CALIFORNIA

Berkeley Montessori School
1310 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702
510-665-8800 ext. 103, www.bmsonline.org
Preschool - 8th grade
Berkeley Montessori School is an independent school serving about 270 children ages 3 to 14 in Berkeley, California. We have been empowering children since 1963, following the child-centered, peace-based educational philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori. We have two beautiful campuses: Preschool-Kindergarten and Elementary-Middle School. We recently opened our new Elementary-Middle School campus-an eco-friendly green school that incorporates solar energy, recycled building materials, organic gardens and more! Berkeley Montessori School is a vibrant community of educators and families, agreeing with Dr. Maria Montessori that each generation of children has the opportunity to remake the world it inherits. We cultivate and honor children's innate love of learning as they prepare for a life of purpose, integrity, and academic accomplishment. Berkeley Montessori students gain the skills and confidence to meet the challenges of self, family, community, and the world at large. Each classroom is multi-graded and staffed by two teachers. All of our head teachers are experienced and certified Montessori educators. Our community is diverse, friendly and passionate about learning, working together and having fun!

Brandeis Hillel School

655 Brotherhood Way, San Francisco, CA  94132

 

415-406-1035, www.bhds.org

Kindergarten - 8th Grade

Brandeis Hillel Day School (BHDS) is a K-8, independent, community Jewish day school.  It provides children with the educational and social tools to make learning, critical thinking, questioning and creating into the enjoyments of a lifetime.

 

We are committed to educating children to be caring members of the Jewish community, to value and appreciate the Jewish heritage, and as important, to be ethically responsible human beings.

 

At BHDS we are dedicated to achieving a higher standard of human interaction; we go above and beyond what are considered good manners.  This is the foundation on which the Brandeis Hillel community is built.  Kindness presents itself in many, many ways each and everyday, on and off campus.  It lives and thrives among and between the many diverse constituents that comprise the San Francisco and Marin Brandeis Hillel communities – the students, the faculty, the parents, the administration, and the board.

 

For more information, please contact our Director of Admissions, Tania Lowenthal (tlowenthal@bhds.org) or our Admissions Assistant, Kristel Kranz (kkranz@bhds.org).

Children's Day School
333 Dolores Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
415-861-5432, www.cds-sf.org
Grades PreK - 8
Our students thrive in a culture of diversity that allows them to spend less energy trying to "measure up" and instead - with our guidance - build upon their own unique genius to achieve academic success.

Chinese American International School
150 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
415-865-6000, www.cais.org
Pre-K - 8th grade
Chinese American International School is a preK-8th grade, independent school in the San Francisco, California, enrolling approximately 385 students. They offer a unique, bilingual immersion education in American and Chinese culture and language.

Students spend half the day learning subjects in Mandarin Chinese and the other half in English. Their student body consists of various ethnic groups and cultural backgrounds. They welcome families interested in providing their children with a bilingual and multicultural learning experience.

Founded in 1981, CAIS is the nation's leader in pre-collegiate Mandarin Chinese and English language immersion education. In 1987, the U.S. Department of Education declared CAIS a national prototype for Chinese language education in elementary schools. In 2004, CAIS received the Excellence in International Education award from Goldman Sachs Foundation and Asia Society.

Their Mission
The mission at Chinese American International School is to educate students for academic excellence, moral character, and international perspective through immersion in American and Chinese culture and language.

Their graduates go on to attend top high schools and colleges. Many continue Chinese studies in college and enter careers, using their Chinese skills, in areas such as business, academics, media and more.

In addition to their core program, they offer extended day and summer programs. Contact John Leiner, 415-865-6085, j_leiner@cais.org.

 

The Crowden School
1475 Rose Street, Berkeley, CA 94702-1255
510-559-6910, www.crowden.org

Grades 4 - 8
The Crowden School, a day school for children in grades four through eight, combines a rigorous academic curriculum with a distinguished music program for students of strings, piano and composition.

