Our mission is to partner with parents to develop bilingual children who are confident, empathetic, mindful, and have a life-long love of learning.

Berkeley International Montessori

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 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 son has attended BIM since it opened and our experience has been great. We didn’t know much about Montessori before starting but now we’re huge fans. It’s a small school and each child gets a lot of attention and individualized lessons. Since the opening of the school, Saki sensei has set the tone - warm, safe, and inspiring for young minds. Our younger son will be joining soon, which we are very excited about!

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.

Our daughter is going into her second year at BIM and we could not be happier about her experience. The teachers are incredibly caring and intentional about fostering a safe and fun environment to learn, grow and play. Our daughter&#39;s Japanese language skills and comprehension really took off within the first two months, and has developed at a remarkable rate from there. Her independence and curiosity have also flourished at BIM under the patient guidance of her teachers under the Montessori model. But what has been most satisfying has been watching our daughter&#39;s growing understanding of what a community is and her place in it. All of the teachers play an essential role in fostering that community, but our daughter has really gained a strong connection to the other students under the Montessori model. The students don&#39;t simply play with each other; they genuinely care for each other. For example, the older students (5-6 years of age) were remarkably empathetic and caring when our daughter joined BIM mid-year last year, showing her the ropes and comforting her during first couple of weeks in a new environment. It was heartwarming and astonishing to see 5- &amp; 6-year-olds (and sometimes 4-year-olds!) mentor other children throughout the year. Overall, this is reflective of the strong community built at BIM through deep cooperation among the teachers, students, and parents. Accordingly, BIM&#39;s standard for parental involvement is high. Expect to pack a nutritious lunch and snacks EVERY day for your child, make time for required volunteer hours and family activities throughout the year, and numerous adjustments and learning experiences on your part to support your child through their Montessori experience. So if you decide to send your child to BIM, expect a lot of involvement and flexibility on your part. I&#39;ll admit that my biggest hesitation about sending our child to BIM was my assumption that the student group would lack diversity. But I quickly found out that my assumption was way off base. The students at BIM are INCREDIBLY diverse, representing an impressive spectrum of races and ethnicities, especially among bi-racial, multi-racial, and multi-national children. There are even children who have no Japanese ancestry at all who are doing just as well as the other children at BIM. So if you care deeply about diversity, belonging and inclusion, don&#39;t worry. The teachers, students and fellow parents will warmly welcome you into our very diverse community. Lastly, I can&#39;t emphasize enough that being a BIM parent takes a lot of work, flexibility, and planning. But BIM is truly one of the most uniquely wonderful educational experiences a child could have. So if you have any inkling at all of enrolling your child at BIM, plan a year (or more) ahead! That means get on their waitlist and participate in their open house (may be still virtual b/c of covid) at least 12 months before you would want your child to start. I know this must seem implausible. But believe me, it will all be worth it when your child and family become part of the BIM community.

BIM has been a great experience for our son, who is entering his third year there. It feels like such a gift that he&#39;s been able to develop under the guidance of such talented, attentive teachers and gets to have fun with his wonderful friends every day, all while growing up bilingual. It&#39;s clear that the teachers at BIM truly care about each child. They are very observant and thoughtful about adapting to differences in personalities and needs. We also appreciate how open and available they are, and they&#39;ve given us a lot of helpful advice and insights. It&#39;s been great to have that sort of warm security blanket where we&#39;ve always felt well supported.

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