Seeking a small private school - Saklan Middle School?

Dear Parents,

My family just relocated to the Bay Area. We are looking for a private middle school for our son for next Fall. I'm going to visit Saklan's Open House next week. Are there any current or alumni parents who can share their experiences there? Both pros and cons would be helpful. If you have knowledge of other small middle schools to consider that would be appreciated, too.

Thanks

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Black Pine Circle's middle school has been a fantastic experience for our daughter.  Highly recommend it.  We came to the school in sixth grade, and we liked that the sixth grade cohort had 2/3 new kids and 1/3 kids moving up from 5th grade, so our child wasn't the only one new to the school.  Great academics, with an emphasis on kindness to each other.  The head of the school (John Carlstroem), and head of the upper school (Patrick Nelligan) are thoughtful, smart, accomplished, and approachable leaders.  Amazing teachers here who really love teaching middle school.   There is a great new science building (the Q Lab), which was completed on time and within budget.  Strong math and science here.  The student culture is centered around kids who love to learn and who are nice to each other.  Also, there is a nice parent community (and a lot of very accomplished folks in the parent body).  I can't say enough good things about BPC.  Check it out for yourself!

Glad you are doing your homework and asking current and alumni parents for their experiences.

Pros for the school,

Small class sizes and great travel opportunities.

The math program is good and worked for our child, but definitely teaching and approach method could be reevaluated by the teacher and people in charge as all students did not benefit.

Science program is real hands on and creative.

Cons for the school,

Number of girls vs boys is out of balance…at our time girls outnumbered in significant way, which over all is a unhealthy dynamic for both genders. Keep in mind this is a delicate phase for both boys and girls and parents who chose to send their children to smaller schools is, that small details are given close attention.

Due to the size of the school the same teachers teach for the 3 years, which does not give a child to experience the different styles and methods of different teachers. Example of this is that, same teachers teaches 11 periods / blocks per week in 8th grade.

Not all teachers are up to par especially in middle school, it is wise to interview teachers and see if they would be a fit for your child as well as how well qualified they are.

High school admission process a nightmare.

There is more that can be said but I would say that one visit to an open house might not be enough, multiple visits and Q and A or interviews with the teachers especially core subjects would be great.

Also, to get better insight for this and other schools check “yelp”, “Great schools.com”, and “Rate my teachers”.

Hi,

Saklan has many fine qualities such as small class size, enriching opportunities to travel (Yosemite, Hawaii and Washington DC) and strong parent involvement. My child attended the middle school and overall it was a positive experience except for one factor, which really effects developing self-esteem. There is one teacher who was especially hard emotionally on my child. The subject matter taught was not my student's strong point. However, this teacher's comments had my child in tears on multiple occasions.  My child became scared to enter this teacher's classroom fearing sarcastic comments.  I really encourage any parent considering Saklan to decide if their child can succeed in this type of learning environment. While it was only one class, it had a profound impact on my child.