Website: www.maybeckhs.org

Re: Affordable private school for struggling teen
I would check out Maybeck High School in Berkeley. That's where I ended up when I was flunking out of Berkeley High. They turned me around, and I ended up making it into UC Santa Cruz. Best of luck! Anon

My daughter is 14 and started at Berkeley High in the IB program this year. In the past, she loved school, but it's gotten increasingly more difficult socially over the years. She excels in school academically (this is a kid who read The Hobbit in first grade) but is bothered by the general attitude of most of the students and teachers who don't care about actually learning. She is also suffering under a huge load of busywork. We're looking into alternate options, especially Maybeck, for next year. Is there anyone who has transferred their child from BIHS to Maybeck?

Re: Home school to high school transition
Greetings, I would check out Maybeck High School in Berkeley. They are a a small private school with a lot of small group learning experiences. The school culture is one of acceptance. I could see a child as you described needing support in this sort of setting. Ask to speak to Trevor, he is in admissions. Good Luck! anon

Re: How to Choose which Private High School?
My son is a sophomore at Maybeck High and is extremely happy with his teachers and with the social life at the school. This is one of the best schools in the Bay Area. It's small and is run by the teachers as a co-op. It is truly a unique and vibrant place. We went to visit the various schools on our list to get the feel of their atmosphere. My son was able to participate in classes, and most importantly, talk with students and hear first-hand of their experience. His impression of the interview was also an important factor. It was his decision where to go, and I feel that letting him decide was the best guarantee of his present happiness and success. Rose

Re: Switching Schools as High School Junior
Maybeck High School might be a great fit for your daughter. It is not unusual for students to transfer to Maybeck after starting high school elsewhere.(She might even be able to start mid-year.) I suggest you check the BPN postings for Maybeck, and plan a visit if it sounds like a school she would like. I cannot say enough good things about our experience at this wonderful school- strong academics, small classes taught seminar-style, plenty of intellectual stimulation, close student-teacher relationships, and students who are accepting of others. Maybeck students are extremely well prepared for college. The writing program, especially, is superb. They also offer exciting travel programs each spring- last year kids had the opportunity to go biking through Japan, surfing in Kauai, explore the Theater and Art worlds in SF and NYC, or travel through Copper Canyon in Mexico, for example. Tuition is less than at most independent private schools. And the new location at St. John's on College Ave. is beautiful!

I would say that its small size would not suit every kid. It is not for someone who wants a classic ''big high school'' experience, for example. But it may suit your daughter very well. Happy Maybeck Parent

Re: A Kinder, Gentler High School???
I have two sons that go to Maybeck High School in Berkeley, which is currently on Bancroft Ave across the street from the CAL campus. This summer Maybeck is moving to a new site on College Ave (St. John's Church). The school is one of the smallest high schools I know of (approx 100-110 students), which creates the environment of intimacy for both student relationships and student/teacher relationships. My sons have flourished there emotionally, socially and academically. There are many talented and interesting students. There are interesting opportunities to travel during a ''special programs'' session in the spring. Right now some of the students are bicycling in Japan; others are in the Copper Canyon, Mexico. Mine are in Hawaii hiking and surfing. There is an emphasis on academics, the environment and bicycling. There are no competitive sports teams, however, if that is an interest. lauren

Hello - I am trying to find a good fit more my daughter who is academically gifted, but struggeling in the large classes and crowds of Berkeley High. We are considering a smaller school like Millenium or Maybeck (my ex lives in Piedmont). Does anyone have experience with either or both to share? We would like to find a place where kids can develop personal relationships with teachers in an kind and intellectually challanging environment. (shouldn't all schools be like that?). curious mom

