Key Facts

Black Pine Circle School

Lower School

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125
students

ratio icon

6:1
student-faculty ratio

Upper School

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199
students

student-teacher ratio icon

7:1
student-faculty ratio

Whole School

class size icon

21
typical class size

total enrollment icon

324
students

icon hello - spanish & chinese

100%
students learn Spanish in grades K-5

(grades 6-8 choose Spanish or Mandarin)

Full-Time Teaching Assistants

in EVERY classroom, grades K-5

Whole Child Approach

social and emotional learning curriculum, including Responsive Classroom, Kimochis, Second Step, advisories, and buddies

Student Support Services

learning specialists and school counselors

Outstanding Campus Facilities

music, art, and drama, new science and maker space, climbing wall, and athletic field

Where do our graduates go to high school?

About half of each graduating class goes on to public high school. Others choose independent or parochial schools. All have excellent choices!

High Schools 50% public, 50% independent or parochial

Three-year average 2020-2022 graduating classes

Diversity by the Numbers

diversity
%
FAMILIES
who identify as people of color
%
FACULTY
who identify as people of color
%
BOARD MEMBERS
who identify as people of color
%
FACULTY
born outside the US
ZIP CODES
in the student body
%
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
percent of families

* self-identified; most facts as of Sept 2022

Every day, Black Pine Circle School’s teachers put the nurturing of young minds at the center of their personal mission. Our talented faculty bring a wealth of personal interests and skills to their classrooms: they are poets and songwriters, makers and artists, ultramarathoners and Olympic swimmers.

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46
faculty

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1850
aggregate hours of
professional development

Faculty PD Logos

How Our Faculty Hone Their Craft

Black Pine Circle School is as committed to encouraging lifelong learning in its faculty and administration as it is to encouraging its students to be lifelong learners.

Each year, we invest over $100,000 in workshops and training, both on site and by sending faculty and staff to important local and national conferences. Providing teachers and administrators with the opportunity for professional growth and personal development is key to their retention and job satisfaction. It is also an important component of what drives BPC to improve its program year after year.

  • Art and Curriculum Design at SFSU
  • Autism, Asperger’s, Sensory Processing Disorder, and ADHD
  • Bay Area Teachers Development Collaborative Training
  • Bridges in Mathematics
  • Computer Using Educators
  • Contexts for Learning Mathematics
  • Council in Schools | The Ojai Foundation
  • Differentiated Instruction Training
  • Exploratorium: Summer Institute for Teachers
  • FabLearn Conferences
  • Gender Spectrum Train the Trainers
  • Gettysburg College (NEAH workshop)
  • Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History
  • Learning and the Brain Conference
  • Lucy Calkins: The Reading and Writing Project
  • Maker Ed Convening
  • National Council for Teachers of Mathematics Conference
  • Orff-Schulwerk Association
  • Origins: Developmental Designs
  • People of Color Conference
  • reMAKE Education
  • Responsive Classroom
  • Socratic Seminars International
  • SXSW Edu
  • Teach21
  • Teaching for Social Justice
  • Women Rising, Honing Leadership
  • Art and Curriculum Design at SFSU
  • Autism, Asperger’s, Sensory Processing Disorder, and ADHD
  • Bay Area Teachers Development Collaborative Training
  • Bridges in Mathematics
  • Computer Using Educators
  • Contexts for Learning Mathematics
  • Council in Schools | The Ojai Foundation
  • Differentiated Instruction Training
  • Exploratorium: Summer Institute for Teachers
  • FabLearn Conferences
  • Gender Spectrum Train the Trainers
  • Learning and the Brain Conference
  • Lucy Calkins: The Reading and Writing Project
  • Maker Ed Convening
  • National Council for Teachers of Mathematics Conference
  • Orff-Schulwerk Association
  • Origins: Developmental Designs
  • People of Color Conference
  • reMAKE Education
  • Responsive Classroom
  • Socratic Seminars International
  • SXSW Edu
  • Teach21
  • Teaching for Social Justice
  • Women Rising, Honing Leadership
advanced degrees icon

50%
faculty with advanced degrees

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10.5
average years
teaching at our school

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19.5
average years
teaching experience

Experience Counts!

Black Pine Circle would not be the school it is without its extraordinarily committed faculty and staff. At our school the situation for students is hopeless: around every corner is a kind, caring, dedicated adult. No one is going to fail to challenge them to be the best person in scholar they can be, and support them along this journey.

The majority of BPC teachers have over 20 years of teaching experience and some have well over 40. But experience alone does not explain why the BPC faculty is as beloved and effective as they are. Put simply, they believe in themselves, their students, and the enduring value of their efforts. To a person, they embrace the knowledge that the truest reward for a life’s dedication to others is the satisfaction that their contributions lead to a better world for all. We are profoundly grateful.

30 to 50 years

Michael Feferman

Anatoliy Gulimovskiy

Madeleine King

Catalina Lacy

Diane Wirtschafter

25 to 29 years

John Carlstroem

Rachel Durling

Maria Palmer

Dina Weinshelbaum

20 to 24 years

Vera Balarin

Pamela Brenman

DeAndre Calhoun

Jonathan Cohen

Josefina Jacquin

Kimberly Livingston

Andra Marziano

Alyson Mitchell

Christine Mytko

Stephanie Piper

Romina Ronquillo

Carwai Seto

Cheryl Sumsion

10 to 19 years

Cheryl Burger

Christine Chun

Kanoelani Connor

Rem Djemilev

Eileen Duncan

Megan Hubbard

Jerry Kennedy

Jennifer Levy

Nicole Lockwood

Maureen Ray

Jenny Reeves

Marcelo Vaz

1 to 9 years

Gerry Branner

Stephanie Colker

Mason Hanson

Emmeline Hill

Stephanie Somersille

 

Paths of Belonging

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74
upper schoolers in sports teams playing co-ed basketball, volleyball, and soccer

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15
consecutive years
All-Star Mathletes

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73
students
played violin & cello

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59
students in our
band program

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62+
students who joined the Maker Club and ran booths at the East Bay Mini-Maker Faire & Bay Area Maker Faire

chicken fun fact

4
chickens hatched on campus and living
in coop built by students, parents and faculty

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600,000
words collectively written by 67 students during  National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)