Black Pine Circle School

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United States
Berkeley, CA
Black Pine Circle School

A school of thought for kindergarten through 8th grade. CURIOSITY | COMMUNITY | INQUIRY | VOICE

09/04/2026

🎨 Circles, Color & Collaboration! 🟡🔵🔴
Inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s iconic Squares with Concentric Circles, our Kindergarten through fifth-grade students—and some of our faculty—explored the power of color, shape, and composition in art class.
Kandinsky used this work as a study of how colors interact and how different combinations can change the way we see and feel. Our students took that idea and made it their own, creating a vibrant collaborative display that celebrates creativity, curiosity, and community.
We love seeing what happens when individual ideas come together to create something bigger! ✨

09/02/2026

The BPC community will come together on September 26 for our festive Fall Carnival complete with fun activities, games, live music from the BPC band, food trucks, a jumpy house, dunk tank, cotton candy, shave ice, popcorn, & more!

09/01/2026

🌊 8th Grade Adventure in Santa Cruz! 🌊
Our 8th graders kicked off the school year with an overnight bonding trip to Santa Cruz—and what a way to start the year! 💙 From a walking scavenger hunt through Downtown Santa Cruz to Advisory Olympics on the beach, students jumped right into teamwork, laughter, and community building. The fun continued with pizza delivered right to the beach for dinner 🍕🌅, followed by a full day of thrills and excitement at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk! 🎢 A wonderful start to the year filled with friendship, adventure, and plenty of memories. Here’s to an amazing 8th grade year! ✨
Cruz

08/28/2026

Our first Lower School Gathering of the school year focused on humanity and friendship, with our students and teachers singing, “We All Need More Kindness In This World” led by Owen Roberts, our K–3 music teacher. A group of our 5th grade students had stepped up to adapt Rainbow Fish, a book about friendship, into a play called Shimmer and their performance engaged the hearts and minds of our lower school community. “Sometimes we shimmer the brightest when we all help each other shine,” was a message that clearly resonated. The LSG closed with everyone singing, “Go Well, Peace Be with You” in both English and Zulu. These community-building gatherings are foundational to our students developing their sense of belonging at BPC!

08/21/2026

Today marked the end of our first week back at school, and we celebrated in true BPC style with our first All-School Gathering on the field. The BPC Band, directed by Band Director Jerry Kennedy, kicked off the event with a lively performance of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground”. Our Head of School, Jase Turner, welcomed everyone and spoke about our school theme for the 26–27 year, “Encouraging Humanity”. K–3 music teacher Owen Roberts led the school in an original song, “BPC Blues”. To wrap things up, 4–6 music teacher Cheryl Sumsion led the community in a spirited rendition of the “BPC Birthday Song” to celebrate all the summer birthdays. The event ended with our 8th graders creating a human tunnel through which all our K–7th students and teachers walked as they exited the field. It was a fantastic way to start the school year—filled with music, joy, and community spirit! 🎶🎷🎉💚

08/18/2026

The excitement in the air was palpable as the school year officially launched today! Families gathered in the upper school garden for a coffee social after dropping off their students at the school gates or in the classroom. Our students and teachers across campuses spent the morning engaged in a variety of get-to-know-you activities which helped alleviate the first day jitters! The K–5 students and parents ended the day with their first Lower School Gathering of the year when Flavio and Button made a very special appearance!

At BPC, we lead with our mission: to create a learning community that encourages humanity, empathy, moral depth, cultural understanding, and freedom in intellectual pursuit. Our faculty and staff work together to foster our values of curiosity, community, inquiry, and voice, so that each child is challenged, supported, and celebrated! Here’s to another great year of learning!

08/17/2026

This afternoon, the BPC community gathered on the upper school campus for a welcome message from our head of school, Jase Turner, kicking off the 26–27 school year! Families were excited to exchange stories of summer adventures and to welcome our new families to BPC! Families were given new BPC t-shirts sporting our four values on the back: Curiosity, Community, Inquiry, and Voice! Students were happy to spend time with their classmates and parents in their classrooms at both the Upper School and Lower School Open Houses. Everyone is looking forward to the official start of the school year tomorrow!

08/14/2026

Excitement is building across our US and LS campuses as the countdown to the new school year begins! 🎉 We can't wait to welcome our amazing families to our 26–27 Community Kick-off Event on Monday! It’s going to be an incredible year ahead at Black Pine Circle! 🌟📚

08/04/2026

☀️Summer camp at BPC is in full swing, and our campers have been making the most of every adventure! To beat the summer heat, they designed and ran their very own lemonade stand, serving refreshing drinks to neighbors while learning teamwork and entrepreneurship. The proceeds from their hard work were used to purchase native plants from the California Native Plant Nursery, which campers proudly planted in the upper school garden to help create a more beautiful and sustainable campus. Along the way, they also explored every local park, enjoying outdoor games, nature, and plenty of summer fun! ☀️

08/03/2026

We’re proud to announce that Black Pine Circle School was voted BEST Progressive Elementary School and BEST Private Independent Middle School in the Best of Parents Press 2026 Awards! 🏆🥇🥇🎉 BPC’s whole-child focus integrates rigorous academics with a vibrant K–8 arts program and supportive social-emotional learning.

Address

2027 7th Street
Berkeley, CA
94710

Telephone

+15108450876

Website

https://blackpinecircle.org/admissions#visit

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