Public Schools near the UCB campus
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Public Schools near the UCB campus
September 2002
I plan to attend UCB in Fall '03 and my daughter will start
kindergarten at the same time. I would like to know which public
elem. schools are close to the Berkeley campus, which are the
best, how/when do I go about enrollment. I am also interested in
advice about the campus-run preschool programs for my other
daughter who will be 3. One last question: I was told my chances
for Univ. Village housing are pretty good and would like to hear
experiences of other families living there.
Bridget
For a private school you may want to look at Berkeley
Montessori School. Presently at LeRoy (on the Northside of
campus) they will be moving to a new location on University
Avenue (on the way from the Village). Good, attentive
teachers and a strong sense of community. But if you are
living in the Village your kids have the option to going to the
highly sought after Albany public schools.
GF
If you live in Berkeley, the city is divided into three
geographic ''zones'' and you can choose any one of three or four
elementary schools within your zone.
For more information about Berkeley schools (including
preschools), try their website: http://www.berkeley.k12.ca.us
If you live at the UC Village, you will be in the city of Albany
and will want to look at elementary schools there.
A Berkeley parent
Bridget -
Rent-wise and Elementary-school-wise, your very best bet is to
get into UC Village. Rents on the new townhouses, which are
huge, are below market rent (which still doesn't make them
affordable for student parents), but Section B, the older ('60s)
section, are very affordable and perfectly fine for the years
you're living close to the bone. Section B apartments are built
around a courtyard, not facing the street, and so kids run
around within a safe area, watched by parents who all know each
other. It's a fantastic, multi-cultural/ethnic community.
Another bonus: UC Village is next door to Oceanview, a new
elementary school in the much-vaunted Albany School District. My
husband walks our daughter to school each morning then catches
the '52 bus to Cal. It's really an ideal situation. I wish we
could live here until our kids are raised. Alas...we'll be gone
when you get here. Good luck!
Village mom
I would like to give advice, because we had the same questions
the last two years.We lived in walking distance to the campus.
The next public school for our 5 years old daughter was Emerson
School,one of the best Elementary Schools in Berkeley. We applied
twice and the Unified School District took us for Kindergarten
and First Grade to the second choice, John Muir School.There is
also a waiting list after the first decision, but we could4nt
rich a space.In our situation, for Kindergarten, we took our
daughter in the catholic St. Joseph School, which was in
Jefferson Street near by the University Street.Which was a really
strong education time and after this year our daughter started
reading. This year our family decided to move to Albany, because
of money reasons.We tried to come in the University Village, but
our status was not the right one. So we found a different
appartment in Albany. In Albany you have the choice between three
Elementary Schools,who are all highly recommended in the
news(''Marin'', ''Cornell'' and ''Ocean View''-next to the Village).
The school district took our daughter to Cornell,who is in
walking distance to our home.Our daughter likes her new school
and we enjoy the very flat area with our two girls. We can walk
to the playgrounds and ride the bycicles.This is much more
convenient with small kids(Also for parking reasons!)in contrast
to the ''beautiful hill university area''...
In my opinion, I think the childcare situation around the campus
in Berkeley is quite bad, so we found a good privat preschool in
the Hopkins Street for our two year old daughter.
Katrin
If you live in University Village your child would attend Albany
Schools. Oceanview School is walking distance from the
Village.
If you are looking for a downtown elementary school you
may want to consider the Washington School. Its a big
school with its share of urban school problems -- but it has
many great teachers, and involved parents, is close to the
University, and is located in a truly diverse neighborhood,
unlike many Berkeley schools. My son had a wonderful time
there in K-3.
Heather
this page was last updated: Dec 22, 2004
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