Re: Private school for 8th grader
I used to teach at Maybeck High School on Bancroft Way, across from CAL. I would suggest he spend part of a day there attending classes and having lunch with some students. It is a very small school which has its pros and cons. Cons are that it does not participate in team sports with other schools. Because it is small, there is a limited social scene, so if he doesn't click with the kids there -- it will be even more limited for him. The positives are that the teachers are genuinely concerned with the students' academics and social development. They will not let them be anonymous. If they are having a problem, teachers will talk with them and with the other teachers and parents. Art and Drama are strong. Writing is exceedingly strong so when he goes on to college, he will be better prepared than most. There are also cool camping trips at the year's start and end and a two week Special Program around Spring Break where they can do things like learn to surf, make films, visit a foreign country, etc. It is less expensive than some of the other schools and is a teacher cooperative (low admin. costs). It is close to CAL so lots of opportunities to see plays, films, art exhibits, visit labs, etc. Most of the students go on to smaller liberal arts colleges, but I personally knew a couple who went on to CalTech and Stanford. They also have some financial aid available. Take him for a visit and listen to his feedback. Several faculty members will also interview him once he applies. kl

Re: Trying To Choose A High School
Maybeck High School Feedback. The small size is a drawback for a number of students, especially if they don't fit into the rather artsy, ''original'' dressing, piercings, etc. social scene. Also, they have no team sports programs if that is important to your student. They offer ''lifelong'' sports like yoga, swimming, fencing, etc. Pluses are 1)they learn to write like no one's business!, 2) plenty of individual attention -- you cannot hide and not do your work, 3) great, bonding camping trips at the beginning and end of school year, 4) cool programs before spring break where they can choose to travel abroad with a teacher, or stay local. Past trips have included surfing in Hawaii, studying sea turtles in Costa Rica, studying film making in Hollywood, etc. I would suggest having the student spend a typical day there if they could, going to classes and meeting other students. kl

We looked at almost all the schools on your list (and more). He applied to several of them (those we preferred) and was accepted at all but one of his choices. Choosing between those was a difficult process! Ultimately, his father and I felt that it had to be his decision- after all, he was the one who would be attending the school, and he had only applied to schools we approved of so.... he chose the school where he felt most comfortable, and it was the right decision for him. I say, allow your daughter to go with her gut (and your guidance); they are all good choices. Happy Maybeck Parent

Re: Choosing a high school for gay son
Maybeck High School in Berkeley has a wonderful, accepting and progressive social environment. My second child is there now; my older one graduated from there and is doing very well in college. Maybeck is definitely a place you can be gay/bi or ''on the spectrum'' and be totally accepted.

Check out an open house, and talk to the teachers and students who give presentations. Also, each of my teens were sold on the place after they spent a day visiting classes during 8th grade. They are very different kids, and it has been great for both of them. By spending a day at school, your son will really get a feel for the program. Maybeck is academically rigorous (without being overwhelming), so if your he is a reasonably strong student, it could be a great match. Satisfied parent

Re: Current feedback on Albany High/Maybeck
Hi, Our family has had a terrific experience at Maybeck H.S. so far. Our daughter is a freshman and we were a little worried about what we'd heard concerning the homework load, but she's found it very manageable, and did very well in her first school report (maybe because she got such a great preparation at Berkeley Montessori School!). I highly recommend Maybeck for its passionate teachers (it's a teacher co-op, as you probably know), its academic rigor without being insane with the homework, and especially its acceptance of kids who like and are comfortable being themselves. It's an intentionally small school where the kids feel well-known and supported; there's no getting lost in the crowd. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Laura

Sept-Nov 2007

Picking a good fit for your student depends on so many variables. I would recommend that you take a look at Maybeck High School in Berkeley. Your posting basically touched on all the reasons we sent our son there (''schools that present the curriculum in a very interesting way, and encourage social, artistic and critical thinking development'') and we have been very impressed. By the time our boy is done, we feel he will not only be ready for college, but will be ready to take on the comlexities presented by our culture today. Don't be put off by the appearance of the school; take a good look at the curriculum and the emphasis on social and personal responsibility. The program gives ample room for self expression in different artistic media -- drama, film, painting, drawing -- and offers a good solid education that will serve them well as fledgeling adults. Their website is maybeckhs.org. I am happy to speak with you about our experience there if you wish. Carol D

Sept 2006

I did very well at Maybeck, because of their very strict academic and behavioral rules it created a community of kids that wanted to be there and to learn. The teachers were always accessible if anyone needed help. The fact that it's a teacher’s co-op and that students are involved in policy making and enforcement created an environment of equality, commitment and personal freedom. It was such a unique and wonderful experience, it really enforced my dedication to learning. What ever your passion was Maybeck provided an outlet. I had amazing opportunities of directing and acting in the school’s play, traveling and doing service learning abroad, and taking ballroom dancing.