Founded by violinist Anne Crowden in 1983, the school provides an environment for musically interested children. Although characterized by our distinctive musical program, our Primary Goal is to give the children a first-class education in balance with their musical needs. Our goal is to produce "virtuoso children," not virtuoso musicians.
Music

The music program includes techniques classes, chamber music coaching in small and large ensembles, music history and theory--all designed help each child find his or her unique, musical voice. Chamber music forms the heart of the music program. Ensemble work develops the ability to concentrate, to cooperate, and to accept responsibility for one's own part of the artistic process. Through coaching, rehearsal and performance, students form an enduring bond with their peers within this very special community.
Academics

The academic program at Crowden is designed to help students achieve intellectual and emotional maturity through the development of analytical and critical thinking. Alumni of the school emerge as well-rounded individuals ready to meet the artistic and intellectual challenges of the high school years. They excel in all major private and public college preparatory high schools.
Philosophy

Music is an art form that requires both intelligence and commitment. At an early age, young musicians are ready to study music as a full academic subject. We believe that training for young musicians must start early. This should be part of the child's general education, not set apart from it. A period of time is set aside for the students to practice their chosen instrument, and many opportunities are found for them to perform.

The purpose of The Crowden School is to provide early training and the requisite social environment for the education of young musicians. The school serves the developmental stages at which study should begin if a student is to reach his or her potential, and in certain cases, reach the highest levels of the profession. For those with a more general musical ability, not wishing to enter the music profession, the school provides a full education with the enrichment of a shared creative interest.

Our philosophy of education is that all aspects of a child's development should be encouraged, from play-acting, sports, and art, to getting along with others and creating self-discipline. The most remarkable aspect of our school, besides the obvious musical prowess of its students, is the friendship and support that develops among these young musicians, a friendship that endures long after they leave our school. What we have seen emerge over the past twenty years are well-rounded, remarkable individuals who have gone on to be successful in and out of a life of music.

Visit us online at www.crowden.org or contact us at 510.559.6910 or admissions@crowden.org.

Ecole Billingue de Berkeley
1009 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710
510-549-3867, www.eb.org
Pre-K - 8th grade
Since 1977, Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley has cared for, stimulated, and challenged children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. They educate young people to become confident, academically prepared, fully bilingual in French and English, and eager to participate in the wider world. They offer a challenging, creative curriculum, a welcoming community, and a culturally diverse environment. All of their teachers are fully credentialed native speakers, and they are accredited by the French Ministry of Education, CAIS, WASC, and NAIS. For more information, visit www.eb.org or contact them at contact@eb.org or 510-549-3867.

 

Live Oak School

1555 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
415-861-8840, www.liveoaksf.org
Kindergarten - 8th grade

Marin Academy
1600 Mission Avenue, San Rafael, CA 94901
415-453-4550, www.ma.org
9th - 12th grade

Marin Country Day School
5221 Paradise Drive, Corte Madera, CA 94925
415-927-5900, www.mcds.org
Kindergarten - 8th grade
Marin Country Day School is an independent K-8 coed day school enrolling 540 students at its 35-acre bayside campus in the San Francisco Bay Area. The school's mission, underscored by core values of respect, responsibility and compassion, asks children to become skilled learners and ethical individuals, motivated to make a difference in the world.

MCDS teachers work to support both personal and academic development. The broad and balanced program encourages students to question, to reason and to make connections. The classroom atmosphere is highly participatory, with teachers acting as coaches who encourage students' exploration, discovery and reflection.

The founders of MCDS believed that learning is a joyous and lifelong process and that each child's unique gifts should be nurtured. They sought an environment which allowed room for study and laughter, noise and quiet, thought and action. Perhaps most important, they believed that members of a diverse school community could contribute immeasurably to the well-being of one another.

MCDS actively seeks to build an inclusive community which reflects the diversity of race, ethnicity, economic circumstances, family structure and lifestyles of the greater Bay Area. Perhaps the school's most enduring characteristic is its vibrant spirit-of students, families, teachers and staff engaged in working together.

