East Bay German International School

Community Subscriber
Emeryville
Private School
Language(s):
English,
French,
German,
Spanish
Grades:
Preschool through High School
Capacity:
250 students
Email:
admissions [at] ebgis.org
Phone:
(510) 380-0302
Address:
1070 41st Street, Emeryville, CA 94608
Program Type:
Language immersion
Editors' Notes:
  • See also: EBGIS Preschool
  • Prior to 2017 this school was known as German International School (GISSV) Berkeley/East Bay Campus

The East Bay German International School (EBGIS) is a dual-language immersion school offering preschool through high school programs, featuring project-based learning in small class sizes, nurturing each student based on their unique needs.  We offer exceptional academics, a diverse international perspective, and a vibrant school community.

Parent Q&A

Select any title to view the full question and replies.

  • We're currently relocating from Berlin to the Bay Area with an elementary school aged daughter and another child on the way. What have family experiences been like recently at East Bay German International School? We're interested in long-term enrollment for kids, so hearing experiences from preschool through high school would be very helpful.  

    Unfortunately, we have not had a good experience at EBGIS in elementary this year and very genuinely advise you to look elsewhere.  GISSV or a public school with the support of the BAKS+ program would likely be better options to investigate long-term.  We have two children at EBGIS and given the number of problems in elementary school alone the viability of the school’s plan for a high school is unthinkable to us.

    The reality of one of our children’s elementary school experiences in the classroom with their teacher and the curriculum this year has been the antithesis of what the school promises in its mission, namely developing outstanding academic skills and proficiency in German and English, nurturing social-emotional skills and democratic values. 

    These overarching promises cannot be consistently achieved because of the pervasive retention problems and poor track record in consistently hiring high quality educators.  These systemic problems also meant it was only a matter of time before at least one of our children would suffer with an extremely poor teacher in a poor learning environment.  On the social-emotional front we’ve been plagued by daily worry about the teacher’s angry and exceedingly harsh outbursts going without redress and our child falling behind because of an absence of coherent teaching in critical subjects such as math.  Stuck in this toxic learning nightmare for many months, our child has become disheartened, losing their motivation to learn and go to school.  Our pleas to administrators and leaders have fallen upon deaf ears revealing an excessively hierarchical leadership lacking a strong moral compass and commitment to follow through on mission and curriculum objectives.  This has forced our family to consider fleeing mid-year for better options at other schools. 

    In our view a major paradigm shift needs to happen at the school before the parent and student communities can be adequately served. Given the current environment long-term enrollment seems completely unfeasible.  We would therefore encourage you to find a school supported by compassion, genuine behavior and active engagement where academic quality and integrity is consistently high.  We would advise looking elsewhere as the school’s self-preservation is being so heavily prioritized at the expense of open, honest and transparent collaboration with parent and student communities.

    We've been at the East Bay German International School for several years, with our child now in high school.  We're very happy with who our child has become, as a learner and as a person, and credit the school for creating a simultaneously nurturing and challenging academic environment.  The high school has an IB program and is making sure students have all the requirements to attend university in either the U.S. or Germany including the requisite language skills.  There is a community of wonderful parents and dedicated teachers.  The school successfully navigated some major challenges, pivoting from being a satellite campus of the German International School of Silicon Valley to becoming an independent school, managing a big enrollment jump with families who had heard how the school was teaching both safely and in-person in deep Covid when most other schools were on-line, and becoming an IB World School where graduates will get a bilingual IB Diploma.  No school will do everything for every child but we knew this was the best learning environment for ours after considering many other options, both public and private.

    We love East Bay German International School! We also relocated from Europe and put our kids there and will stay for the foreseeable future for the community, the teachers, and the location. You will always get mixed feedback from parents since everyone has different experiences but I recommend to see if you can shadow a few classes when you arrive and if you’re happy, enroll! The kids are so happy there. Nowhere is perfect. But if German language is important, then our school tries their very best to be great! 

    Our kid has been at EBGIS since preschool, and she’s happily in the elementary school now. She loves all of her past and present teachers and classmates. Our younger kid is going to join preschool next year. 

    We are not German speaking household, but the school environment alone helped her become fluent in German. Kindergarten focused on playing and playful learning to prepare for academics in the 1st grade. All but English subject are in German in lower grades. It seems like a good number of classmates are multi-racial and multi-lingual (English, German + one more language), so we appreciate the international aspect of the school.

    Curriculum, teaching philosophy, and classroom instruction seem to be alighted well to achieve supportive learning environment developmentally appropriate for the age, and they are particularly working well with our kid’s temperament. We are impressed how the curriculum infuses various topic of exploration as a means to teach reading and writing or math so kids don’t feel like they are drilled down spelling and grammar, for example, for the sake of learning these rules. They do both self-evaluation and teacher’s evaluation of student learning on a regular basis so kids can develop critical self awareness of how much they are learning and they think they are learning. Class size is small (12 in her current class x 2 classes in her grade), so teachers know students very well. They do a lot of inter-class or cross-grades activities, too. Teachers understand which subject our kid needs more support or is advanced enough that she needs more complexity. They seem to have back up plans for kids who finish activities or practice faster than others so they are engaged in learning. 

    Families are very kind, and you can be as involved as you want or as your bandwidths allow, but we have many different types of volunteering opportunities. 

    For us, small class size, exploration and experiential learning, multilingual fluency, cultural humility development in an international environment, pathway to IB, and opportunity to pursue post-secondary education in Germany are very important, and EBGIS feels the right choice. 
     

    On a side note, because each grade is like a small cohort together for many many years, we send our kid to various summer camps not at EBGIS so she knows how to adapt to new environment with new people.

    Regrettably, we largely echo the prior responder’s experience. We lucked out with our Kindergarten educators (2019-20) and a superstar first and second grade (2020-22) homeroom teacher (Klassenlehrer). Sadly all of them left. Third grade was chaos. The new homeroom teacher left mid-year. Math was not taught by a trained elementary school math teacher. After just one semester, students started to lose interest and competency. Our child forgot their 2nd grade multiplication skills and started saying, “I don’t need to know math.” We were wondering if our kid would even be at grade level if they switched schools. In the 2nd semester, German and math were taught by an intern who struggled with classroom management. Music, Art and PE were now taught in English. When we questioned the loss of teaching hours in German, the Board simply declared that it’s an “international” school with no guarantee of classes taught in German. The kids spoke mostly English in/outside of class and nobody seemed to care.

    The Board’s single-minded focus was growing a high school. Never mind that most middle school grades only had single digit enrollment numbers, which the WASC re-accreditation report pointed out as one of many concerns. The high school canceled one of its grades due to low enrollment in 2023/24. While the ambition for a high school is admirable, doing it at the expense of the lower grades was not what we bargained for.

    The school’s governance structure is weak. The small Board is stacked with lawyers, lacks diversity in backgrounds and is devoid of educators. It makes its own rules and has a tendency to micromanage day-to-day operations. There are no checks and balances. Bylaws can only be seen under NDA, if granted access at all.

    The values listed on the website are not a lived reality, sadly. Judge for yourself: Does failing to release the results of student assessment tests and of parent/teacher surveys set an example of a ”flexible learning community - a lernende Schule?” Does ignoring feedback and muzzling parent initiatives live up to “We value the experience, skills, and knowledge of all our community members?”

    We noticed no fabric of empathy or social-emotional competence at the school. If you’re lucky with a teacher who brings these skills, then things might be OK. Otherwise it’s old school authoritarianism like sending kids to the principal’s office or public chastising. 

    Project-based learning advertised on the website only happens if a given teacher makes it happen. It’s not supported by processes or curricula at the school. 2nd through 4th grade have a class called “Studio,” advertised as multi-disciplinary and project-based. It takes up four periods per week, but the output we saw looked more akin to kindergarten level, and the class appeared to operate without any written curriculum. The lack of documented processes was also highlighted in the WASC report.

    After hanging onto an unqualified principal for a year too long, the Board finally replaced her in 2023/24. Current parents seem cautiously optimistic, but there is a lot to clean up.

    We are much happier at another school in Berkeley. Our child also attends the BAKS+ afternoon German program which is far better managed, has more qualified staff and is run by educators, with a 20 year track record of high graduation rates with DSD2 and AP credit at the high school level and a thriving community around it.

