You don’t just choose a school,
you choose a community.

The people around here like to be on the cutting edge, or at least nearby, and not just in education. Yes, our teachers and staff participate in Harvard Project Zero every summer. Yes, many of our kids go to the some of the most competitive high schools in the Bay Area. And a bunch of them attend highly selective colleges. But that’s not the only thing we live for. That’s not our reason for being.

So what does get us going? Most of us chose to live here because the region around Berkeley is an exciting place to be. We chose this school for the same reasons. Poets, architects, computer scientists, writers, chefs, designers, scientists, hippies, rebels, artists, and rockers – many of the best came from here or live here now. People in Berkeley aren’t satisfied with the way things are. We want to change society and the world. And some of us already have.

In fact, one could argue that many of the most significant social movements and trends started in California, and many of those were germinated and nurtured right here in Berkeley. Here are just a few: Free speech, organic and local food, genetics, fair trade, Moveon.org (started by former TBS parents!), nuclear physics, Nobel laureates, UNIX, gourmet coffee, disabled rights, environmental awareness, biotechnology, artisan chocolate, historic preservation, the counterculture, and 16 of the known chemical elements. Not to mention the leading public university in the world.

We want to keep it up. We hope your kids will help. We hope you’ll join us.