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The TBS Mission

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by Mitch Bostian

At The Berkeley School, our mission – ignite curious minds, awaken generous hearts, engage a changing world – guides and connects everything from the everyday interactions among students, teachers and learning environments to our academic program design and our long-term strategic planning initiatives. These ten words direct us, inspire us, and provide us with the sense of shared purpose that allows us to take on the dynamic and challenging work of teaching and learning with perseverance, resilience, and joy.

How can ten words be this powerful? For us, the answer lies in two values – agency and  interdependence – that are foundational to the way we approach education at TBS. Each of those ten words has agency – what they mean matters – and none of them is as meaningful as all of them, taken together. Their straightforward simplicity belies a complex relationship, and complexity always deserves a closer look.

Our mission begins with ignite curious minds. In schools, teaching and learning activities often focusing on developing minds, and minds develop as the result of interactions among neurological structures and processes that are influenced by the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional stimuli resulting from our experiences of the world around us. We believe that all minds are innately curious about that world – that all minds have the capacity and motivation to notice, to investigate, and to learn. Our purpose, and joy, as educators is to design curricula, environments, and experiences that ignite that innate curiosity – from preschool through middle school. Some moments of ignition are immediate and obvious, as when early childhood students move through the classroom to label items as “living” or “nonliving” and begin to think more deeply about what it means for something to be alive. Some are elongated and more subtle, as when an eighth grader studies the case of Korematsu vs. United States, and develops an interest in civics, law, and activism that unfolds through high school, college, and beyond. 

Curiosity ignited!

While much of our work centers around igniting minds, we believe that such work can’t be done in isolation. Physical, social, and emotional elements are critical ingredients in the holistic teaching and learning that leads to deep understanding, and that all children deserve. Our mission’s next three words, “awaken generous hearts,” speak to this belief, and to the relationship between minds and hearts.

We see that when children’s curious minds are ignited, they come into the present moment of their learning: they are fully aware, attentive, and alive to the sensorial input (and associated reflections) that flow from their curiosity-driven experiences. As educators, we know that if we provide space, time, and language for students to attend to that sensorial input, their hearts will awaken: curiosity will lead them to experience feelings, and those feelings are the language of their awakened hearts. We believe that each of those hearts is generous, because children want to see others experiencing the same kind of safety, happiness, and respect that they themselves want to feel. Consequently, when students whose ignited, curious minds identify problems or challenges that awaken their generous hearts, the solutions they propose will reflect an empathic desire for “fairness of experience” and use impact on others as a core criteria for evaluating success. We believe that these students will grow up to focus on more than simply making change – they will think critically, and compassionately, about the changes they and others want to make.

So while we ignite curious minds and awaken generous hearts to build academic and social-emotional skills, we believe our work has a greater purpose: to prepare our students to engage a changing world. We end with the world because we believe that all education should be done with the world, and the future, in mind. We add the word “changing” because we believe that education for the world of today is never enough. Children change from moment to moment, as does the world, and an education that incorporates both truths of our time and visions for a better future ensures that the skills and values children develop will lead to the adult agency that allows them to engage change. When, in the context of Dia de los Muertos, our K-8 Spanish students learn about the conditions and practices that have led to the deaths of young immigrant children in detention camps in the region bordering Mexico, they develop their understanding of a complex problem while deepening their empathy and compassion for others. In the process, they see their potential as changemakers, and strengthen their belief that what they do, now and the future, will matter.

White cempazuchitl (marigold) made by TBS students, to be woven into the fence of the UAC campus in memory of the young immigrant children who have passed away at the detention camps in the border region.

Engage describes the way we hope our graduates will connect to the world and build a relationship that is not transactional but deepens over time – one characterized by curiosity, mutual respect, and a desire to understand, learn, and grow. Such a relationship will continue to ignite minds and awaken hearts for decades to come.

What happens when children whose curious minds are ignited and whose generous hearts are awakened encounter the world around them? What happens when your child greets you after a full day spent with friends and teachers, working, learning, and having fun? On those days, you can feel your child’s satisfaction, contentment, and openness right away. The conversations on the way home these days surprise you – you hear your child ask a question or make an observation about the world that reminds you how quickly they are learning and growing, and how their lived experience is both similar to, and different from yours. In these moments, you’re witnessing the way that igniting curious minds and awakening generous hearts equips children to engage their changing world. We are grateful for the children reminding us of the school’s mission to connect us as a school community, learning, and living, together.

 

chalk welcome

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.

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.

Cameron & Logan

Why Attending a K-8 School Matters

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Like many independent schools in the Bay Area, The Berkeley School was initially founded in 1963 to be a preschool. As our students grew older, our school grew bigger, branching into elementary grades, and eventually flourishing as the ‘sized-just-right’ preschool through 8th grade school we are today. Our preschool students learn on our original campus, which we call the Early Childhood Campus in multi-age classrooms with an age range of 2.7 to 5. And our K-8 students share learning spaces and interact often at our campus on University Avenue Campus named for our location on University Avenue in the heart of North Berkely.

The Berkeley School’s unique grade configuration gives students the opportunity to have experiences in both single-grade classrooms and multi-grade classrooms. Single-grade classrooms in Kindergarten and 3rd grade align with developmental stages when children consolidate critical social-emotional and academic awarenesses. Multi-age 1st/2nd grade and 4th/5th grade classrooms allow for increased differentiation and extended teacher/student relationships at stages when both peer modelling and leadership are most advantageous for growth.

TBS students make meaningful connections as they model being their best selves and practice navigating relationships, metacognition, and conflict resolution. The social and emotional development that occurs when children model behavior for their peers, both older and younger, leads to a more empathetic and confident child.

As The Atlantic‘s 2017 article “Inside a Multiage Classroom” notes:

Multiage education puts learners at the center, socially and academically. On the social side, younger children look for guidance from older students who know the ropes, while the older students in the classroom organically learn about mentoring, leadership, and collaboration.

At TBS we have seen — and research shows –that there are a multitude of advantages when students have extended exposure and multi-year experiences with faculty who truly get to know students as individuals.

According to a study published in 2017 by NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, there are measurable benefits for students who matriculate through a K-8 environment.

“Students who attend a middle school compared to a K-8 school are likely to have a lower perception of their reading skills [at a time when] students’ self-perceptions of academic competence are critical.”

The harmony and nurturing that develops when children engage others who are at different ages, grade levels, and abilities is a far more positive outcome when compared to the competitive and sometimes aggressive nature that can take hold when children are siloed into middle-school-only context.

When children and adolescents find themselves in an extended communal context, they associate and make friends across a relatively wide age range.

Hear from TBS alumni in the video below about how they reflect on their experience attending  K-8.