    My daughter attended the preschool program at EBGIS, unfortunately there was a constant lack of communication. They would change preschool teachers all the time without letting us parents know. My daughter is a little shy and gets attached easy to her caregivers and suffered from the constant turn over and unpredictability of who will be her caregivers on any given time. The teachers themselves, always looked sad and discouraged. There was general sense of them not being supported and appropriated by the school and board members. It is a very expensive program, and the quality does not meet the high tuition. We chose this school because I had to transfer from Germany and we thought it would have been a wonderful experience and match for our 3 year old daughter. The school requires volunteer hours and which I have never heard of for a private school. When we issued our concerns it wasn’t taken seriously, and we were disregarded. Coming from Germany, we expected a certain level of professionalism that was not met. After looking at other options, we decided to not reenroll her.  Hearing from other families with older kids about the numerous systemic ongoing problems, we are glad that we made the decision to leave.

    My family had many issues with the administration/management, teachers, safety, and the board when we were at EBGIS. The website is a glossy facade, and the board members who gave our family the initial tour are very kind and exemplary when you’re looking to enroll.  Then will completely flip into stonewalling you if you bring up any concerns or worries once you’ve paid your tuition.

    We started in preschool and the whole program lost every teacher and director each year! And it wasn’t because they just happen to all be in unison about going home. My child was injured pretty severely twice at school where I had to take them to the doctor immediately after school. And when I asked the admin and teachers for me to come in to the classroom to observe to see how the day works, they wouldn’t let me. Which is part of your parent rights in the US. So they’re not allowed to deny you coming into your child’s preschool class. They also didn’t see the injuries happen somehow and could not tell me how they happened. I would look at Berkeley children’s center for preschool. It’s a lovely place with international families. All the local schools will be very diverse in cultures, languages, and more. Public schools are free and you won’t be treated like you would be at EBGIS.

    We have a child in preschool. First year was a bit chaotic but so far it’s been great. School has new leadership and communication has improved. Our child is very happy and loves going every day. His teachers are great and provide loving care. We hope most of them come back next year but we anticipate some changes. We can’t really speak for higher grades since we don’t have any experience there.  

    We've had our daughter in EBGIS for three years of preschool and will be advancing to Kindergarden next year. We plan enroll our youngest as well and to stay with the school through grade school at least. We've been very happy with the school, teachers and community. We're a half German family and have been glad to see our daughter remain equally comfortable in English and German. The teachers are very kind and dedicated. They strike a good balance between structure and creative activities for the kids. The classroom dynamic is always calm and warm. As parents, we've particularly appreciated the community that has formed around the school. It's been great to get to know the other parents and to connect to a German speaking group as we have.

    All that said, some of the criticisms in this thread are valid and worth considering. Our biggest issue has been teacher turnover and its knock on effects, which was quite bad initially, but has been largely addressed this by the principal who started this year. There's more to be done, but it's been very nice to see the progress and it's really not an issue for us anymore. On the whole, I think it's important to realize that the school is a new institution, only a few years old. Lots of things are immature and in need of improvement. Processes, traditions and culture are all being developed. Community participation is a big component of that. For some families, that's a good thing. For others, not so much.

    Both of my kids go to EBGIS and we are very happy there. My son did 3 years of preschool plus his Kindergarten year and is now in first grade. My daughter started preschool this year. We have been happy with the teachers, built a great community, and the school has been very supportive. It is true that there are some staff changes every year or two. Teachers are predominately recruited from German-speaking countries, which means limited visas, culture shock etc. and not everyone stays. Still, my son had consistent teachers throughout his 3 years in preschool. The preschool program had a challenging school year 22/23. However, the program is well-staffed now and has a new program director. We have been very happy with preschool this year for my daughter. The kindergarten program has a very experienced director and my son thrived in his kindergarten year. He is now in first grade, and again, we have been very impressed with his teachers and the way they try to tailor lessons to different learning styles, etc. The school also has an Executive Director as of this year, and she is bringing a lot more structure, strategy, and communication to the school.

    When we first enrolled our kids, we hoped that this would be our dream school and offer our children a quality bilingual education. We hoped to give our children the gift of another language. We put all of our trust in this school and its leaders. We wish we had weighed out the benefits of bilingual education with the downfalls of choosing a school that does not have a good track record of delivering what it promises.


    There is a lot of English spoken in the classroom and our children's German language abilities have not made adequate gains to merit the high annual costs of their attendance. Academically, our kids complain of being bored in class and often feel unsupported. My youngest has recently started to complain about no longer wanting to go to school.

    We found it necessary to hire a tutor for German and math because multiple years of high turnover and instability have hindered academics. At times, we have felt helpless as parents. The school has repeatedly told us that with more time, we would see more academic progress however that has not been the case. Instead, our family continued down a road that we wish we would have turned away from long ago. We regret the trust and hope that we allowed ourselves to cling to. Sadly, given our experience, we would not recommend this school to your family. We regret our choice and are now trying to figure out what is next for our family.

  • Update on EBGIS?

    Nov 5, 2021

    Hello there! I am interested in sending my little guy to the EBGIS kindergarten next year. I’m curious to hear how EBGIS has weathered the transition to the new head of school over the past 2 years — thank you in advance!

    Ava

    Our son started in kindergarten there this fall after spending about one year in the preschool program. We’ve been nothing but impressed with the quality of teaching and the school’s management. The principal Claudia always seems to be checking in with the kids and the teachers. Just to give an example of how tapped in she is, today we sent a text to the kindergarten teachers that our son was getting his first covid shot and by the time I got to the classroom, Claudia was leaving and said hi to my son and congratulated him on his shot! My younger son is also in the preschool 1 class, which has been wonderful especially given all the challenges of covid. Neither my husband nor I have any German language but we never feel like this is an impediment in participating in the school community. I really have nothing but great things to say about the school! 
    -V. 

    My daughter started at EBGIS last year when the new principal took over, and she is now in 2nd grade there. We are tremendously happy with the school, and it seems to be functioning beautifully from everything I can see. Super responsive, organized, and my daughter adores everything about EBGIS. I have felt super safe having her there through COVID. Recommend the school highly.

    I think you'll get different replies based on grade, how long families have been with the school, and if German immersion is the priority. Kinder is part of the preschool/early childhood program at the school, and that program saw dramatic growth this year compared to last year, as the school moved away from small classes and bubbles. Many of us who toured were told about smaller classes and kids who stayed with their friends for 2-3 years throughout the preschool program and how well children without German speakers at home did in the immersion program. 

    On the first day, we were shocked to find classes of 25+ in preschool. They have had severe staffing shortages due to inappropriate planning and moving away from a mix of local English-speaking teachers paired with German teachers toward only German-speaking teachers. The latter have had visa challenges and delays this year, exacerbating the problem of finding replacements for departures and medical leaves. The preschool director quit the first week of school and her replacement won't arrive until after Thanksgiving from Germany, and the lack of an experienced early childhood administrator has left significant issues that led to a painful, unsatisfying, 2-hour town hall with families and the board/principal last month where it was clear many children are struggling, and families are nervous about being asked to re-enroll in December. Two preschool classes have been missing teachers since the first month of the school year, and we are now told they may not arrive until Dec/Jan.

    Short-staffing has led to children having to switch rooms mid-day to ensure staffing coverage, many lost items, no one able to tell us why our child had a bad day or how an injury happened. In trying to launch the high school and IB program the focus is on upper grades, and preschool feels like a top-of-funnel effort to ensure enough high schoolers 9 years later without thought to the specialized care, attention and administration early childhood requires. If German-immersion is your priority, you might apply and conduct diligence before signing enrollment papers in March to ensure the incoming director has made meaningful progress in resolving these issues. Otherwise another school may provide a better experience in the next year or two as EBGIS sorts the administrative challenge of launching the high school and deals with issues related to fast-growth.

    Our daughter attended EBGIS Kindergarten last year and we were VERY happy with the experience. We really loved the environment, the teachers, and the school administration. It was a tough year (with regard to COVID) and I can't imagine any school handling things better than EBGIS did. Loads of excellent and clear communication, sensible and forward-thinking policies, and overall fostering of an incredibly safe but still warm and student-focused environment. I have no reservations at all in recommending!

  • Any current reviews of EBGIS

    Oct 12, 2018

    Hello- Wondeing if there are any current parents of EBGIS out there? How do you like the school and it’s new home in Emeryville? I recently toured and was quite impressed.any current observations would be greatly appreciated.

    Current parent at EBGIS (East Bay German International School) here.  Love the school and am grateful that this has been where our child has been able to learn and grow since starting in Kindergarten.  The new home in Emeryville is excellent - tons of space, both indoor and out for all kinds of classroom and extracurricular activities.  The education is phenomenal.  It's rigorous without being stressful, thoughtful in figuring out how children of all ages learn new ideas and approaches, and melds best practices and content from both Germany and the United States.  The teachers are deeply committed and excellent at what they do.  The principal is highly effective and beloved.  There is a fabulous parent community.  My child is very happy, and in seven years has never not wanted to go to school in the morning.  I see my child being both nurtured and challenged and know we could not have picked a better school.   

