This office in Sproul Hall gives student-led tours to prospective students and their families, international visitors and the just plain curious. Guests can experience walking tours, golf-cart tours and special tours for people with disabilities. Residence hall tours are available by appointment. The website listed features a virtual campus tour with informational videos, text and webcam images.
One of the central programs of the Chez Panisse Foundation, the Edible Schoolyard is an organic garden and kitchen classroom at Martin Luther King Jr. middle school. Students get hands-on experience in the entire food cycle, from growing to harvesting to preparing food so that they might better understand the natural world and the connection between human society and the environment.
Cragmont occupies a gorgeous modern campus in the Berkeley Hills. It has an impressive terraced instructional garden and expansive play fields. The school offers a two-way English and Spanish immersion program whose goal is to graduate students fluent in both languages. Kids in grades 1,2, 4 and 5 get weekly dance/movement lessons, and there is further enrichment in science, music and visual arts. Evelyn Tamondong-Bradley is principal.
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.
Willard Middle School offers a classic school curriculum for students between the sixth and eighth grade. Its classes include math, science, English and history, and it provides a lunch break and advisory period. It also has PTA meetings on either the first or second Monday of each month. Furthermore, it offers tours of the school on Tuesday mornings at 9:45 pm. Please note that you must be a parent and the tours last approximately one hour.
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.
Longfellow is proud of its rehabbed historic campus, including an auditorium with a state-of-the-art sound system. It has several bands and orchestras open to all students. Kids can compete inter-scholastically in softball, flag football, soccer, basketball and volleyball. The school offers a fee-based after-school enrichment program until 6pm daily with sports, art, food and tutoring by UC Berkeley students. Patricia Saddler is principal.
This course, hidden in the back of well known Tilden Park, won best of the East Bay 2008. This casual club offers lessons and equipment rentals making it friendly to beginners and pros alike. There is a large free parking lot, club house with banquet rooms and a restaurant and bar with a patio overlooking the course.
Berkeley City College offers programs in such subjects as business, English, multimedia arts, mathematics, American sign language, social science and women's studies. A variety of scheduling options are available to best accommodate your schedule, with classes offered on the weekend and online.
Berkeley Technology Academy is the City of Berkeley’s continuation high school for students who need to make up credit deficits or who, for other reasons, prefer the smaller learning environment. “B-Tech,” as it’s often called, offers a wide range of academics and after-school programs, including vocational training and tutoring.
Martin Luther King Middle School is proud of its newly rehabilitated historic wing, computer and science laboratories and new dining commons. The school is located in North Berkeley between Rose and Hopkins streets. Its Edible Schoolyard, supported by the Chez Panisse Foundation, helped to launch nationwide interest in better eating for children. The impressive track and field area on Hopkins Street is open to the public after class.