 

Menlo School

50 Valparaiso Ave., Atherton, CA 94027

650-330-2000, www.menlo.org

6^th – 12^th grade

Oakwood School
11600 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91601-3015

Nancy Goldberg, Dir. of Admission (K-6)
Delcie Phillips, Dir. of Admission (7-12)
818-752-5277, www.oakwoodschool.org
Kindergarten - 12th grade
Founded in 1951, Oakwood School is a co-educational, independent day school in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles.  In keeping with its founding mission - to provide creative and intellectual challenge in a positive, joyful, humane atmosphere - Oakwood takes the growth and development of children seriously.  Elementary students study arts, sciences, and humanities as coordinated disciplines.  Secondary students enjoy a challenging college preparatory program balanced with extensive opportunities in fine and performing arts, athletics, and other co- and extra-curricular activities.  Through close relationships between teachers and students, Oakwood fosters personal integrity, independence of thought, a passion for knowledge, and the desire to make a difference.  The Oakwood community welcomes students and families of diverse backgrounds.

Park Day School
370 43rd Street, Oakland, CA 94609-2223
510-653-0317, www.parkdayschool.org
Kindergarten - 6th grade
Located in Oakland, Park Day School, founded in 1976 by group of teachers and parents, is a school for children in grades kindergarten through sixth. Park Day School is proud of its success in developing a diverse student body. Differences in ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socio-economic position are they encourage.

Park Day School offers a strong curriculum in math, social studies, science, language arts, and Spanish. Teaching materials are culled from many sources, often times created by the teachers, specifically geared to the learning styles and levels of their students. Park Day School community service projects include a long-standing relationship with the retired women of the Matilda Brown Home located next to the school. At the home, children visit the ladies to sing for them once a month, to participate in their ice cream socials, and to present them with Valentine's Day cards. Park Day School also believes that establishing connections with Oakland public schools will benefit and enrich the community and has built a connection with Emerson Elementary School, a public school two blocks away.

Park Day School helps children develop their social conscience and helps them learn to recognize and confront issues of race, class, and gender. The school wants students to be able to recognize the biases that exist in society and for them to develop and articulate their own values. Students are taught how to live in a diverse society and to be comfortable with the ways in which they are alike and different from others. Contact Flo Hodes, 510-653-0317 ex. 101, flo@parkdayschool.org.

Prospect Sierra School
2060 Tapscott Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530
510-236-5800, www.prospectsierra.org
Kindergarten - 8th grade
Prospect Sierra students are passionate about learning. Our exceptional teachers inspire students to seek deep, meaningful understanding; to develop strong academic skills; and to become creative and independent thinkers. Prospect Sierra cultivates compassion, fairness, respect, and individuality within a community that celebrates diversity, authenticity, and service.

Prospect Sierra is an independent co-ed school located on two beautiful campuses in the El Cerrito Hills (San Francisco bay area). Both the elementary (K-4) and the middle school (5-8) campuses are adjacent to city parks and have sweeping views of the bay. The enriched learning environment includes master teachers, challenging and meaningful academics, high school preparatory curricula, science labs and technology centers, modern and expansive libraries, comprehensive performing and visual arts programs, interscholastic sports, performing arts and sports center, French and Spanish language instruction, service learning program, after school program, financial assistance, and school bus service.

Prospect Sierra School embodies several key assumptions in philosophy and daily practice: that learning is the young person's pathway to personal growth; that school should be both challenging and joyous; that school is a community through which students, teachers and parents develop trust, demonstrate cooperation, show respect, and acquire an understanding of the rights and needs of others; and that diversity, in its many human forms, brings quality and strength to our welcoming and inclusive school. To learn more about us, please visit our website at www.prospectsierra.org or call 510-236-5800.

Presidio Hill School
3839 Washington St., San Francisco, CA 94118
415-751-9318, www.presidiohill.org
Kindergarten - 8th grade
Presidio Hill School is the oldest continually-operating progressive school in California. Founded in 1918 by two artists, Flora Arnstein and Helen Salz, who were inspired by the innovative ideas of educational reformers John Dewey and Maria Montessori, especially the concept of replacing traditional learning by rote with learning by doing.

Presidio Hill is a co-educational K-8 school with an enrollment of approximately 158 students. Each grade has one class, averaging 16 students. In addition to a 1-year kindergarten, the school offers the option of a 2-year kindergarten program to serve younger five-year-olds born in the summer and early fall.

