Berkeley Parents Network: Berkeley Arts Magnet School

Berkeley Parents Network

Berkeley Arts Magnet School

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > K-12 Schools > Berkeley Public Schools > Berkeley Arts Magnet School

PTA's wesite for Berkeley Arts Magnet: http://berkeleyartsmagnet.berkeleypta.org

Parents' recommendations

Feb 2008

My 6 year old boy is in first grade at BAM and we have had a great experience so far. He had a wonderful kindergarten year as well. He is learning to read with confidence. He loves the math and science activities.

Like any elementary school the playground can be a problem spot. I feel like BAM really works hard to address these problems. He had an incident with a classmate pinching him in Kindergarten and it was dealt with immediately.

I think the PTA is one of the things that makes BAM great. The community at BAM raises at ton of $ that helps pay for Art, Percussion, and P.E. The teaching staff is very involved in the PTA as well.

BAM is a very diverse school and tries very hard to celebrate different cultures, we have a great multicultural potluck every year. Families bring so many beautiful dishes to share and the kids dress paper dolls representing their ancestry. We have students from all over the globe. If you are an ''ex-pat'' you will find a great community here. We have families from Japan, Algeria, Tibet, England, Germany, China, Mexico, Pakistan. . .the list goes on and on. At the recent MLK assembly another parent and I had tears in our eyes when watching a performance that was truly Martin Luther Kings dream realized.

I know not everyone has had such a positive experience, but for our family BAM really is working out. Gena

Jan 2008

Re: looking at schools in the Central Zone
My daughter is in Kindergarten at Berkeley Arts Magnet. She is having the time of her life and loves school. Some things we like about BAM are great K teachers, personal & friendly feel, almost daily time with arts specialists & many performance opportunities, and interesting and warm families. The fall family events had huge turnouts - the Multicultural Potluck & Hip Hop Hurray (about the origins of hip hop). All of our 3 kindergarten classes already have a family camping trip planned at the end of the year. My daughter learned to read since she got here but there is no pressure; there is no homework for them this first year (although they get workbooks sent home in case they want to do them). The main problem for us has been figuring out how things work; the written/electronic communication is spotty and it has been frustrating. It's not easy to find things out unless you spend lots of time at the school volunteering or just hanging around, which is what many parents end up doing. Karen

March 2007

My husband and I would love to get current feedback on BAM. We have a handful of questions and would love any insight from current families, teachers, or anyone affiliated with the school. 1. Afterschool programs. What are they like? How well does the school serve children who are advanced in a particular subject? Are there enrichment classes in addition to basic after-school childcare/homework help? 2. How are the arts (visual, music and performing)integrated into the curriculum and/or offered as enrichment? 3. Discipline -- are the classes, especially the upper grades, well managed and orderly? Does BAM have a specific system in place to deal with conflict? 4. How are resources at the school distributed? Are students who are not ''achieving'' given priority over those who are? Are they typically served at the expense of enrichment activities or advanced academics for other students? 5. How is the academic level and student focus in the upper grades when the class size jumps? How are the 3/4/5 teachers? 6. PTA? How much are parents involved in the school and in what capacities? 7. The yard. I read in the archives that BAM was going to have $200k in improvements. Were these implemented? Any plans to remove the ''bungalows''? How are the playgrounds managed? 8. Teacher/Principal/Parent relationship. How is this? Any thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated. Thank you! Anon

Afterschool programs are great and getting better. Many other close by options beyond the PTA-directed program exist.

For children who are advanced in a particular subject there are well attended PTA After School classes. BAM Allstars is an on- premises after school program that offers homework help.

The arts have not yet been fully integrated and there will be changes next year. Percussion, dance, drama, and visual arts are offered in the core curriculum. The PTA, principal and teachers are passionate about including the arts in the curriculum. PTA directed after school activities include the arts.