I went on to Occidental College and graduated with multiple honors, awards and distinctions. While my friends were struggling with the workload I was well prepared. I would strongly recommend Maybeck to anyone.
Very Happy Maybeck Alum

April 2006

Despite its rigorous academic environment, the demeanor of the school is low-key---it's no pressure cooker environment and the kids are the kind that don't like to be in a pressure/competitive environment. They don't have such a thing as a Student Body President. Or Sports teams. But, my son groans under the weight of 4-5 hours of homework per night. He's a bright kid, and he's definitely being challenged. They regularly send graduates off to the best colleges and universities. And at Maybeck, he can be himself. All of the students are supported by the Instructors as well as their fellow-students in their self-expression. One more thing: A Berkeley High parent-friend remarked to me that they had heard Maybeck has a lot of students that smoke dope. That worried me, so I asked my son about it (he's very honest with me) and he informed me that it's the Berkeley High kids he sees smoking dope all the time, plus approaching him trying to sell dope, AND, there's a much smaller percentage of kids at Maybeck who smoke dope than Piedmont High (!).
Fan of Maybeck

Oct - Nov 2005

While I sympathize with some of your frustrations with Maybeck High School (see below,) my son's experience there (he graduated this year) was so different that I had to reply. Maybeck was my son's third high school, after trying a large public school for one semester and then a smaller, less academically challenging private school for the rest of his freshman year. Coming to Maybeck was, for him, like an infusion of pure oxygen. The school is small, safe and personal, with a rigorous anti-bullying/tolerance policy which everyone takes quite seriously. While the academics were tougher than he was used to, the classes were small enough, and the teachers demanding and supportive enough, that he was able to grow in confidence and competence. What especially excited him was that he was treated as an adult in most of his classes. He was expected to manage his own work load, keep up with the curriculum and do extra work (many teachers set aside time outside of class to meet with students) if he found himself falling behind. The burden was on him to ask for help; in this way Maybeck is more like a junior college, where parents are peripheral, than like a middle school, where the parent is very much in the academic loop. Parents can be involved in their kid's academics at Maybeck but, in my experience, they will have to take the initiative for that to happen.

This sudden burden of personal responsibility can be quite stressful for some kids - it certainly was for my son. It was the dedication and encouragement of his teachers, many of whom let him redo assignments, that pulled him through that rough first semester. This is why it astonishes me that your son found the teachers there unhelpful. I wonder if maybe your son's reluctance to approach his teachers for help early on may have set up a negative spiral for him. I'm not sure where the fear of humiliation came from; with one or two possible exceptions in three years, my son was treated respectfully by all of his teachers.

I agree with you that Maybeck does not seem to have a mechanism for getting rid of the occasional poor teacher - or if they do, it didn't always work to my liking. And they could do more to contact parents early on if a kid starts to falter. Yet overall, its incredibly dedicated staff (who take the entire student body on a three night camping trip at the beginning and end of each school year - now that's dedicated) made it a wonderful experience for my son. I'd be happy to talk to any parents who are considering sending their child to Maybeck. Anna

In the new parents' orientation session, we heard, and took to heart, Maybeck's message that students accepting responsibility for themselves is a critical component of the Maybeck experience. It is a college prep school. (Somedays I think it is a college.) Just as in college, any student floundering is to approach the instructor(s) involved and ask for help. Some instructors are able to wait for the student to approach. Some reach out first. Parents are not encouraged to be involved in the kids' work. We are gently encouraged to start letting go. That said, there is a process for intervention on a student's behalf. The ''scariest'' of the teachers insists that all parental criticisms/complaints about him be shared with all the staff. And the school does have a process to alert parents of impending failure.

