But what if you want to, at some point, transition your child to a public school in the Bay Area. After months of unfavorable weather, we finally launched the balloon on May 11. 1070 41st Street Emeryville, CA 94608. happy GISSV parent, Re: Immersion school for gifted kids? Also, the kids know students from classes above and below them. My GISSV Portal Username Password. They get to actually use their minds, think, ask questions, interact with the materials. Preschool-12 Bilingual Education in Two Locations in the Bay Area. Good luck on your school hunt. California has it all! My impression at GISSV is that there is actually a sense of community. 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. For Kindergarten there is no requirement that the child speaks the German language. GISSV mom, Re: Looking for an affordable K-4 private school, I am very happy with GISSV Berkeley Campus. The language of instruction is German but one day a week they have a special teacher running the program in English. German Intl School Of Silicon Valley. GISSV parent, Re: Immersion school for gifted kids? There is also a group of moms who meet every morning at school and then often take their dogs on a walk together. 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. Although not autistic, my child needs to chew. 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). Hello, I currently have a 5th grader and kindergartener at EBGIS. Peru's right-wing dominated Congress approved the largely symbolic declaration by a vote of 65 in favor and 40 against, after Lopez Obrador derided Peru's President Dina Boluarte as an . My son got to learn about science, art, math and music in really playful ways. And I hear far less potty-mouthed playground talk than I would have expected, given what else I read on this forum. The kindergarten grew very quickly last year and also had two new teachers. He is now in the first grade and thriving. Weve been nothing but impressed with the quality of teaching and the schools management. We have families in every grade that fit that profile. 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. 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. 117 Diamond Street San Francisco, CA 94114 sf-office@gissv.org Mountain View, CA 94043 office@gissv.org (650) 254-0748-300. (6) The curriculum meets the standards of both German and US/California educational systems, so that should not be a problem. To this end, we encourage you to schedule a visit with us, and our Admissions team will be happy to help you arrange an appointment at your convenience. The Mountain View campus, located on the site of the former Whisman Elementary School, welcomed its first 34 students in February 2000. Preschool-12 Dual Language Education in I have felt super safe having her there through COVID. My kids do not have native speakers at home and we are working on getting additional speaking and listening opportunities for our kids. Recommend the school highly. 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. They do have summer classes at their main campus in Mountain View. But they have enough time for arts, music, theater, PE etc. office@gissv.org 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. it's spring and time to look for flowers) that match with the optional sessions. Our son goes to GISSV. 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. Even though we do not speak German, our daughter in kindergarten was fluent in German after 6 months. The Early Childhood program alsosendsout a daily newsletter (anyone can sign up for it at ebgis.org), which includes a preview of the daily program as well as additionalsuggestions for family activities. Forgot your login? (510) 679-2199. (4) The small size has not been a problem for us. Select any title to view the full question and replies. They read and write a great deal in both English and German. They have had severe staffing shortages due to inappropriate planning and moving away from a mix of local English-speaking teachers paired withGerman teachers toward onlyGerman-speaking teachers. We have two very different experiences at home because of the age difference of our kids. Tel: (310) 306-3484. Is there more of a focus on handwriting than on creative writing? My husband and I are both American. The best kept secret in DFW is out! :) But German school is the one thing we don't want to give up so any advice welcome. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any specific questions. 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). Preschool-12 Bilingual Education in Two Locations in the Bay Area. 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. Donation Payable. 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 timeone 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!). 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). Anyway, the community is great and there are a lot of families car pooling from various neighborhoods. The class sizes are small and the tuition is a bargain. . San Francisco Campus. take care, Melissa. My husband is American but since I speak German, our son grew up bilingual. My child is very happy, and in seven years has never not wanted to go to school in the morning. Indictment of Arizona polygamist leader, 10 others details sex crimes against young girls. They loved it and so do we. I have no reservations at all in recommending! How do current parents feel about the quality of the program? 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. 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. And, yes, there is good structure to the program. Students, parents and staff of GISSV (from both our campuses) spent a fun and active Sunday outdoors while participating in the Presidio Trail Run. To schedule a visit, please contact our Admissions team at admissions@gissv.org. (In my son's class of 15 kids there is a full time teacher and a full time intern). 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. From my experience there is a great sense of community. 