    Hello, I currently have a 5th grader and kindergartener at EBGIS. We have been at the school since my son started in kindergarten. There are many things that stand out to me and why we are with the school (coming from Albany!).  First off, the headmaster, Martin Walter, is a gem--passionate, caring, dedicated and just brings so much to the school. He also has kids at the school. The community is a great mix of international and local families,  is warm and really cares about the school.  Since it's a small school, the kids get plenty of individual attention from the exceptional teachers (every time we do our parent teacher conferences, we leave feeling so lucky to have our kids there). Lastly, the bilingual education piece is amazing. When we started my son didn't know any German (his father is German American so German is his second language and I don't speak any German) and within the first year and a half (I can't remember exactly when) he was fluent. We are amazed that he does his math, science, etc. all in German. In terms of the campus the location is good because it's central to all the families in the Bay Area. All in all we feel very fortunate to be at the school. If you have any specific questions please don't hesitate to ask....

    Hi there,

    Our son is in elementary school and we are very happy with EBGIS. He has previously been to both private and public schools in Berkeley and we feel that EBGIS is definitely more demanding academically - not just because students have to complete both the California curriculum and the German one. We like the approach to Math that seems more intuitive than California Common Core and at this point he is not just 100% bilingual but can also write in both German and English. Our eventual goal is university in Germany and casual German at home is not sufficient for that. We also like the schedule with 'Studio' at the end of the school day where art, PE and music are taught through interdisciplinary projects. 

    While the campus has a lot of potential, it is obvious that the school just moved in and there is still a lot to do. 

    What we like best about the school, is the atmosphere of purpose and the comparatively small size. There is no anonymity and the school community is welcoming and engaged. It's obvious that our son feels that he belongs and loves to go to school every day. We can tell the difference, since that has not always been the case.

    My child started school there this year In Kindergarten I have to say I'm positively thrilled with my decision to place her there.  The quality of education has been simply outstanding and the two Kinder teachers are truly top notch.   The kids also gets plenty of outdoor time to run around, get exercise and be kids.  The communication between school and parents and teacher and parents has been excellent.   It is a very lovely, inclusive, active, involved community with many opportunities to get to know the teachers, staff and other parents.  I knew no one there when we started, but I've had nothing but positive experiences and have felt entirely welcomed.   My child comes from an English only home and is already using German phrases, singing German Songs and teaching me vocabulary.   You don't mention what age your child is, but if you are an American and considering Kindergarten, you should do a little googling about the difference between German Kinder and American Kinder.    German kinder is not sitting down and writing the ABC's and passing maths tests.   German Kinder is all about social and emotional regulation, physical skills, and thinking skills all while they are still be introduced to broader concepts and new materials.  For example they did some studies around flying that included making airplanes, animals that have learned to fly,  learning about mythical creatures like pegasus, stories like icarus, artists like Klee and his flying angels, learning how to count down before making the airplane fly, songs about flying.   These are math, art, physical skills, science & music concepts!  It's different, but in my opinion, a much, much better way to set a foundation for learning and actual thinking - it's not just numbers, shapes and letters shoved down their throats.  They get to actually use their minds, think, ask questions, interact with the materials.   My daughter is thriving and every day at pickup just can't wait to tell me about all the fun things she did and learned at school today  -- and that's the best I can ask for. 

    Hi - both of our kids are at EBGIS, a 1st grader and a 2nd year preschooler and we have been part of the community since 2016/2017 school year. When the school moved to the new campus, it was a pleasant surprise for us since it is closer to our house and our oldest can ride her bike to school occasionally. We like the curriculum which balances intellectual curiosity, social and physical development, and bilingualism. The after school care and extra curricular programs that are offered by the school, also add to the opportunity for the kids to interact and develop friendships with other kids beyond their grade levels. Our kids enjoy every single opportunity they have to spend time in the school and with their friends. Hope this helps and let us know if you have any other questions. 

    I'm a dad of 3 boys at the school, who are in the pre-K/K and elementary grades.  All our kids wake up happy to go to school, talk positively about the classmates, their teachers, the facilities and their daily activities. They seem to be very actively engaged with their curriculum (even as delivered in the German language, which is non-native for our kids), and we hear about their learning needs and school activities directly from our kids, as well as through direct correspondence with their teachers, a weekly email from the head of school, and from monthly parent association meetings. Open communication at all these levels is encouraged and as a result, very little is lost in translation.

    It is very much a community school in many ways, reaching all the way into the pre-k/K program.  We also know of families with at least some german-speaking background who have entered in elementary school or even middle school. The small school feel extends to afternoon playdates, family bonding activities, school movie nights, and parent social functions. With the class size being what it is at the elementary and middle school levels, (currently 10:1 or less), our learners are truly supported in their academic interests and pursuits.

    The curriculum is robust, based on the standards of one of the German states, but not implemented in a heavy-handed manner. There is collaboration across grade levels that allows teachers' strengths to shine, and expertise of parents and other community members is welcomed into various after-school activities and clubs. The facilities are loved and respected by the kids, and weekend gardening and maintenance days help to build school pride and ownership.

    Our boys love to linger when they are picked up, and though we parents and students come from various parts of the East Bay, for those hours when we're at the school, we forget where we're all from and it feels like a big family. Not sure anyone can ask for more from a school.

  • Hi we're moving to SFO now/soon. My husband accepted an offer and is moving ahead. I'm in the process of looking for a job. We're a bilingual family so our son is in the German school now and we want to continue that in SFO. I've seen great and helpful reviews on the school here already. Now we're curious about where the German school (emeryville) community typically lives? How far spread around the school? We're trying to figure out what safe neighborhood to live in so the commutes are not too crazy and we have the potential to build a community of buddies around him. What do families do? The sticker shock on real estate is simply paralyzing! :) But German school is the one thing we don't want to give up so any advice welcome. Thank you! 

    We live in Rockridge, absolutely love the school (two boys in 5th and 8th grade) and do car and bike pool with some other families. There are families driving to school from Richmond and families living in walking distance to the school. Anyway, the community is great and there are a lot of families car pooling from various neighborhoods. 

    Welcome to the school ! - We commute to the German School from Berkeley, but there are GISSV/EBGIS families living in (Emeryville and) Oakland, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond, and others who commute on I-80 and I-580. We usually carpool, and quite a few other families do, too.

    The Bay Area is expensive, but the East Bay is cheaper than SF. Gentrification in Emeryville is changing the area.. We live in Rockridge, which is a convenient 15 min. commute. When the campus was in El Cerrito, we commuted about 20 min. There are still families driving from El Cerrito and even further North. A number of families take turns car-pooling. Commuting from SF would be against the East Bay commuters.

    Welcome to the Bay Area.

    Hello and welcome to the Bay Area! We love the German School in Emeryville.  The school is in a great location for commuting and we know families who live in Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, Kensington, El Cerrito, Richmond, Alameda, and Emeryville itself.   We live near the CA 24 and it is a 10 minute (and sometimes shorter) drive for us from South Berkeley/North Oakland.  If you are commuting to SF from the East Bay the school campus is on the way to the Bay Bridge.   If you would like to be put in touch with current parents who could help with advice, email contact [at] ebgis.org.

    Welcome to the Bay Area! We live in Albany and commute to the German School in Emeryville. For us it's all about carpooling! We are lucky to have a number of other families who go to the school who live nearby so I only end up driving a few times a week. It's a little less than 20 mins, so not too bad. Families come from all around, so you will probably be able to find others to carpool with wherever you choose to live if you'd like to do that. We also have some good friends who live near the school and are able to walk. For us the small class size, community and bilingual education make it well worth it. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any specific questions. 

    We live in Oakland's Bushrod neighborhood, which is a 10 minute bike-ride to the German school.

Parent Reviews

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I don’t have info to share about German American International School, but depending on where in the Bay Area you relocate, you may want to consider East Bay German International School as well (https://www.ebgis.org/). We chose EBGIS after having visited the area and toured schools, and, since relocating from Germany a few years ago, we‘ve been happy with the decision - and our child‘s choice to continue - as we specifically sought a school that would support developing proficiency of both German and English. Our child has really thrived academically and socially, and the school community has also been an integral part of our family’s establishing a new home while keeping close ties with our old home. The high school’s bilingual IB Diploma Programme is a big draw for our child to continue at EBGIS, as it‘s a great preparation for higher learning in both German and American universities.

