K-8 EXCELLENCE SINCE 1973 2027 7th Street, Berkeley, CA 94710 (map) • 510‑845‑0876
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DeAndre Calhoun Interim Head of School 2024-25
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“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
Tess Leverenz is a certified Responsive Classroom educator, as well as a part-time consulting teacher for the Center for Responsive Schools. Tess studied childhood education and Spanish in college, prompting her to teach English in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. In 2016, she received her master’s degree in dual language education and students with disabilities from Bank Street College in New York City. Tess taught Pre-K and second grade at The Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn before moving to Buffalo, NY, where she became a founding second grade teacher at Elmwood Village Charter School. This will be Tess’s second year as the third grade head teacher at BPC, as well as her second year in the Bay Area. Tess’s passions include biking, hiking, teaching yoga, cooking, traveling, seeing live music, and singing with her husband Eric.
Teaching Since
2012
Pronouns
she/her
Contact
Email >
Why I Work with Children
I feel honored to spend time with, teach, and learn from these creative and curious sparks of energy as they grow toward becoming kind and compassionate adults.
A Favorite Book
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Quick Fact
Took three and a half months to bike across the country with my husband
Lower School Spanish Teacher
Aïda attended the same elementary school as opera tenor Josep Carreras.
Full Bio >
First-Third Grade Cello Teacher
Toured with the Western Opera Theater for eight years
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
Kindergarten-Third Grade Music Teacher
Was a college volleyball coach
First-Third Grade Violin Teacher
Played at the Grammys
BPC String Orchestra Leader
Creates musical arrangements for fun
Second Grade Head Teacher, Lower School Assistant Teacher Coordinator
Mad for dancing
Fifth Grade Assistant Teacher
Trying to re-learn Spanish
