Black Pine Circle School

It is a great school! Our son has flourished. We have great teachers, fantastic and very involved head of school/director, and invested community. Saying "it's like a family" might sound cliche, but it it is really like that.

My two kids started at BPC last year in 2 and 3 grades. From the beginning, both the teachers and administrators were welcoming and supportive. The academics are solid and have become significantly more challenging, now that one child is in 4th grade.

My son joined the math club (precursor to upper school math team) and although many concepts are over his head, he is totally jazzed to be exposed to the general concepts. Despite this, he was somewhat discouraged to continue with the club, but after I talked to Mr. G, I explained to my son that he is not expected to grasp everything now, but sticking with it would help him be prepared for more challenging math and the math team in years to come. Just yesterday he said, "Dad, if that is how Mr. G explained it to you, then I think I will continue." I was so proud of my son and so happy that Mr. G took more than 15 minutes (at the end of a long day) to talk to me and explain his thoughts about a 4th grader's trajectory in developing a deeper understanding of complex mathematical ideas.

My 3rd grader is picking up Spanish and getting better now that it is her 2nd year studying it. My 4th grader started violin last year and enjoyed it but has now switched to piano, which he loves even more. The year of violin proved to be a good base to understand some music theory that could be applied to any instrument. Arts and sciences as well as computer lab have really rounded out their knowledge and peaked their curiosity to explore more about these subjects.

Above all, the BPC community of parents, teachers, admins, specialists, and of course their peers, has made the last 1-1/2 years very enriching for the whole family. BPC simply ROCKS and we love this school. I may be posting the same comments on other sites, but I do not want anyone to think that this is a canned review.

My kids, an 11 yr old boy and a 7yr old girl, are both thriving at the school. What impresses me most is the dedication of the faculty- I feel as if every teacher, teaching assistant (2 adults in each classroom of 18-21 kids) knows and genuinely cares about my kids. It's also a very inclusive, intelligent and interesting group of parents. I feel like me kids are in a safe container that challenges them to learn and grow every day. - Evan S., North Berkeley