Have a great relocation trip! We have been at EBGIS in Emeryville since 2022 and we really love it. The community of parents we met have been wonderful and many of the teachers are extremely dedicated and really love the kids. Have only experienced preschool and kindergarten so far so I can’t personally speak to the higher grades but the new executive director has very ambitious plans to continue growing and fostering learning there. I’m very happy there! If being close to nature is important, I suggest you look for housing somewhere in Berkeley which is an easy drive or bike ride to school every morning. 

Our kindergartener goes to EBGIS, East Bay German International School in Emeryville (K-8). Instruction is bilingual, and no German language skills are necessary to join the school, especially in the younger grades. Just like in-person instruction, the curriculum is bilingual German/English, and inclusive of non-German speaking families to help their kids navigate the program (e.g. instructions in English even though the assignment might be in German). 

The school has created an amazing program within a crazy short amount of time! The full online curriculum was created and available within a few days of school closure. 

The program is divided into Early childhood (Preschool & K), Elementary, and Middle School.

Our kindergartener has a school readiness check-in with his teacher every weekday for 20 minutes in a group of 3 students. We receive both printed and downloadable materials for the kids to work on. In addition, the early childhood program offers a variety of sessions including morning movement, morning circle, arts & crafts, and storytime for every weekday from 8:30am-2pm. All sessions except for the school readiness sessions are recorded and made available to enable families to use them whenever it works with their individual schedules. All communication, including videoconferencing, is done in Microsoft Teams. 

The Early Childhood program also sends out a daily newsletter (anyone can sign up for it at ebgis.org), which includes a preview of the daily program as well as additional suggestions for family activities. 

Our son is in kindergarten at East Bay German International School (EBGIS) and we have been using Microsoft Teams.  There is a daily 20-30 minute online session with a teacher and 3 kids focused on academics (for us right now it's about syllables and sounds in words).

There are also optional online sessions with different preschool and kindergarten teachers each day from 8:30am-2pm that all preschool and kindergarten students can join.  The optional sessions are for movement, art, story time, and project time.  We've only been attending an hour each day of the optional sessions since even those at first required parental oversight to stay on track - though he's getting better now about learning when to mute and un-mute himself.

EBGIS has also been sending a daily newsletter to preschool and kindergarten parents with links to stories/songs, arts and crafts projects, and learning objectives (e.g. it's spring and time to look for flowers) that match with the optional sessions.  The kindergartners have also discovered how to call each other on Teams so we've had a few mid-day play dates that way.

The assignments are pretty minimal (~10 minutes or less per day for us) and come from the smaller Teams sessions.  I can't imagine our son sitting still for a full day of online interaction at his age, so I like the offering.  We also speak German at home already though, so he hears it outside of school.

Great post/question! We have two very different experiences at home because of the age difference of our kids. My daughter is in 1st gr and my son in 6th grade at the East Bay German International School. My son's school day is basically the same with all his classes online and he is able to work independently and keep up with all of the 6th grade curriculum and the language (which is so important because we don't speak much German at home). So we have been thrilled with that. It is much more challenging with my daughter, just because of her age and strong will. I feel like the school has done an amazing job....they have a regular homeroom meeting every morning (I can get some work done!) and after that have a mix of online classes and independent work time (meaning assignments she can do with us at home) and then at the end of the school day they have another group meeting to reconnect, read a story etc. One thing I appreciate is that they have divided her class into small groups so that the kids who need to work more on their German can get small group help with that, and for the kids who are here from Germany and need more help with their English, they can get that. I also appreciate that they offer daily one on one help for any kids who need it and we have been doing that and it's been a big help (because I don't know any German and my husband, who knows German, is even more busy than I am with his work). All in all the teachers have put so much into it and really done an amazing job. I've learned when I can get my work done while she is doing her various online classes. The challenging part is that I think it's hard for her to be on the computer so much. Mostly she does fine with it but we are on spring break this week and they offered a  free online camp  for elementary students which I really wanted her to do, mostly to keep up with her German and because it looks fun, but she is super resistant and I can tell just needs a break from all the online teaching time......one more thing I'll add is that I appreciate that the teachers give us alot of structure and offer a decent amount of online classes, but sometimes I just have to let go of "school" and take breaks from it because it can be too much for my daughter (not just the school but everything!).  So I really appreciate that it's all there for when we need it but fine if we don't do it all.  take care, Melissa

Hi there! Our kids are in elementary and middle school at the East Bay German International School (EBGIS) in Emeryville. When the schools all started closing EBGIS moved right away to a really impressive online learning program. It’s been amazing for our kids and I hope other schools follow their example!

For my middle schooler, the daily class schedule hasn’t changed since they went online. Pretty much every class session starts with a video meeting (they don’t use zoom, but another platform called Microsoft Teams which is integrated with their school calendar and has all their assignments and teacher feedback on it). At the video meetings the teachers give instruction and an assignment and answer questions and sometimes also have group discussion. Then usually after maybe 20-30 minutes the whole-group session will end and the kids will do video calls with small groups of their classmates or will work on their individual assignments for the rest of the class time. Then the next class starts with that class’s teacher doing a video call with all the students, and so on.

That format has worked great for my kid and the couple others whose parents I’ve talked to. Having video classes like clockwork at the usual class times keeps the kids in the rhythm of the school day and keeps them from feeling isolated. And then having some interspersed offline time keeps the kids from being glued to the screen the whole day.

For the elementary school students, the faculty decided that it’s healthier to have less online time. So they have about three out of six class periods per day plus a one-on-one meeting with their homeroom teacher, plus their teacher is on call for an hour or two every day so kids can do a video call if they have questions. Every morning each kid receives a “daily plan,” which is a chart showing exactly what assignments they need to do in every subject by the end of the day. The kids submit all their assignments to their teacher -- they usually send a photo or use a scanner if they have one. The teacher gives feedback on the work at the one-on-one video call the same day or the next day.

That approach has worked really well for my elementary school kid, it’s enough video class time so he feels connected to his teacher and classmates and can stay pretty well on task. I’ve been super impressed with how the teachers have adapted to teaching online. The P.E. teacher is especially amazing, I keep finding my kid doing sprints up and down the stairs or ball games using rolled up socks or moving in other creative ways under the constraints we’re all under. My kid is making the usual progress in all his school subjects and is just as excited about school as he was before shelter in place.

I don’t know how much can be replicated in other schools because the teachers at EBGIS are pretty extraordinary plus the class sizes are really small, probably around ten kids per class on average. But it goes to show that school online can work! I hope some of these methods are helpful! Best of luck to you!

Archived Q&A and Reviews


July 2014

Re: Seeking German-Bilingual Daycare/Preschool
Check out the Berkeley campus of GISSV www.gissv.org. The school offers a good bilingual German/English program starting in preschool. Our two kids love it. GISSV parent


Dec 2013

Re: Immersion school for gifted kids?
You ask about how private immersion programs handle kids who are gifted. We are at GISSV and I can tell you what I have found. My experience is that the teacher-student ratio is so good, the teachers can give a fantastic amount of individualized attention to each child. (In my son's class of 15 kids there is a full time teacher and a full time intern). I saw this in the parent teacher conference this fall where I was impressed how well the teachers knew and understood my child. I have heard from other parents that the teachers, who go through a very long and rigorous training in Germany, get a lot of training on teaching across learning differences. What I've seen for myself is that they make learning fun in very creative ways, and that they are well able to teach children who are both native German speakers and those who are not. Some of the classrooms are mixed grade (including my son's), which both gives the kids a larger peer group to play with and allows for more differentiated education. Learning simultaneously in German (which we don't speak at home) and English has been a great challenge for my child but one that he has also not expressed any frustration about. He and I get to discuss how concepts get different names in different languages, how letters get pronounced differently in different languages, etc. It's exciting for me to see that his daily early elementary education comes with the knowledge that there is more than one way to think about things, just on the level of language. We've never given him any kind of intelligence test, but at parent-teacher conferences since preschool the teachers have uniformly described him as extreme on the scale of quick to learn. He has never reported being bored at school. Like yours, he would be described as slow to warm, and I've been very happy that the small size and warm feel have made GISSV a school where he feels very, very comfortable. And, yes, there is good structure to the program. Hope this helps. happy GISSV parent


Dec 2013

Re: Immersion school for gifted kids?
I have found GISSV to have a very fluid learning environment - both socially and academically. The small class size enables the teachers to focus on each child's unique needs. Moreover, all of the teachers are extremely dedicated and energetic. Also, the kids know students from classes above and below them. So if they skip a grade or perhaps just do certain subjects with older kids, they are socially comfortable because they are still with friends. The teaching philosophy generally encourages questions, including why are we learning things to begin with. These sorts of questions give kids, gifted or not, a context for their education. And of course, offering your child an opportunity to learn another language is a fabulous gift, regardless of which language you choose. Satisfied GISSV Parent


Dec 2013

Re: Immersion school for gifted kids?
Our son goes to GISSV. I think due to the small class sizes the teachers are really good at differentiation, e.g. in math, where they work a lot with work sheets, not all kids get the same worksheets. The more advanced ones get more challenging ones.