The founders' vision included creating an environment that fostered cultural diversity, community involvement, and social action. Presidio Hill School's staff, student, and parent body reflects San Francisco's richness. Race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, economics, alternative family structure, disability, religion, learning differences, and other forms of diversity are valued. Among Bay Area independent schools, Presidio Hill has one of the highest percentages of its budget devoted to financial aid. The school strives to be a model of democracy and humane relationships.

Saint Mark's School
39 Trellis Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903
415-472-8000, www.saintmarksschool.org
Kindergarten - 8th grade
Saint Mark's School is an independent, nonsectarian, coeducational, elementary school for students in grades kindergarten through eight. The Saint Mark's community is composed of 380 bright and motivated students, over 80 faculty and staff, more than 600 alumni, and their many families and friends. The school's ten-acre campus is located in a quiet neighborhood in San Rafael, California.

Saint Mark's provides a challenging academic program in a nurturing community that values respect, responsibility and trust. The curriculum emphasizes mastery of basic academic disciplines while providing broad exposure to the arts, athletics and world cultures. The school works in partnership with families to foster academic success and personal growth. Saint Mark's recognizes that a diverse community enriches the learning of all students and promotes global understanding and citizenship.

Saint Mark's School believes that educational excellence and justice demand a diverse, inclusive and socially responsible community. By choosing Saint Mark's, families commit to inclusiveness and fairness, in keeping with the school's Seven Pillars of Character.

Please feel free to contact the Admissions Office at (415) 472-8007 if you have any questions, would like to receive an application packet, or are interested in scheduling a visit. Barbara Finley, Director of Admissions, bfinley@saintmarksschool.org.

St. Paul's Episcopal School
116 Montecito Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610-4356
510-285-9600, www.spes.org
Kindergarten - 8th grade
Celebrating 30 years of academic excellence, St. Paul's Episcopal School is Oakland's private school with a public purpose. The School is located downtown near Lake Merritt and serves 334 students in grades K-8. Throughout its history, St. Paul's has been equipping young people to be good citizens as well as good scholars. The School features excellent academics, a multicultural curriculum, diversity, spirituality, and an award-winning Service Learning Program in which all students participate.

St. Paul's provides a respectful, safe, and nurturing environment for students and families who reflect the broad diversity of the greater Oakland area. Over half of all students are children of color, and over one-third of all students participate in the School's model Tuition Assistance Program. This ensures socioeconomic diversity. The School also reflects diversity in religion and culture, as well as providing a warm and friendly atmosphere for gay and lesbian families, immigrant families, and young people with learning differences.

San Francisco Day School
350 Masonic Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94118
415-931-2422, www.sfds.net
Kindergarten - 8th grade
In 1977 Sally and Toby Rosenblatt gathered a small group of friends in their living room to talk about Sally's dream-an independent coeducational elementary school in San Francisco. Today San Francisco Day School is highly regarded and continues to advance the goals articulated by the founders offering an academic program designed to take full advantage of the City's resources, a desire to create a diverse and inclusive community, a commitment to attract and retain an outstanding faculty, tuition assistance for 10 to 25 percent of the students, and an extended day-care program. Diversity is an important component of the academic excellence of the school. San Francisco Day School recruits, welcomes and celebrates children, families, faculty and staff differences. Learning occurs both within and outside the confines of the school. Students learn to cooperate within the school community and the City of San Francisco provides an important learning laboratory for the school. Students in all grades participate in an age-appropriate service learning program that educates the children about the challenges of urban life while providing an opportunity to become active contributors to organizations and individuals in the community. It opens its doors to neighborhood groups and forges alliances with other schools and community organizations to work for the good of the community and its children.

Synergy School
1387 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA 94110
415-5677-6177, www.synergyschool.org
Kindergarten - 8th grade
Founded in 1973, Synergy School is a non-profit teacher cooperative for children kindergarten to eighth grade, located in San Francisco. The schools curriculum is multi-cultural fostered by an environment which struggles against racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice. The Synergy community is one of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds.

Academic skills are achieved within a non-competitive atmosphere. The Bay Area Writers Project, interdisciplinary projects, specific skill development utilizing phonemic awareness, and whole language/literature based programs are the foundations of their language arts curriculum. There is an emphasis on problem solving and the written expression of mathematical processes and procedures. Science at Synergy is experiential and hands-on, includes field trips in Northern California and an annual science fair. In their music program children listen to classical and ethnic music and create their own. Students produce and perform plays in Synergy's art and drama program and Spanish is taught to all grade levels. An Afterschool programs is available and over one-third of the children receive partial financial aid.