BAM has an academic achievement level challenge so educators and administration are focused on improvement of under- performers. Teachers do teach to the grade standards. Funds barely cover the core program let alone interventions for under performers. There are a few interventions in practice, and the school expects to see further intervention improvements next year. After School enrichment activities are available for all performance levels. Unfortunately, advanced academics are not ''in scope'' for the school's core curriculum. Is it different at other BUSD elementary schools?

The PTA is very active. There is excellent leadership and contribution from a good number of families. Albeit, more active representation from more African American families is desired.

Come see them: the yard improvements are marvelous. Why should the bungalows be removed? Recess time in the playground and the lunchroom are supervised by PTA volunteers and some paid help.

Teacher/Principal/Parent relationship is generally respectful and cooperative. There are flare ups. I personally would like to hear the voice of the teachers more frequently.

Check out the web site: www.bampta.org mother of BAM 2nd grader

To answer the questions about Berkeley Arts Magnet (BAM) I will use Anon as a guideline. My history is that I am on the PTA executive committee and am a parent of a second grade boy. 1) The after school programs are excellent at BAM. My son has been in the BAM All stars and had a great time, even doing his homework.For a two year old program it is amazing, and Catherine, the director is always looking for dynamic ways of improving it. I don't have any direct input about the EDC, but I have heard great things about it as well. There are also wonderful arts enrichment programs after school that range from cooking to guitar to dancing as well as many others interesting classes, which is sponsored by the PTA. 2. The arts continue to be a huge focus in the administration and the community, though there is presently a debate about how the arts are going to be carried out in the school. I have been constantly impressed by the writing and the visual arts that you see in the hallways. I never imagined that a bragging point for a second grade boy would be how good a poet he is, but that is what my son held great pride in this last year, prompting him to try his hand at song writing. All of this was fostered at school through he integration of art into the curriculum. I have heard that in later grades this is combination is more intense, though I don't have first hand experience. The enrichment part is and has always been a strong part of the school, thought there are debates about how this is going to take place in the future (there is no debate about whether or not it will continue). 3. I only have direct experience with the lower grades so I can't speak directly to the discipline issue in the upper grades. I do know that in the discussion with the other parents it has been a rare complaint (less than most of the schools that I have been involved in with my two older kids). 4. There has been a lot of focus on this, both by the principle and the community (though much of it through the achievement gap discussions). I have found in my children's experiences that most of this is handled in the classroom by the teacher with the support of the teaching group. Though there was a large potential for this to be an issue in my sons class from Kindergarten, it was addressed appropriately and has not been an issue in the slightest bit since (though by all reports my son has a great well behaved class). As a whole the focus at BAM is not on the negative aspects of disruptiveness in kids (as I have seen in other schools, but on the positive classroom experience and learning. I don't know if this is a result of high ideals set by the community, or the work of the teachers and administration though I suspect it is a combination of both. 5) I don't know personally how good the focus is first hand but in general I have heard few complaints, and most of the graduates I know from BAM have done extremely well. I did look into the sixth grade academics and know that this has been at an extremely high level. 6) We, at BAM, are extremely proud of our parent community, as is represented by the vast number of committee s that work on different aspects for example we have an arts committee, lunch room committee, fund raising committee and more (12 different committees were recognized at one executive meeting), each of which has a different set of committed parents. We have a very vocal community that plays a n integral part of the children's education, including sponsoring many of the arts enrichment at the school through PTA funding. 7) Though the yard has too much concrete for my blood the kids really seam to enjoy it. Much of the improvements were to provide sitting places for the kids (benches and tables) shade for part of the yard (a small section of trees planted in the concrete that will do a great job at providing shade in a couple of years). The Bungalos don't seem to be going anywhere. My child is presently in one, which hes seems to enjoy (its like a school in a school). The play grounds have been well managed though there are a lot of kids and there could always be more help there. Some serious issues have arisen but were quickly identified and brought to the administrations attention. 8) The Parent teacher relationship in my experience is great. All the teachers have been forth coming with what is going on in class and happy to listen to the parents needs and questions.Our new Principle has been putting out a weekly news letter explaining what has been going on from her perspective. She has also gone to many of the multiple PTA and parent meetings to try to answer questions. Over all the strong community in BAM has led to what I consider to be a great school, even though there are always important issues which need addressing. What is great about our school is that no issue will be left un-touched. BAM parent