My impression of the school is that all the teachers work incredibly hard for each kid to be as successful and learn as much as they can. A couple of years ago they had a kid (who has since moved away) that attended class in some subjects at his grade level and in some subjects one grade level up. The idea was for him to eventually jump a grade but not all subjects at once. Happy GISSV mom


Nov 2013

Re: Importance of community in immersion schools?

My impression at GISSV is that there is actually a sense of community. There are a number of school events that foster the parents getting together and at least for our family, we definitely have found friends there. Many families spend time together outside of school and some families carpool (some on a regular, some on an ''as needed'' basis). There is also a group of moms who meet every morning at school and then often take their dogs on a walk together. GISSV mom


We are America parents that moved back from Germany two years ago. We had our kids audit the GISSV School to make sure their language skills were good enough to attend the German immersion school. They loved it and so do we. There is a very strong community of parents that started the school (their kids are now in the 6th grade). They actively seeked us out when we were new and folded us into the school. It was a very similar experience to what we had in Germany and what I expect in any international school as kids come and go each year. GISSV just bought and old Berkeley public school and they have also actively integrated with the neighborhood. They throw a few parties each year that rival anything we attended in Germany. It is not only a language immersion; it is a great international experience. As far as the academics, the German curriculum is different from the IB or US curriculum. This is most obvious in Math. My kids do not have native speakers at home and we are working on getting additional speaking and listening opportunities for our kids. The school continues to surprise me with their patience for my children and their openness in talking about concerns I have. Good luck on your school hunt. Kathy


You ask about community at a language immersion school. From my experience at GISSV, there is a wonderful community, which is the antithesis of ''not mixing'' or ''doing your own thing.'' There are countless opportunities for parents and kids to get together and socialize, both through events organized by the school, and through ad hoc get togethers created by parents, whether dinner parties, hikes in Tilden or Claremont Canyon, Prosecco brunch, evening cocktails, going to ball games, birthday parties, parent-teacher choir, going to yoga class together, etc. My sense of many families is that the school is our primary community. I have formed good friendships with other parents.

You ask for other thoughts on language immersion challenges. My child started at GISSV with zero German, and is now fluent. I was nervous, but it worked! I have been really happy with the school - they know what they are doing. They also offer an incredible teacher-student ratio. I feel like my child is well understood and is being challenged and nurtured in a warm environment. We did an exhaustive search of where to go for kindergarten - public, private, language immersion and non - and decided that this was the school for us. We're very happy. happy GISSV parent


Our family (two kids) has been part of the GISSV (Berkeley) family for the past six years. During this time we were able to build valuable friendships with many other parents on campus. The school community is very welcoming with a majority of outgoing personalities. It doesn't matter what your background is, where you come from or what language you speak. At drop off in the morning, we often mingle at the playground and set up playdates for our children. If I cannot make it in time for pick-up there is always a handful of parents who I can call to help me out. I actually see a lot of ''chatting, hanging out and helping each other'' at the campus. It's a reliable and very tight school community that is extended in weekend activities (bbqs, football games with other families), ''girls'' nights out (for the moms) or even the celebration of Holidays together (Thanksgiving dinner). Since many GISSV families don't have grand parents, uncles or aunts in the Bay Area, this social network of other parents is often providing welcoming support in organizing and handling every day life tasks. I, personally, would not know what to do without the other mothers and can only say that everybody who is interested will get a chance to make friends! Happy and Social GISSV Mom


Hi, I cannot speak to the culture and community at EBI or EB, but I have a child at the German International School GISSV with a bilingual German/English curriculum.

In my mind, the community aspect is a very strong feature of the Berkeley GISSV campus. There is a mix of long-time residents and some expatriates. Most families have German language background, but not all, and expats are mostly, but not exclusively from German speaking countries.

Newcomers are typically included into the community right away, be it the dog-walking group (you can participate without a dog), coffee shop get-togethers, dinners, shared Thanksgiving, playdates for their kids, or organizing school community events together. They receive tips and tricks and advice on tpical newcomer problems. There is even a school fleamarket for furniture and electronics that outgoing expats sell to incoming expats when the timing is right.

For the entire community there are also annual skiing and annual camping trips for everybody who wants to. Of course, some people are more into socializing than others. But it is not unheard of that families visit each other on their respective home continents after their stint at GISSV, or open their houses during their own vacation to other visiting families.

Another aspect that I really like, is that the children learn about the different cultures present at our campus which is surprisingly multi-cultural for its relatively small size. This happens informally, but is also integrated into the curriculum or festivities. E.g. a Brazilian drum band has become a staple at our annual Karneval in February. Did I mention that we like to celebrate together? And mix our traditions and food specialties? Yes, there might be Bratwurst, but potlucks may also feature falafel, pakora, sushi, dim sum, or koshari.

Last, but not least, the school community is rather small, and this might not be for everybody. Some children will prefer a larger group for socializing, but my child profoundly benefits from small class sizes and individualized teaching.

There is much more to this school. Come, check it out!


Coming from a very community oriented preschool (El Cerrito Preschool Co-op) and not being a German speaker, I wasn't sure what the sense of community would be like at GISSV, but I have to say I've been so impressed so far. There have been numerous all school volunteer opportunities, parent and child parties and just parents parties too. I have found it very easy to get to know people and that the other families are warm and friendly. It helps that it is a small school. Melissa


Hello, I have been a parent at GISSV Berkeley since 2007. From my experience there is a great sense of community. There are several celebrations throughout the year that are just for the school community, like a Halloween potluck, a Lanternfest, parent choir, an annual camping trip,... Many parents do car pooling and there is a group of women who walk their dogs every morning. Many parents have help me out in a pinch and watched the kids on short notice, which makes a real difference. GISSV mom of 2


I am a parent of two kids at the German School (GISSV) and I have had exactly the opposite experience of what you are describing. I am American and chose GISSV because I wanted my kids to have a bilingual education. They are getting a great education. At the same time we have become part of an amazing community. Many of my best friends have come from the school. Not only are there a lot of activities at the school (like a parent singing group, a dog walking group, parties, etc.), but many parents tend to mingle before and after school. The school is subsidized by the German government. The subsidy goes to the school itself and NOT just to families who happen to have a German passport. The resulting demographic is NOT just Germans and, perhaps partly due to the subsidy, not just dr.'s and lawyers (although my husband is a lawyer and I am an artist). The parents have all sorts of occupations/livelihoods. Most of our friends from school live in and around Berkeley permanently - although some do eventually move from or back to other countries after living here for a few years. This gives our kids a broad view of the world. It has also given us the opportunity to visit friends overseas. If you want to get a better idea of what to expect, you could show up someday when school lets out and introduce yourself to someone... or feel free to email me. sks


Sept 2012

Re: Bilingual pre-schools people like?
The German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV) has just moved from formerly cramped space, to a large campus in Berkeley (Cedar at LeRoy). We started in Kindergarten and liked it. There is now a Pre-Kindergarten or Bridge-K option, taught in German naturally. French is the 2nd (um 3rd) language, though hopefully that will switch to Spanish at some point. Dad


Feb 2012

I am considering the Berkeley campus of the German International School of Silicon Valley. I was hoping to get feedback from current or former parents in response to some lingering questions.
1) Is creativity nurtured at all grade levels? How are kids taught about the writing process? How do they learn to write creatively? Is there more of a focus on handwriting than on creative writing?
2) How do teachers respond to learning differences? A reviewer on the ''great schools'' website, writing about the Mountain View campus (of which the Berkeley school is a satellite) asserts that at the Mountain View campus, differences in learning style are not accommodated. How is this handled at the Berkeley school?
3) A yelp reviewer - an unhappy parent - mentioned a case of bullying not being addressed by teachers or administration at the Berkeley campus despite frequent complaints since the children were supposed to work things out themselves. Any idea if this is a systemic problem?
4) How does the small size of the Berkeley campus feel? Constraining or nurturing? Or both? Are there things your child has not been able to explore because the small size constrains options?
5) How is discipline handled?
6) A reviewer of the Mountain View campus says it's a great curriculum if you want to move your child to Germany. But what if you want to, at some point, transition your child to a public school in the Bay Area. How will they fare? Thanks so much for any thoughts. East Bay mom