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 dont 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. The school program is accredited both by California and the German government. You can tour the school anytime with an appointment. The teachers and peers are great. For my middle schooler, the daily class schedule hasnt changed since they went online. Students graduate the school with both the German International Abitur and the California High School Diploma. 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. 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. We offer exceptional academics, a diverse international perspective, and a vibrant school community. St Elizabeth Seton School (Palo Alto, CA - 0.8 miles) Discovery Childrens House Montessori School (Palo Alto, CA - 0.8 miles) Eastside College Preparatory School (East Palo Alto, CA - 1.0 miles) Peninsula School (Menlo Park, CA - 1.0 miles) After that the kids have the choice between two activities (they try to get about equal sized groups). E.g. The quality of education has been simply outstanding and the two Kinder teachers are truly top notch. Our child spoke no German when he started kindergarten, and now he is close to fluent. Whitby School, Greenwich District of Columbia British School of Washington German School Washington, D.C. (DSW) Washington International School Florida American High School Schiller International University North Broward Preparatory School Windermere Preparatory School Georgia Atlanta International School 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. Calendar; . The kidsalso gets plenty of outdoor time to run around, get exercise and be kids. Tuition Rates: Inquire at school. During this time we were able to build valuable friendships with many other parents on campus. He understood, but was very insecure about using German. Bryce, My daughter will be ready for Kindergarten next year and we are currently looking into public as well as private schools. It shouldn't be too hard to proof this fact. all in German. 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. He likes all of the kids and the teachers. We also speak German at home already though, so he hears it outside of school. Re: Seeking German-Bilingual Daycare/Preschool In the following find schools in Southern California and Northern California. From my experience at GISSV, there is a wonderful community, which is the antithesis of ''not mixing'' or ''doing your own thing.'' Early bilingual, bi- cultural familiarity is icing. We livenear the CA 24 and it is a 10 minute(and sometimes shorter) drive for us from South Berkeley/North Oakland. 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. To stay informed about their various community . East Bay mom, This is our third year at GISSV Berkeley and so far we've had a great experience. Go to their website for the date - gissv.org. The German-American School Association of Southern California, Inc. (GASA) is a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation, founded in 1954. 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. 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. Definitely more nurturing than constraining. Many of my best friends have come from the school. And German speaking high schoolers to take part in our CIT Program! The school is located in San Francisco and is a part of the San Francisco Unified School District. What do families do? There is now a Pre-Kindergarten or Bridge-K option, taught in German naturally. 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. My child started at GISSV with zero German, and is now fluent. Our son has so much fun he doesn't realize how much he is learning. What we like best about the school, is the atmosphere of purposeand the comparatively small size. 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. Re: Challenging Progressive School? The 1st through 4th graders play in age-mixed, gender-mixed groups without thinking that's weird. Is there a Board of Directors, PTA? He started Kindergarten last year and has been the happiest child ever since. It has 80 students in grades PK, K-8 with a student-teacher ratio of 6 to 1. Facebook page. In fact, it has exceeded our expectations! For those who have gotten in, is there something we are missing? Tuition is $22,800 for the highest grade offered. There is much more to this school. The small school feel extends to afternoon playdates, family bonding activities, school movie nights, and parent social functions. There are even kids who learn all their German at GISSV (like my child). However, the PTA is approaching the school about it and I think they will offer it soon. Mountain View, CA 94043 I feel like the school has done an amazing job.they have a regular homeroom meeting every morning (I can get some work done!) (3) Really have no idea where this is coming from. We're a bilingual family so our son is in the German school now and we want to continue that in SFO. They do take new kids during the school year. 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. It doesn't matter what your background is, where you come from or what language you speak. Our middle school students undertook a very special project last semester: designing a weather balloon. Not sure anyone can ask for morefrom a school. Gentrification in Emeryville is changing the area.. We live in Rockridge, which is a convenient 15 min. Adult classes are available online. A part of me wishes I could spare her that, but I also think it's part of what she needs to learn. Thanks so much for any thoughts. wise guy). The California School Directory contains information about California public schools, private schools (including nonpublic nonsectarian schools), . It has been operating since late August and so far I think it is a very good program. 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. Please enter your username and create a new password. 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. Regarding your question about transitioning to public school in the Bay Area, I don't see any difficulties. Best of luck to you! Then they eat lunch and finish with another circle. This is a German/English private full immersion school with small class sizes. Welcome to the school ! 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. French is the 2nd (um 3rd) language, though hopefully that will switch to Spanish at some point.