Originally published in the Independent School Magazine, Summer 2015. By Sam Shapiro AT THE ATHENIAN SCHOOL (California), we’ve been asking ourselves a new and vital question: Given the hyperconnected and distracting culture in which we work and educate young people, how can we harness the benefits offered in such a technologized and high-octane world, and do […]
By Grace Brown ’17 Our village is a community composed of learners—both students and teachers value Athenian’s mission to develop life-long learning. As an Athenian, I have been encouraged to reflect, to think critically, to have an open mind, and to utilize the world as my perpetual laboratory and classroom. It has been through this […]
This Spring’s athletes shined at league and state tournaments. Congratulations to all our scholar-athletes who participated in Spring sports! Track and Field Grace Brown ’17 and Dawson Reckers ’17 qualified for the North Coast Section Meet of Champions at UC Berkeley on May 29 and 30th. Grace qualified for the 800 and 1600 meter and […]
Today’s last Town Meeting of the year involved a proposal asking for $100 of Town Meeting funds to purchase 12,000 native, drought-tolerant milkweed seeds that attract monarchs. During the meeting, friendly amendments were added to include $450 for outdoor furniture and using the remaining $450 for Nepal earthquake relief. The resolution passed. Thanks to this […]
Originally published in The Pillar, Athenian’s student newspaper, March 2015 by Amalia Gradie ‘17 In the past two years, there has been a significant increase in the number of Athenian students going on exchange to other Round Square schools. This is a result of the growing popularity of the Round Square program. Community Service Director […]
By Eric Niles, Head of School In February, I was in an audience of about 6,000 independent school administrators and teachers at the annual conference of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). The conference was just beginning and the Association’s Executive Director, John Chubb, was giving his opening remarks. In a time of great […]
Athenian prides itself on attracting and developing faculty and staff who are committed to quality education and are often leaders in the field. After nearly 20 years of combined service, two Athenian administrators will become Heads of Schools at independent schools with similar missions. We will miss them dearly and we couldn’t be prouder of these educational leaders! […]
Originally published in The Pillar, Athenian’s student newspaper, March 2015 by Nicole Thrower ’15 Sweatpants and bare feet, floral print dresses and wedges, Paul Frank pajama pants, boyfriend jeans and Birkenstocks, Odd Future ball caps and distressed denim vans: you name it, Athenian has it. Anyone can take a look around and notice the variety […]
By Eric Niles, Head of School As another college admissions season comes to a close, I was so pleased to see this article about Frank Bruni’s new book, Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be in the New York Times. I watch the anxiety of our students—and I think we are calm and balanced compared to […]
Reflections on Bogota by Mark Friedman, Director of Community Service and Round Square Update 1 Greetings from Bogota! It is cloudy and cool here at 8,600 feet in the Andes. Bogota is a beautiful city, nestled in a valley of green mountains. The Athenian students are doing home stays with Colombian families and the host […]
Rahul Arockiaraj ’17 has been inspired by Gandhi since he was in 4th grade and first learned about him. “I might not be where I am today if not for Gandhi,” writes Rahul. Because of the violence we are seeing both internationally and abroad–Rahul cites ISIS and Ferguson–generating conversations around nonviolence and peace is important. […]
“All children deserve an excellent education, and we urge you, our educational leaders, to ensure that OUSD can attract and retain excellent teachers.” This is the last sentence in 10th grade U.S. History teacher Stephanie McGraw’s petition to Oakland Unified School District administrative leadership calling on them to raise teacher salaries. After just five weeks […]
by Grace Brown ’17 One of the most talented speakers that have yet presented during my years at Athenian took the form of a man by the name of Shareef Nasir. He came to speak in honor of Black History Month regarding issues many people view controversial and sensitive. However, his approach towards these matters […]
For the third year in a row, Athenian students have won the New York Times‘ Year in Rap Contest (inspired by Flocabulary’s annual rap; 2014’s rap video is above). This year, two entries by Athenian students were among the top six winners from hundreds of entries. What makes these feats particularly impressive is how the students wrote […]
By Eric Niles, Head of School Yesterday, I had the pleasure of starting the new year by presenting to the Athenian Parent Association about innovative programs at Athenian. Among the things we discussed was the work of the Bay Area BlendEd Consortium. This, you will recall, is a consortium of five Bay-Area schools that are offering […]