Good communication with the student, at home and at school, is critical to fully appreciating Maybeck's strengths. The reward is an exceptional education, lengthy community service, travel opportunities, potential life- time relationships with excellent instructors and a strong preparedness for college. Kathie

Maybeck is, as the anon poster says, ''very academically challenging.'' This is particularly true for entering students, who must adjust to a near-college level of teaching, testing and homework.

Adding to this challenge, Maybeck operates on the strong belief that once kids reach high school, they should take responsibility for their own actions, including asking for help when it is needed. This is part of Maybeck's college prep experience. ( This sometimes requires parent adjustment, too.)

My son had a discouragingly time-consuming workload in his first year. It was hard for him to step up to a teacher and ask for leeway when he truly was overloaded, but with coaching from us, he did, and the response when he did was supportive. (I also spoke to the academic counselor, who was very helpful in my coaching him.)

Maybeck is a teacher-run cooperative in which all of the teachers carry multiple curricular and extra-curricular hats, which makes them extra-busy. (This year teachers have posted office hours for students.) As in all schools, some teachers are better or more receptive to feedback than others, but our kid, even when he hasn't liked a teacher, has been intellectually challenged and engaged in every subject.

With only 100 kids, even a small number of departures can look like large turnover. When considering Maybeck, we heard about a number of kids who had been there for one or two years. In most cases, the reasons for departure were extra-curricular: the kid wanted to be at a big high school with lots of social and sports activities that Maybeck is too small to offer. It's important to note that there are transfers in every year, too, from those same schools, that have proved too distracting, socially intolerant, or not academic enough for other kids.

Moreover, because Maybeck bends over backwards to consider bright, creative kids who have not done well at other schools, it takes chances in its admissions process that other private high schools don't take. It would seem to me that a natural consequence of Maybeck's relatively liberal admissions policy would be student turnover.

Finding the right high school for a kid who is struggling with academic motivation or other issues is tough. Maybeck High School offers a unique small school alternative for many kids. As the poster suggests, you should ask lots of questions of Maybeck (and the questions suggested are good ones to ask all schools), but you'd do yourself a disservice if you struck Maybeck off your list.

Satisfied Maybeck Parent

The result of this misperception (in the case of this prior posting) was an unhappy student who struggled academically before transferring to Arrowsmith and finding a likable fit.

My impression is that a large percentage of situations in which a student/family withdraw from Maybeck are because of the workload. People often mistakenly associate and/or confuse Maybeck with Arrowsmith, which is quite problematic because although they are both very tolerant ''Berkeley'' schools, they have radically different academic demands and styles.

My son is now in his junior year at Maybeck, having attended since the start of his freshman year. He loves Maybeck. He has received incredible support from his teachers, including especially intense development of his writing and critical thinking skills. He continues to be inspired and supported by his instructors and fellow students, and receives excellent counseling related to his academic development and college considerations.

All of his class sizes are small, ranging from 4 students in Spanish 4 to 18 students in Pre-calculus, Chemistry, and Greek Literature. His Greek Literature class is taught by an inspiring teacher, whose Ph.D. thesis dealt with some of the texts that the class is reading. The students love to have him read Homer from the original Greek (in class) and to compare his translation impressions with the translation that the class read. I showed the SEMESTER syllabus for this class to a friend who is a tenured UC Berkeley English professor and he commented that the intensive reading list would be a lot even for a UC Berkeley course!

In fact last year, the UC team accredited Maybeck with flying colors. However, they did provide feedback to the Maybeck staff that many of Maybeck's classes were at or above the honors or AP level even though the students were not receiving the honors or AP designation on their transcripts. Maybeck is now in the process of preparing the paperwork for submission in order to get honors or AP status recognized. They hope to have this in place by the beginning of the next academic year (fall '06).

