K-8 EXCELLENCE SINCE 1973 2027 7th Street, Berkeley, CA 94710 (map) • 510‑845‑0876
Calendar • Family Portal • BPC Store
DeAndre Calhoun Interim Head of School 2024-25
Thank you for voting BPC a winner again!
(approx. 1 minute)
Greta B. Wong Director of Enrollment and Admissions Susana Barajas Admissions and Advancement Associate 510-529-2749 Email Admissions
“The relationship among the adults has more to do with the character and the quality of a school than any other factor.”
Roland Barthes
Faculty
Lessley Bender graduated from the University of Maryland in 2012 with a B.S. in environmental science and policy, with a focus on conservation biology. Both as an undergraduate at UMD and a research assistant at the Carnegie Institute for Science, they studied plant genes responsible for resilience to climate change. After graduation, they moved to the Marin Headlands to intern with the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy and fell in love with the Bay Area. They have spent more than seven years in education, working as an outdoor educator, high school tutor, camp director, and outdoor preschool teacher. When not teaching, Lessley loves painting, knitting, bicycling about town, and playing music. They live in Berkeley with their spouse and their cat, Kitty. Lessley joined the BPC community in 2023.
Teaching Since
2023
Pronouns
they/them
Contact
Email >
Why I Work with Children
I love to see young people learn and discover new things about the world and themselves.
A Favorite Book
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Quick Fact
Bicycled across the U.S. in 2014!
Lower School Spanish Teacher
Aïda attended the same elementary school as opera tenor Josep Carreras.
Full Bio >
Fourth-Sixth Grade Music Teacher
Tamed a mechanical bull in Nashville, Tennessee.
Lower School Art Teacher
Started clowning at age 9
Lower School Physical Education Teacher
Has developed a secret pizza sauce
Kindergarten-Fifth Grade Science and Second-Fifth Grade Garden Teacher
Apprenticed at the National Theater of Croatia
BPC String Orchestra Leader
Creates musical arrangements for fun
Fifth Grade Head Teacher
Rescued a pug-mix puppy named Soba