April 2006

I don't see much new information on Berkeley Arts Magnet. This was not our first choice school and it does not look like we will be getting into our first choice. Any comments/opinions would be greatly appreciated! anon

Hello potential BAM parent! My 11-year attended BAM and my 2nd grader is there currently. My daughter will start KG there in the fall. I'm friends with several people for whom BAM is a second choice. Meanwhile, they are very happy at BAM and are not considering moving. That said, I understand that BAM wasn't your first choice. Personally, I was hoping my daughter would get into the Spanish immersion program at Cragmont (no luck). Cragmont's principal seemed very hands-on and very ''with-it'' about discipline problems. The PTA there is very active. But I am just as happy that my daughter will attend BAM in the fall. The KG teachers at BAM are outstanding and so are most of the teachers. (Unfortunately, there are a few teachers who don't deserve that praise....)

Also, there are some major changes in store: over the summer, the school grounds will get a $200,000 face lift which will greatly improve the look and feel of the yards. Yippee! And we are in the process of selecting a new principal, who will bring new enthusiasm and energy to the job. Our outgoing principal was good and I liked her a lot, but it seems that the principal and some of the teachers didn't get along so well....

As to parent involvement: there is a core group of super-involved parents -- many help out in the classrooms, especially KG and firstgrade. Then there is the the big, silent majority, who are rarely seen at school other than at performances. The school definitely needs more involved parents and there are plenty of opportunities to get active! I hope you and your child/ren will come to like BAM and become active members of our community!
barbara

August 2005

Curious as to your opinion of Berkeley Arts Magnet? I am needing some reassurance its methods would be as good or nearly as good as home schooling for helping 7 yrold girl discover her own unique individuality. Particular teacher names especially appreciated. We live on California near University. So if you know of other alternatives, besides expensive private schools we cannot afford, I'd love to hear this as well. Gary

We have just had a very good year with Berkeley Arts Magnet. I'm really impressed with Mindy, who teaches percussion there. She's amazing. The drama is also great fun. I home schooled my children until age 7, and then came to feel that the social environment provided by a school, providing there is a safe and caring atmosphere, is absolutely necessary for the child's happiness and development. We're a really academic family, and (paradoxically) I wasn't looking for a strong academic program in school - I can do that myself at home, teaching the children where necessary. Surprisingly, then, the math at Berkeley Arts Magnet was challenging and interesting for my fifth grade child. But it was in the realm of friendship, drama, music, that my children were happy and fulfilled. J

November 2003

We love Berkeley Arts Magnet. Sure, it has problems. Classes are bigger this year than ever before, and it's been a real shock to those whose children were in lovely small 3rd grade classes last school year. The arts program, for many of us the reason we chose this school, continues to struggle for adequate funding. The library is only open 3 short days a week. The food in the cafeteria is lousy. The PTA can never raise enough money to make up for district shortfalls. But we still love it - the teachers do their best, the kids are great, the parents are involved (those who have the time) and there's a whole lot of learning going on. BAM parent

We have a third grader at Berkeley Arts Magnet (BAM) and our experience has been very positive in almost every respect. The arts program at BAM is extraordinary for this day and age - 4 classes per week in performing and visual arts for every grade with professional artists as instructors, culminating in wonderful school-wide performances. The upper grades specialize in an art form and study it four days a week for the entire year, and the results are truly impressive. The academics have also been strong - BAM uses CEL and David Berg Math (highly effective, research-based literacy and math curricula that I have observed first-hand as a classroom volunteer). The BAM parent community is active and involved - drawn in in great part, I believe, by the arts program. In response to the query about test scores, I personally feel they are not good indicators of what the schools offer and are more indicative of a highly diverse student population. My experience has been that the level of teaching in BUSD is generally high and the choice of academic curricula very good (I know of schools in other districts with higher test scores that use curricula that I wouldn't want for my child, such as Open Court). The hardest thing about being in the public schools has been the recent budget cuts, but parents and staff have pulled together, and while class size in the upper grades has increased and some programs have been cut back, the overall school experience for my daughter has remained intact. The best thing for me as a parent is being part of a community that is truly rich in diversity of every kind and knowing that my daughter is growing up immersed in that wealth. Don't believe all the negative hype about the public schools - come and check them out! Nora

