that students learned through these explorations is that there is a link for some demographic groups between access to healthy foods and centuries of restrictive institutional practices along racial lines. We then explored how communities can respond when social justice is necessary by examining The Black Panther Party’s response to barriers to access, with a keen focus on the Panther’s Free Food Program that later inspired federally funded free and reduced school lunches.

Additionally, students travelled to the Alameda County Community Food Bank to volunteer and to learn about why making healthy food more accessible in our community is so vital to the health and success of Alameda County residents.

As a culmination of this unit, students designed a digital map of our neighborhood’s food sources to share with the larger community, called FindYourGreens.org. In order to do this, students created an evaluation tool to assess the variety and cost of healthy foods at neighborhood food sources, as well as proximity from public transportation to indicate accessibility.In the art studio, they designed and produced tote bags to promote the FindYourGreens.org site within the community.

 

Narrowing Your Search

Narrowing Your School Search

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By now, you have probably filled your calendar with several school tours and attended many weekend open houses. You have clocked so many hours away from work, that you wish you were getting a paid for your school search. You have covered so many miles of hallways and parking lots that you wish it counted towards your weekly workout. Well my friend, that is the nature of the private school search. Most families will be touring an average of 3-5 schools during any given year which may or may or may not include the local public schools. Ambitions families divide and conquer visiting several campuses independently with a plan to compare spreadsheets at the end. Whatever your family’s methodology, by late November  you should be able to begin your narrowing your school search. By then, you should be a bit clearer about what it is you are searching for in an educational setting as well as what is actually available to you realistically. You will have experienced the commute to campus to realize if it’s doable. You know all about the educational philosophies, hot lunch programs, specialist teachers, and pedagogies to know what is just right fit for your child.Is the tuition affordable and if not, is there financial aid available? So what next?

Now you can begin to put the pieces together. Bringing all parenting adults to the table to compare notes about the schools you’ve visited and sizing that up against your hopes and dreams for your child’s education is essential to having a successful school search– I hope you took notes. As you comb through your data, my hope is that you will find a few schools that fit the bill. If that is not the case, you may want to contact friends who are also looking or search sites like Berkeley Parents Network (BPN), Noodle, East Bay Independent Schools Association (EBISA) , to see if there was maybe one you overlooked due to size, distance, or unfamiliar pedagogy. If there is one that you are not quite sure about, don’t hesitate to contact the admissions office to ask more questions and make connections with current families, the division head, learning specialist, etc. In the end, I am sure you will find that there are many great schools in the East Bay to which you can submit your application. I would recommend applying to at least 3 schools if private schools are your only consideration. Families who are also considering their local public school have a bit more flexibility in that stake. Check for application due dates and fees and let the applying begin! Good luck.