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Berkeley, CA
Nia House Learning Center

Parents at this school would recommend this school to other parents.

Review this preschool

neighborhood: Berkeley West ·  Telephone: (510) 845-6099

• Summary
• General Info
• School Philosophy
  & Day-in-the-Life
• Curriculum &
  Teaching Approach
• Quality of
  Teaching
• Home/School
  Connection
• Discipline,
  Health & Safety
• Ages, Schedule
  & Tuition
• Application &
  Admissions
• Kindergarten
  Placement&Tips

Home-School Connection

OVERALL RATING (4.7)
Conducts an open house at start of school year
Conducts a parent-teacher meeting at start of school year
Conducts regular parent teacher conferences
Provides summary of child’s learning at end of year
Provides guidance on developmental goals for the following year
Provides guidance on best Kindergarten and elementary schools

source:

Separation

OVERALL RATING (4.7)

Beginning of the year separation is handled through:

- Parents in classroom early on

- Pre-entry meetings with parents at school

source:

Director's Comments

We advise parents to visit as often as they can before their child starts and to do short day if necessary or possible.

Parents' Comments

Parent #1
Nia House has a Montessori-based curriculum, therefore they are not held to a rigid curriculum and are allowed to progress at a rate that is appropriate for them. Children essentially run the classroom and choose the 'work' that they would like to do, with guidance and help from teachers.

Parent volunteers come in to share specific expertise with the children, but parents are not involved in the day-to-day activities.

The parent/teacher community holds regular (usually monthly) parent meetings to cover specific topics and to address parent concerns and questions. We also hold 1-2 longer Saturday parent education sessions with child experts.

Since children join at all times of the year, not just in August/September, parent/teacher orientation is held individually with each family before the child starts. (This also means that fewer children experience separation problems at any one time.)

Conferences are held with teachers upon request; some have conferences regularly, others rarely.

Nia House has a kindergarten, but not an elementary school. Nia House encourages families to stay for kindergarten to finish the Montessori 'third year' (our child did this and really blossomed during this time), but they realize that some will leave for K, so they host an 'elementary school information session' every Fall.

Parent #2
The transition seems to be very easy at Nia House. Parents drop off children outside in the play yard, where children play freely, and the children enter the school together at 9:30 AM.

Parent #3
Nia House is a Montessori based preschool and kintergarten. Although kids don't have specific academic goals they are supposed to achieve, the developmental goals are usally met by working through the montessori materials and practices. We've found the method - along with the warmth and nuturing environment - to be very condusive for learning and the emotional health of both our kids.

Parent Community

COHESIVENESS RATING (3.9)

Parents:

- Hold social events at the school to build community

- Are able to visit the school anytime we want

- Go on field trips

- Volunteer in the classroom

- Receive newsletters

- Hold social events outside of the school (with and/or without children)

- Shares information on matter related to our children (e.g. babysitter lists, pediatricians, extracurriculuar classes, etc.)

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Parents' Comments

Parent #1
Are required to perform 10 parent 'work hours' per family per year doing tasks that need to be done at the school.

Parent #2
Participate in activities at the school: painting, cleaning, etc.

Parent #3
Do 10 hours of work a year.

Parent #4
All work or go to school full-time, thus our children attend Nia House full-time. The children see each other a lot, but even so, many play dates are scheduled among interested families with ease. Families trade babysitting as well.

Modes of Communication Between School and Home

Parents' Comments

Parent #1
Email can be used through the schools director who passes on the message to the appropriate teacher.