This is our third year at GISSV Berkeley and so far we've had a great experience. In response to your specific questions: (1) Yes! There are lots of creative writing opportunities. For example, the kids keep journals (in both English and German), write stories, and can participate in a Writer's Club. Handwriting (and spelling) is considered separately from writing. (2) I don't have much personal experience with this, but I know this was an issue that came up in past years and they now have various extra classes for kids who need extra help in English or German, math or spelling. In addition, I have found the teachers to be very approachable and flexible, whenever any issues have come up with our child. (3) Really have no idea where this is coming from. We had the opposite experience. Our son was teased by some older kids at one point, and when we brought it up with the teachers they took immediate action, discussed the situation with the kids, and there have been no further problems at all. (4) The small size has not been a problem for us. Definitely more nurturing than constraining. I think for young kids it's not a problem. It allows the teachers to really get to know each and every child (and I've been very impressed with their very detailed evaluations of our son's academic progress and behavior). Also, despite the small size, the school is fairly diverse. Finally, at breaks and during the afternoons (if your child stays for the afternoon club) the kids get to play with kids from other grades, so their friendships are not restricted to their class. (5) ?? Can't think of any serious discipline issues... I think the policy is to first talk to the child, then the parent. I don't think anyone has every been suspended. (6) The curriculum meets the standards of both German and US/California educational systems, so that should not be a problem. The exact program (e.g. math approach) is going to be different at GISSV and a public school, but I think the level is high enough that the transition should not be a problem. Hopefully someone with this experience can respond. Happy GISSV parent


I have two children at the GISSV - Berkeley Campus, and they have been going since K. Regarding your question about creative writing, it is my experience that creativity is nurtured at each grade level, in all subjects (including math). The writing process starts in first grade, and continues at every grade level. It includes creative writing, how to write texts appropriate for the age, spelling, punctuation, and grammar, and also handwriting. Creative writing is taught by working with the child to write on their own, starting with simple sentences, illustrating picture stories, to writing essays, fairy tales, book reports etc in 4th grade. I would say there is a lot more focus on creative writing than handwriting, though good handwriting is taught earlier than in the typical American curriculum.

Regarding some of your other questions, I know some children who have moved to an American school, and to my knowledge these children didn't have much problems. Also, this year at the Berkeley Campus, the school has introduced specialty classes such as spelling and math classes for children with learning differences. For the moment, the small size is nurturing for my children and we take it one year at a time. The school teaches some subjects in combined classes (such as music and PE) which encourages social interaction in a larger than usual class setting. Bullying and discipline problems have not been an issue for my children really, so I cannot give first-hand feedback. - Happy GISSV mom GISSV mom


I'll take up just one of your questions, on having the kids work things out themselves. I do see that as the school's basic strategy, one anchored in its educational philosophy. To my American eyes it's sometimes been less interventionist than I would have expected / felt comfortable with. It is definitely a German school that happens to be located in Berkeley, and it follows German expectations of how a school should be run. Having said that, I've had a better experience with it than the Yelp poster. My kid has had learned some lessons, some of them sort of hard, about standing up for herself. A part of me wishes I could spare her that, but I also think it's part of what she needs to learn. The few times things have gotten actually troublesome, the teachers intervened in a way that I've appreciated.

On the whole, it's a wonderful, really amazing group of kids she's with. The 1st through 4th graders play in age-mixed, gender-mixed groups without thinking that's weird. And I hear far less potty-mouthed playground talk than I would have expected, given what else I read on this forum. I don't know what makes the school community like this -- if it's the school, the German parenting style at home, or just these particular kids -- but to me it's one of the unexpected pluses of the school. parent


The German School nurtures creativity, starting with kindergarten which is play based. When the children begin reading and writing in first grade, they are encouraged to write creatively. They read and write a great deal in both English and German. There is a creative writing class offered for free after school where the children create poetry books and other projects. There is also a drama class. The children are encouraged to develop their own style of handwriting once they have perfected their handwriting and cursive. The teachers respect learning differences. Kids who excel in a subject are given extra challenges, whereas kids with learning difficulties are offered extra help and encouragement. For example, there are math, spelling, English and German classes offered for free after school. These are play based and intended for those kids who need help in certain areas. A couple of children wear headphones with music, especially developed to help certain children concentrate. My child just started bringing a chew necklace to school, developed for autistic kids. Although not autistic, my child needs to chew. His teacher told him his necklace was a great idea. Basically, the teachers want to strategize to maximize each child's learning experience. The small class size enables this. Classroom kinesthetics are also important. The kids can sit on balls or stand at a special tall desk if they are restless. The kids play outside a lot. The kids also learn to respect differences and to play well with mixed ages. My older child who has been there for four years has several friends in classes above and below him. As for the case of bullying mentioned on yelp, that is totally not in character with the school. Perhaps it was from last year's kindergarten class. The kindergarten grew very quickly last year and also had two new teachers. It was not a good year. The problem was addressed and there is a complete turnaround. I can tell you because I have a child in kindergarten this year and we are very satisfied. It is an amazing environment.

As for your question about discipline, I can tell you how my child has been treated. He sometimes disrupts the class and is pretty much the class clown. The teacher has created a smiley book for him. He tries to earn two smileys each day. The book works as an incentive and is also a way for the teacher to communicate with me on a daily basis. The teacher respects and enjoys my son's humor, but we are working to make sure it doesn't interrupt the class. So far, the smiley book has been successful. Regarding your question about transitioning to public school in the Bay Area, I don't see any difficulties. The kids work hard and play hard in both English and German and appear well prepared to transition to an American or German school. It is a great community for our kids (and our family). It is also very diverse. Of course there are many American, German and Swiss parents, but there are also parents from Egypt to Brazil. You should feel free to contact the school if you want to talk to me or any other parents. Sally


Nov 2011

Re: Looking for small school, flexibly paced program
My two children are thriving at the German International School, Berkeley Campus (www.gissv.org). This is a German/English private full immersion school with small class sizes. They are good at differentiating between children of different abilities, both in German and English but also Mathematics. Open Houses are happening now for enrollment next year. -GISSV mom


Sept 2010

I am US born and my husband is from Cologne. We live in El Cerrito on the Albany border. We had always planned to send our children to the Bay Area Kinderstube (BAKS) in Albany, but as our daughter has been on the waiting list since I was pregnant with her, and at 3.5 years we've still not been granted admission, we've basically given up. For those who have gotten in, is there something we are missing? Visits and introductions to teachers, and requesting a full-time schedule have been to no avail. Are there other Pre-K programs or playgroups we should try, or just wait until the GISSV's Kindergarten program? Appreciate any suggestions.
Eine sehr frustrierte Mama (frustrated mommy)


I don't know about the BAKS situation, and I'll be curious to read the replies if they deal with it. I do know that GISSV's kindergarten has lots of kids who didn't go to German preschools. There are even kids who learn all their German at GISSV (like my child). GISSV mom


June 2010

Re: Looking for an affordable K-4 private school

I am very happy with GISSV Berkeley Campus. This is a German immersion school, however don't be scared if you don't speak german yourself. We have families in every grade that fit that profile. The curriculum is well rounded and their K approach is play based which will give your child a nice adjustment time to get to know the language and teachers. My older son will be going to 3rd grade after the summer break and my second child will start K. Now to the affordability of the program, this school is subsidized by the german government which makes it very affordable for the kind of education they are able to give. Here is the link to their website: http://gissv.org click the Berkeley Campus tab on the side Best of luck GISSV mom


We are very happy with the Berkeley Campus (located in Kensington) of the German International School of Silicon Valley (www.gissv.org). The teachers are wonderful, classes are small (not more than 20 kids) and the goal of everyone is to make every single child succeed. For 15k$/year you even get the after school care until 6pm (sorry, to lazy to dig out a bill to figure out regular tuition, probably around 11k$). Happy GISSV mom


Nov 2009

Re: Challenging Progressive School?
You must approach this with an open mind; there is a school which may fulfill your quest located in the East Bay. Your child is gifted but you do not seek a conformist, routine method of learning. Consider a private school where she will receive an excellent modern European education, she will be fluent in two languages and upon graduation from the High School receive a bilingual European Arbitur and American high school diploma which will qualify her to attend American and European universities. The teachers will work with your child based on her abilities and requirements.

Although it is a little late, children can enroll in the school any time during the school year and there is no birthday restrictions so if your child at 4 is ready, she could try this for a year and if it does not work out she will still be the correct age for kindergarten at another school next year.