I think word of Maybeck's academic rigors really needs to get out to the community (and especially to Middle school counselors - that make high school recommendations to students/families). Although Maybeck is often misperceived as an ''arty hippy type'' of high school, it is an actually incredibly academic learning institution that really engages the student, resulting in remarkable achievement from its students (many of whom, for example, produce college level papers during their required 10th grade Literature class).

Students looking for an easy ''arty hippy type'' of school are destined for a rude surprise, which may result in an academic struggle before they transfer out to a less rigorous school. However, Maybeck is an outstanding school for students interested in a strong small college preparatory school with a safe, lively, engaging, and tolerant social environment, located on Bancroft across the street of the UC Berkeley.

I would be happy to discuss Maybeck with any family considering Maybeck for their student. Reuben

satisfied parent of maybeck graduate

Feb 2005

Some go to Maybeck High School at Bancroft and Dana in Berkeley. I've been a Maybeck parent since 2000, and I highly recommend it. Imagine classes of 12 students, many of them very bright; wonderful, caring teachers; all-school camping trips; and opportunities to travel to another country with a small group! It's relatively affordable (15,100 this year), and financial aid is offered. Call 841-8489 for info. Ann

November 2003

Happy Maybeck Mom

It has been a very moving experience attending two graduation ceremonies at Maybeck. Each senior gives a short, informal speech, and many of them talk about what an ''amazing'' place the school is. The teachers, in introducing the students, show their appreciation for each one's individuality, endearing qualities, and growth over their years at the school.

I can't compare it to Bentley, but I can highly recommend it.

- anonymous parent (somewhat shy and sensitive to criticism)

February 2003

December 2002

Sept 2001

[After not clicking with Arrowsmith and Athenian] a wonderful therapist suggested looking into Maybeck. I was quite doubtful, after our risky Arrowsmith experience. But she interviewed there and again, loved it. The difference is, the school is more structured than Arrowsmith, expects more academically from the kids, yet is small enough that they won't let a student fall through the cracks. They are very strict about drugs and cigarettes etc. My daughter went there last year and I won't say she had an easy time academically, but she definitely finished her work and is very motivated to graduate this year. She is planning to go to CCAC or another 4-year art college next year and has grown (and grown up!) so much. All I can tell you is that we carpool with about 5 other kids each day and they each have their own reasons for going to Maybeck--mostly for being "different" from their peers at mainstream schools. But they all seem to really appreciate--and almost seem relieved--at the chance to go to Maybeck, where everybody accepts and respects everyone else. It's quite an eye opener to see--high school kids not being "cliquey" and acting tough--but just being themselves, their quirky, interesting selves.

Sept 2000

Jan 2000

We have only positive things to say about his Maybeck experience. Staff really care about the students, and because the school is small, they can get to know them pretty well. The trips the students take at the beginning and end of the year help the students connect with each other in positive ways.

The intersession courses provide unique opportunities for growth. (My son spent last year as a CSU exchange student in France as a result of the travel with Maybeck to France in his Junior year.)

Maybeck involve students in creating school rules and maintaining discipline. Students learn to think for themselves. The regular curriculum is strong. Most Maybeck students in Aaron's graduating class went on to college (several to UC Berkeley and Santa Cruz.) He is still in touch with friends he made there.

I know Maybeck offers students the opportunity to visit for a day. (We took advantage of that when Aaron was in the 8th grade -- following which he decided that he definately wanted to go there.)

June 1997

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Maybeck High School and it is still thriving. I definitely hope to send my children there six years from now, or something as close to Maybeck as possible. sharon

Maybeck is a popular alternative for students who don't work well at Berkeley High (and whose parents can afford the private school tuition, of course). These students seem to thrive on individual attention, and Maybeck offers that opportunity.

My stepdaughter, now graduated from college, went through Berkeley High and loved it and excelled in everything. We thought all of her teachers were topnotch. But, Berkeley High is not for everyone.

Good luck! The high school years whiz by in retrospect!
Becky