January 2000

Berkeley parents: Any comments on Whittier/Arts Magnet school in Berkeley? There's nothing at the UCB Parents site. (Maybe it's just my bias, but with an arts focus, why is Whittier one of the few Berkeley schools without a website of its own? Is it a Luddite thing?) Letitia

Eric
I know that their test scores are quite stunning: they indicate a remarkably regular increase as the children move up in the grades. If one were to trust this data, the school might be doing something right, like bringing up the kids who begin with difficulties to the level of the high performers? You can check the scores out on the BUSD site, or the STAR site. By the way, I think that the Internet and technology in general are way too overrated as assets in schools, and that much is to be said for arts, especially at the elementary level. Good luck!

Arts Magnet school does have a web site @: http://www.berkeley.k12.ca.us/School%20Choice/Guide/WhittierGuide.htm.

Both my daughter's went to Arts Magnet and it is a fine school. They do have more of an emphasis on art, beginning in grade 4 they are allowed to take an art elective, African dance, Drum band, drama, or art. The principal is OK, not much of a leader, not too connected with the parents or teachers. Just like all schools, there are some great teachers, some awful teachers, and lots of mediocre teachers. Visit the web site, the school, then make your decision.

Tim
I've been a parent of two children at Arts Magnet for 5 years, through every grade (K-6) but 4th. Last time I checked there wasn't a Luddite in the place -- in fact my third-grader's teacher is married to the BUSD chief of technology, who volunteers with the kids for their computer lab every week. A website, however, does not an arts program make.

"Arts" at BAM (Berkeley Arts Magnet) means dance, choral and instrumental music, drum band, theater, and visual art. In the 80's and early '90's BAM was truly a "magnet" school of the arts, drawing students from throughout the district. That changed several years ago when the BUSD went to its current system of pupil assignment zones, though it is still possible to get in if you live outside the zone. Nonetheless, the arts focus of the school was retained, thanks to a very committed body of parents, teachers and the principal, Lorna Skantze-Neill (if I'm spelling that right).

The arts elements of the curriculum are funded partly through site funds and partly through BSEP grants, PTA funds and similar private sources. There are four "dedicated" arts teachers -- one each in visual arts, dance, choral music and drums (the drum band is a neighborhood institution). The overall emphasis is on exposing elementary (K-6) students to a variety of forms of artistic expression. K-3 students have four 45 minute art periods each week, one with each of the four teachers. Students in the upper grades (4-6) choose one of these areas in which to concentrate and have the same number of periods in that art form.

Students also are released from class for instrument lessons if they wish -- I believe that may be a district-wide program but am not sure. There are several performances by the whole school each year; last night the upper students performed at Julia Morgan Theater. The African dance troupe has a statewide reputation.

BAM also does well on regular academics, compared to other schools in the district. It has won several consecutive California Distinguished School awards. The teaching staff is, with rare exception, good to excellent; the upper grades have a wonderful roving math teacher who turned my elder son's math career around completely.

All in all, BAM is a warm, safe, multicultural urban public school with a good arts program. In these sorry days when California has fallen from first to virtuallly last in the country in school funding, its very existence is a miracle. I recommend it highly.

Afterschool program at Arts Magnet?
March 2005
My son will be entering kindegarten at Berkeley Arts Magnet this coming fall, and I wonder what the options are for after/before-school care. The school district sent an application for the LEARNS program, but are there alternatives we should be looking at? Any recommendations for and against the various programs if we do have some options? Thanks, Penny penny
Recommended: New School nearby preschool
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