Take a look at the German International School of Silicon Valley Berkeley Campus (GISSV). There is an open house on November 10, 2009 at 6:30 pm. Ralf who is the head of school would be more than happy to discuss with you how a program will be set up to keep you daughter intelectually stimulated while in kindergarten. The school is affordable as tuition is partially subsidized. Even though we do not speak German, our daughter in kindergarten was fluent in German after 6 months. The style of education is somewhat play based which will hopefully instill in her a life long quest for learning. Old Sage (i.e. wise guy)


August 2009

I would appreciate some reviews of the German International School (GISSV) in Berkeley. We are a second-generation American family. Very little German is spoken in our home but we would like our child to pick up another language early in her education. Does the school accept children during the school year? What are their expectations with regard to knowledge of the German language? What educational model is followed in kindergarten and first grade? And how does tuition cost compare to other private schools? Thank you for your feedback!


My child is attending 1st grade at the Berkeley Campus of the German International School. He started Kindergarten last year and has been the happiest child ever since. My husband is American but since I speak German, our son grew up bilingual. However, at least three kids in his class have American-only parents and I have to say that I am amazed how well their German has become since they started K-Class. Despite the fact that they didn't speak a word of German before, they now understand everything and are already pretty fluent in speaking it as well.

You didn't write the age of your child but I know it would be no problem at all if your son/daughter has no or only little ability understanding or speaking German when entering K-Class. Of course it wouldn't hurt to immediately start German play dates and listen to German tapes/books once she/he has started;-).

And yes, the Berkeley Campus welcomes each and every new addition to the school, even if it is during the school year. The tuition of GISSV is actually on the lower end, compared to other private bi-lingual schools in the area. It shouldn't be too hard to proof this fact.

Class sizes are between 8-10 kids with 2-3 teachers in K-Class. Kids are provided a high-standard bilingual education and now that my son has started 1st grade, I am even happier to see that English, taught by a native English teacher and the German education go side by side ... reading and writing ... and playing and exploring. The best out of two worlds!

If you are interested in joining the growing GISSV family, I'd recommend to contact the office in Mountain View to make an appointment and meet the teachers/students. As far as I know, the first official open house will be beginning of October. Good luck! Happy GISSV Parent


I have two children attending the German International school, one in 2nd grade, one in K. There are a fair amount of families attending the school whith both parents not speaking German. They all do have a connection to the German language or culture such as having distant relatives or ancestors, used to work in Germany or used to work for a German company. For Kindergarten there is no requirement that the child speaks the German language. In first grade they usually would like some German language skills but it also very much depends on the willingness of the family to support the child. I think you need to talk to the school directly. I also think they would still take your child.

The academics are really good, there is a lot of flexibility in the teaching, they do a lot of theater projects, PE, music, arts. The tuition is a lot lower than other private schools, about 10K for the school year, mainly because of subsidies from Germany. Kindergarten is developmental, but they do a lot of ''academic'' language and math projects so that learning to read and write in two languages and to calculate in first grade is a lot easier. First grade is where the academics start. But they have enough time for arts, music, theater, PE etc.

The best would be to contact the school at office [at] gissv.org and maybe arrange for a classroom visit or talk to the teachers. GISSV mom


We have a kindergartener at the Berkeley campus of the German International School. You asked about the educational model, and I won't really speak to that until I have more experience of it as it's actually implemented. I'll only say that we were sold on the school's approach to kindergarten as play and socialization, as a foundation on which academic work can follow later. The kids at the Mountain View campus, where they go up to grade 12, do get to the Gymnasium Abitur in 2 languages, after all, and I have German colleagues who learned to read at age 7 and still turned out OK as university professors.

For German language, our kid started this fall knowing next to nothing. English is our language at home, though both parents have functional German. The school (and our kid) seems comfortable with this way of learning it. Some English-language kindergarteners pick up German quickly, they told us, others take it more slowly, and the teachers don't seem to give it a second thought.

They do take new kids during the school year. The tuition is subsidized by the German government, including for non-German kids. I'd suggest just contacting the school and asking to talk with the lower-school head or the teachers. They don't do a hard sell. Cathryn


We have two children at GISSV, one in K and one in 2nd Grade, and we are very happy with the school. To answer some of you questions from a parent point of view: Yes, the school accepts children during the school year, but as always you need to check this with the principal. Knowledge of the German language is not a requirement in K. The K-class is focussed on project based learning and development of language and social skills. In our experience the school offers a great mix of academic learning and learning through play, small classes, lot's of art, field trips and projects. Classes are mainly taught in German, but in English as well. Kathrin


Our child is starting his second year at GISSV. We have been very pleased with the school. In fact, it has exceeded our expectations! Our child spoke no German when he started kindergarten, and now he is close to fluent. He enjoyed the play-based Montessori-style kindergarten, and didn't realize how much he was learning. Now in first grade, he is working a lot harder with math, reading, writing etc. and still seems happy. The teachers and peers are great. The class sizes are small and the tuition is a bargain. I highly recommend checking out this school if you have any interest in bilingual education. As for the question about the school accepting children during the school year, I would guess that's possible since the school has proved quite flexible in other respects. -GISSV parent


Our 5.5 year old just started at GISSV in Kensington. They do accept mid-year students, and there is space in K-class. The educational model is the same one used in Germany, with some adjustments for the USA. They focus on skill and relationship building in K-class rather than jumping straight to no-child-left-behind academics. Tuition is partially subsidized by the German government, and is low-average compared to other fully private offerings. There is (at least at the moment) a school bus option from Oakland and Berkeley. Bryce


Nov 2008

My daughter will be ready for Kindergarten next year and we are currently looking into public as well as private schools. I am German and my husband and I are raising our children bilingually, so I was wondering if anybody can tell me about the German International School of Silicon Valley. I believe they have opened an East Bay Campus a few years ago? Does anybody have personal experiences with the school, the teachers and also with the school's educational approach? Thank you! CB


My son has been going to the German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV) since they started their satellite campus in Berkeley. He is now in the first grade and thriving.

The approach the Teachers take in Kindergarten is play-based. I know that is a concern for some parents, but in my experience this approach builds a strong social foundation, a sense of logic and reasoning which primes the kids for the academic work they face in the first grade. In fact, many of the students are children of renowned scientist and mathematicians.

GISSV believes in small class sizes. This has also been very successful for my son. In his large pre-school he was rather introverted, but has, in this small setting, found his courage and strength to speak his mind about anything.

Academically I believe GISSV offers a great program. They teach at a pace that is in sync with the abilities of the children. The children are challenged, and they seem to enjoy it and thrive. My son loves homework and he is not the only kid in class that does.

If you're interested the next open house is Dec 11th @ 7:00pm at the Kensington campus: 1 Lawson Road Berkeley/Kensington CA 94707


Hi, I am very happy to let you know that the German International School (GISSV, Silicon Valley) has just moved their East Bay Campus to Kensington (approx. 10-15 minutes car ride if you live in Central Berkeley). I am German but unfortunately I cannot tell you about personal experiences with the school because my child is not enrolled in the school (yet). However, I visited the school at their last open house, met the teachers and saw the new location and class rooms. I have to admit that I was VERY impressed! My friend's son is currently visiting the school (although none of the parents is German!). They are very happy and glad they chose the school because their child just thrives and gets a lot of attention! The classes are very small (10 kids) and at least in K-Class there are two teachers at all times! From what I have heard, the teachers develop strong bonds with the children and know exactly about each child's strengths and weaknesses (more than any public school teacher would ever be able to - due to their bigger class sizes). At the German School the kids have a lot of play time .. more than other (American) schools offer and their curriculum integrates German AND English reading and writing. It sounds like their educational approach is based on the excellent German school system and curriculum which is more play-based and stress free in the beginning (no homework in K-Class!) but steps up when 1st grade starts and children begin to read and write (in two languages). According to my friends, their son (who had some basic knowledge of German) is much more fluent now and does not only understand but also started to speak German. Yes, it is a private school but compared to other private schools their tuition fee is on the lower end. I am seriously considering this school for our daughter because of all the wonderful impressions I got from talking to other parents and the school staff. Go and check them out! German and curious


Hi there,

My son is currently attending the first grade at the German International school. He started in the kindergarten group last year. We love the school. I'm German and my husband is American and we are also raising our kids bilingually. But even with me exclusively speaking German to my son for his first 5 years he would not ever answer in German. He understood, but was very insecure about using German. With the school being German immersion, within a couple of weeks attending he replied in German and is now completely fluent (and has not lost his English).

In terms of the educational approach, the Kindergarten class is very play based. The goal is to teach the children a love for learning. The kids are not expected to read or write at the end of Kindergarten - if they do its great, if not it is fine too. My son got to learn about science, art, math and music in really playful ways. First grade is a little bit more structured: the curriculum is based on the curriculum taught in Germany and books and general material are the same as in Germany. Class sizes are very small so the kids get lots of one on one time with the teachers (there are 2 in the Kindergarten class). The teachers are great as well - very warm, engaged and very approachable in working with the children.

