Berkeley International Montessori School

My 5 year old son has been attending BIM for a short 4 months and my husband and I are blown away by how much he has grown/matured/learned! In addition to teaching the Japanese language/culture, which was our #1 priority, the school has helped instill a sense of independence, responsibility, and confidence in our son which is definitely a result of the Montessori style teaching/learning. My son comes home excited and proud to share with me the 'work' he did that day which includes subjects such as Math, Language, and Geography. The teachers are so committed to the students' growth and success, the parent/student community is small and intimate, and overall we couldn't have asked for a better environment for our son and are thrilled he will get to spend his Kindergarten year there as well!

Our son enrolled this year at Berkeley International Montessori School (BIM) and we are all happy with his experience. A lot has been said in other reviews about the exceptional quality of the school but I wanted to highlight a couple of things. Even though my wife and I are not of Japanese descent, our son is fully capable of communicating at the school. It’s thrilling to see him speaking Japanese and we have found that the exposure to another language has helped his ability to communicate with others. In other words, don’t let the Japanese aspect scare you if you don’t speak Japanese! The kids soak it up like a sponge, and the teachers expose them to English reading and writing as well. At BIM they follow the Montessori methodology closely, and we saw its effect on our son quickly. It has been an empowering experience for him. He wants to do everything himself, which we are delighted by. We’ve seen other positive aspects of the Montessori method: his willingness to share, his ability to concentrate on tasks, he cleans up after messes, he communicates with adults and peers well, and others. We have been happy with how BIM adapted to life under Covid. They have reasonable policies that keep the kids, teachers, and parents safe. It’s a difficult decision to send a child to school while the outbreak is going on, but we feel like it is important for our son to be in a nurturing, learning environment with his peers, and the staff BIM has ensured that their school is safe, with temperatures taken on entry, mask usage, and strict policies for handling children with symptoms.

My daughter is at last year at BIM. She has attended BIM for last 2.5 years. BIM is much smaller establishment than AIM and it has very comfortable atmosphere at school. We love the fact we have a great tight knit community among all the families and teachers. We have witness the progress of child independency soon after she joined the school. As she grew older, her attentiveness to younger children has began and she loves the fact she could take care of little kids. Her math, Japanese, English have excelled in the past year and has surprised us how much she can write&read, do multiplication, division at age 6. BIM teachers have a solid team. Saki teacher (Director of BIM) and rest of the teachers have dedicated their time to all the kids to learn Montessori way and give parents good insights and advice on living kids within Montessori way. We very much appreciate all the teachers at BIM. If you want your children to learn independency and project based approach on learning, Montesorri is way to go. In my opinion, life is pretty much project base and it is wonderful for kids to learn time management and project management at young age. I highly recommend BIM.

My son was taught by the BIM teachers at another Japanese/English immersion Montessori school (AIM) when he was younger. The teachers are native Japanese speakers with years of experience in teaching Montessori environment. The director, Saki sensei, was the go-to person whenever my husband and I needed advice on guiding my son in a Montessori way. The head teacher, Tomoko sensei, who watched my son in the classroom, is always positive, supportive, and warm. Ms. Alex in the admin office was always on top of communications, thorough, positive, and very cheerful. I highly recommend this group of staff at BIM.

If you’re serious about the Montessori method and serious about language immersion, i don’t think you’ll find a better group of caring and supportive teachers. Our daughter thrived under the guidance of Saki and Tomoko sensei.