 

The Harker School

500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA  05129

408-249-2510, www.harker.org

K-12th grade

 

The San Francisco School
300 Gaven Street, San Francisco, CA 941134
415-239-5065 ext. 103, www.sfschool.org
Preschool - 8th grade
The San Francisco School embraces multiculturalism and celebrates diversity. The San Francisco School staff is a diverse group of men and women with a variety of ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds as well as sexual orientations. All teachers participate in an ongoing professional development program where teachers reflect, attend workshops, and do independent research. The core of the professional development program involves regular meetings of small groups of teachers focused on questions about student learning. Teachers hone their practice looking at current research, at their own instructional approach, and at student work. The San Francisco School preschool is a Montessori program while many common elements in the Elementary Program provide consistency for the students as they move from grade to grade. While each level has its own goals and challenges, the students can also look forward to familiar routines that build self-esteem and independence throughout the elementary years. Many elements in the Middle School program unite the Middle School students and provide common settings for individual and collective growth.

The Urban School of San Francisco
1563 Page Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
415-626-2919, www.urbanschool.org
9th - 12th grade
The Urban School of San Francisco was founded in 1966 by a group of Bay Area parents seeking an innovative alternative to conventional secondary education. They believed that adolescents are curious, creative, and eager to make sense of the world around them and that their self-esteem is best developed in an atmosphere of trust, honesty, and mutual respect between students and teachers.

Urban School believes that the best education occurs in a school made up of students, teachers, and parents drawn from many different socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, races, religions, and sexual orientations. Students are encouraged to ask questions, to search for their own answers, to voice their opinions, and to think critically and independently.

A feature of the Urban School is the assignment of a faculty advisor to each student. The faculty advisor is the liaison between student, school, and family. Students meet with their advisors in weekly group advising meetings and in individual meetings to review and plan their academic progress. The advisor is also available to discuss areas of concern and offer counsel and support.

 

Walden Center & School
2446 McKinley Avenue, Berkeley, CA  94703
510-841-7248, www.walden-school.net
Walden is an Arts-based progressive, teacher-run elementary school.  Our curriculum combines developmentally appropriate expectations with challenging units of study.  The school’s environment enhances each child’s academic, emotional, social, creative and physical growth.  Parents and educators founded Walden Center & School in 1958 to create a learning environment that treats artistic expression as an essential element of every child’s academic experience.

The Walden staff supports experiential learning, cooperative endeavor, creativity and appreciation of personal expression within a broader community.  Children and adults at Walden value the racial, social, ethnic and economic diversity of the East Bay within the School’s nonsectarian and multicultural learning environment.

 

Walden School
74 S. San Gabriel Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107
626-792-6166, www.waldenschool.net
Pre-K - 6th grade
Walden School students do as Henry Thoreau: “Be True to your work, your word, your friend.” Walden School, founded in 1970, is an independent, accredited elementary school, enrolling 240 students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in multi-grade/age classrooms.

Founded on the instructive words of Henry Thoreau, a Walden education is based on balance. Instruction assures children will develop traditional academic skills through innovative and progressive teaching practices. Teachers also strive to lay the foundation for wisdom, to encourage the spirit of Renaissance learning and to help students to understand how they are counted on as a learner and a friend. Students develop a true love of learning. They value their own interests and pursue them with passion and determination.

The Storyteller-in-Residence works with teachers and students to help give voice to the children's experience of the world and to develop the vocabulary to say what they mean and mean what they say.

Walden students matriculate to the finest independent and public schools in the area. Its graduates are described as articulate and forthright, respectful, reflective, resilient, academically ambitious, and globally aware. Walden graduates have learned how to question the status quo in an informed and reflective manner.

Please call (626) 792-6166 ext. 12 for tours. Tours begin at 9:30am, are for adults only, and do require reservations.

 

Windrush School

1800 Elm St., El Cerrito, CA 94530

510-970-7580, www.windrush.org

K- 8^th grade

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