They do have two more open houses coming up on December 11, and Jan 22, and there are always parents of currently enrolled children there. You can also learn more here: http://gissv.org/index.php?catID=500&navID=500&GOTO=1&LEVEL=2&PARENTID=0 Happy GISSV parent


Our son started kindergarten at the GISSV's East Bay Campus this year. My husband and I are both American. Our only connection to Germany is the two years I spent there a long time ago and few friends from back then. Although our son started at GISSV with no knowledge of German, he loves the school and is totally thriving. The philosophy is play based but with a carefully thought out curriculum. Our son has so much fun he doesn't realize how much he is learning. He likes all of the kids and the teachers. The other parents are also great - friendly and not snobbish. Moreover, the teachers and other parents are happy to talk to me in English or my mediocre German - whatever I initiate. There is an open house coming up in December so you can check out the school. Go to their website for the date - gissv.org. gissv mom


My daughter started kindergarten last year at the new German immersion program of GISSV in the East Bay (located in Kensington) and she is now in 1st grade. She is very happy there and we love the school for many reasons. The school belongs to a network of German immersion schools in the United States supported by the German educational authorities. They follow an adapted German curriculum which meets the California curriculum standards. Kindergarten is developmental, and 1st grade is when school becomes more academic. We find the teachers terrific, both in Kindergarden last year, but also now in 1st grade. In 1st grade the children have about 6 periods per day, four in German, and two in English on average. The curriculum is very project based and the school does not teach to the test. The school is still small (only K and 1st grade so far) but growing, and there are quite a few parents who are very involved. Since it is run by the much larger K-12 bilingual school in Mountain View the East Bay campus has a lot of resources to fall back on. We also love the community of German and American parents. You can schedule a tour by calling the admission coordinator in MV at (650) 254 0748 or by e-mailing office [at] gissv.org. They have an open house coming up on December 11 at 7pm. GISSV mom


Our son is very happy in the K-class. He is one of two students without a native German speaker at home, and yet from our observation and the teachers' feedback he is picking up the language quickly. His class is about 10 students with two teachers available at most times. While there is no guarantee this teacher to student ratio can be maintained, our son, a very outgoing type, clearly benefits from the extra attention (we compared experiences with the parents of his preschool peers of similar temperment and they are not pleased with their selections). Kindergarten instruction is play oriented but not unorganized. Hands on activities/field trips are regular and thematic. We cover reading and early arithmetic at home now but understand that these subjects are introduced formally at GISSV a bit later after the German model. The parents are extremely invloved (if we have a complaint, there is too much communication and expectation of cooperation from the parents). The teachers and administration appear almost as accomodating of parents' individual needs as the childrens'. In summary, I heartily recommend GISSV-East Bay not just for those parents seeking German language instruction, but for any parent who wants their child to get individual attention from teachers who want to be there and be surrounded by other children whose parents take a real interest in them. Early bilingual, bi- cultural familiarity is icing. tumlinson


I can only recommend this school. Our daughter has started kindergarten this year and is very, very happy. She did not speak any German beforehand and she now understands it and even speaks a few words (and that's only after a few months at the school). The teachers are also amazing and always there to help. AP


Feb 2008

Does anyone have information on/experience with the new German School in Berkeley? I'd like to enroll my son for some summer classes. I've called them and left a message but have not received a response. anon


I'm not sure which school you are referring to. I assume you mean the East Bay Campus of the German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV). The East Bay Campus opened last fall with a Kindergarten class. This fall they will have a Kindergarten and a 1st grade class. Our son is in the Kindergarten class and so far we are very happy with the school. As far as I know there are no plans for summer classes in Berkeley (at least not for this summer). Happy GISSV mom


My older daughter currently attends the K-program at the new German school and my younger daughter will be attending it in 2009. I find the K-program fantastic: The school emphasizes a developmentally appropriate curriculum using child appropriate educational projects. Within these projects they teach the children academic subjects, but also cognitive, social, and emotional skills. They do not teach to the test. They also have music and PE taught by teachers trained for the subject. The language of instruction is German but one day a week they have a special teacher running the program in English. My daughter is completely bilingual and loves the school. The parents are very involved as it is a small start-up school. I don't think they have a summer program yet. They do have summer classes at their main campus in Mountain View. When you call the main campus you should ask for the admission coordinator Nadja Spira. Ursula


Hi, My Name is Nadja and I am the Admissions Coordinator for the German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV) in Mountain View as well as in the East Bay. We successfully opened our East Bay Campus last year with a Kindergarten Class, and this upcoming school year we will have a Kindergarten Class and 1st Grade. We have had a great amount of interest with classes filling up quickly. Our parents are very active in showing their support for the school. By 2012 we plan to have reached our goal of a K-5 Campus. If anyone has question or would like information regarding our classes, please contact me directly via Email at nspira [at] gissv.org or by phone at 650-254- 0748. General School Information can also be found on our website at www.gissv.org.
GISSV admission coordinator


October 2007

My daughter is in her 3rd year of preschool at the Bay Area Kinderstube and I am considering sending her to the GISSV program for kindergarten to continue her exposure to German language acquisition. I hope some parents out there can provide some feedback/answer these questions for me.

How do current parents feel about the quality of the program? What is the daily schedule like for kindergarten? How many kids are in the class/what is the ratio between staff and child? Are there lots of holidays/school closures? How does the cost compare to other private kindergarten programs?

What kind of academic instruction are the children getting, how much is conducted in German and how much in English?

Is there a vehicle in place for parent input/involvement. Is there a Board of Directors, PTA?

If anyone can comment on these questions and/or share your experience so far, it would be much appreciated. Jennifer


My daughter also went to BAKS and now attends the new German immersion kindergarten. It has been operating since late August and so far I think it is a very good program. The quality of the program overall and the teaching in particular is fabulous. There are currently 12 children in the class with two teachers. There are two more teachers, one teaching English and Science one morning a week, one teacher for music.

The language of instruction is four mornings in German, one morning in English.

What strikes me is how engaged the teachers are, how they care for and try to support each child. The academics are embedded in child appropriate and very creative projects and a lot of focus is spent on social and emotional development. German language is not a requirement for entering K or 1st grade and students who donmt speak it get extra support from the teachers to catch up. My daughter loves her school and has never said anything else!

The cost is lower than other private schools as the German Government pays part of the teacherms salaries. They also have an after school program until 6:00 pm. The school is currently not offering childcare on school holidays. However, the PTA is approaching the school about it and I think they will offer it soon. There is a lot of parent involvement, being a new school, and there is an active PTA which organizes lotms of activities and brings needs to the attention of the school administration. GISSV parent


Our son is attending the GISSV East Bay Campus. So far we are very happy with the program. To answer your specific questions:

Quality of the program: Very high. As your daughter goes to Kinderstube, you are probably familar with the play-based approach. It feels very much like a somewhat more academic version of Kinderstube. They learn a lot but in a playful manner. They also do some really nice art and craft projects.

Schedule: Normal class is from 9 (drop-off starting at 8:30)to 2pm with an afterschool program until 6pm. They start with a circle time. After that the kids have the choice between two activities (they try to get about equal sized groups). After the first activity they have snack and then they do the activity they have not yet done (so everyone does the same). Then they eat lunch and finish with another circle. Although the teachers have a lesson plan for the week, they sometimes adjust it based on the needs or depending on something coming up.

There are currently 10 kids with one more starting later this month and another moving here from Germany around Christmas. There are usually two teachers in the classroom, so for the main activities of the day it's about five kids per teacher.

Holidays/school closures: There are a few more than in other schools. Currently there are not enough kids to make offering camps viable, but that might change in the future if more families need a place to put their kids during those times.

Cost: It's almost 10k$ per school year for the morning program. That's significantly cheaper than other private schools I've looked at.

Academic instruction: They are learning some math concepts, a lot of science and they have the ''letter of the week''. But it's all done in a playful manner. They also do a lot of art and craft projects.

Language: Mainly in german. The science teacher who comes in one day a week speaks primarily english with the kids (although she is german).

Parent input/PTA/etc.: A lot of those things are handled in Mountain View on the main campus. There are parent representatives at the Berkeley Campus. Most of the parent involvement centers around the local things (organising car pools for field trips, collecting money for a marble run etc., marketing for the East Bay Campus,...) that do not need to go via the main campus. Parents are required to work 20 hours per school year (driving a car pool for a field trip counts toward that). Ina