News
- BMS Student’s Oil Spill Initiative Inspires
December 3, 2007. Berkeley Montessori School fourth grade student Haley Gee showed how small acts can have big consequences when she decided to do something about the oil-covered birds whose photo she saw in the newspaper after the November 7 oil spill in San Francisco Bay. She asked friends and family for donations of towels, washcloths and money, and with the help of five friends at school, raised over $100 for bird rescue, which grew to over $450 as others heard about her efforts and joined in. Soon newspapers, TV and bloggers got involved, and donations to Haley’s Fund at the International Bird Rescue Research Center have now reached over $13,500. "One of the tenets of Montessori is 'Follow the child, " said Haley's father, Warren Gee. "We've never followed the child so far. They've really embraced this cause." For more information or to donate to Haley’s Fund, which will be used to help pay for fish and medicine for the thousands of birds the IBBRC treats every year at its two California centers, please visit the IBRRC's website.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." – Margaret Mead
- BMS Goes to Harvard University
July 8, 2007. Twelve BMS faculty members attended the world-renowned Harvard University Graduate School of Education's Project Zero Summer Institute from July 29th through August 3rd this summer. Janet Stork, the BMS Head of School, has had an affiliation with the Harvard group for over 20 years and teaches at the Institute summer programs. This year's focus will be on the necessary fundamental skills, tools, and understandings that students need for a future that is largely unknown and will require different kinds of minds that are creative, inquiring and innovative. Howard Gardner and David Perkins are among the education luminaries that comprise the Institute faculty. From Harvard's Project Zero Web site:
Our rapidly changing world presents profound challenges for today’s educators. How best to prepare young people for a future that is hard to imagine? How to create learning experiences that are engaging and exciting for children? How to teach for the kind of deep understanding and thought that allows people to solve complex problems and do work that is both excellent and innovative? How to encourage our students to fall in love with learning?
The Project Zero Classroom is designed to help practicing pre-K through Grade 12 educators create classrooms, instructional materials, and out-of-school learning environments that address these challenges.
- BMS & The Bread Workshop Launch New BMS School Lunch Program
The Bread Workshop, one of our favorite corner cafés, is now offering a school lunch program for our Elementary and Middle School students. You can choose between three sandwiches, pizza, and pasta, all made with highest quality ingredients, organic when possible. The hot dishes will be delivered to the students fresh and hot. You can pre-order lunches for one day, one week, or the rest of the school year (orders must be placed by 9:30 am on the day of delivery) at a base cost of $5.50 each. And $1 from the price of each meal will be donated to the BMSPA. Click for more information and the order form.
- Saint Mary's College Offers Montessori Teacher Training Programs at BMS
St. Mary's College and BMS jointly offer Montessori teacher training programs at BMS. The partnership allows St. Mary's to offer the same high quality Montessori teacher certification and Master's degree programs at a reduced rate at our two East Bay campuses, close to BART. The program is AMS affiliated and MACTE accredited. The next information session is Wednesday, May 9, 7:30 pm, at our Elementary/Middle School Campus. For additional information, please click or contact Patricia Chambers at Saint Mary's College: (925) 631-4036 or pchamber@stmarys-ca.edu
- BMS Parent in the News: Marc Bamuthi Joseph
Congratulations to Marc Bamuthi Joseph, father of M’Kai in Magnolia, who was profiled in the San Francisco Chronicle on February 15, 2007, as “one of the brightest lights in hip-hop theater.” Click here to read about his work as artistic director of Youth Speaks and as a playwright whose work is produced internationally.
- BMS Family Featured in Sunset for Neighborhood Soup Night
The January 2007 issue of Sunset magazine features a story about the monthly soup night hosted by Johanna Sedman, mom of Zachary of Blackberry Creek, in her Berkeley neighborhood. It includes pictures of Johanna, Zachary, and BMS parent Lauren Adams, plus soup recipes.
- BMS Featured in San Francisco Bay Guardian - Jan. 25-31, 2006
Check out the press BMS received for utilizing solar panels.