Why Choose Walden?

By choosing Walden for your child, you are choosing to support your child’s creative energy, respect their learning style, and develop their sense of belonging to a larger diverse community.

A Walden Education: Parents and teachers share their thoughts on Walden Center and School.

Community

By setting goals and actively working together to achieve them, children develop a sense of belonging and investment in their school community and beyond. Our program of social-emotional learning embraces the idea of child as citizen and leader. As citizens, each of us has rights within and responsibilities to the group. As leaders, individuals recognize their gifts and step up to challenges, on the road to developing character. Community service helps students give back to the larger community.

Commitment to Diversity

We are more than a school. We are a center where families can participate and share who they are together. We work tirelessly with our families to create the most open, inclusive, and multi-cultural campus we possibly can.

Preparedness for the Future

At Walden, we work hard to help children develop a lifelong love of learning and to experience joy as a natural part of the learning process. Our joyful learners are also successful students wherever they go after Walden. Whether it be to public or private middle schools, large or small high schools, or the myriad of choices for college/university study, Walden graduates bring their creativity, self-confidence, and dedication wherever they go and to whatever they do.

Here are some of the schools our alumni have attended:

Middle Schools

Albany Middle School

Black Pine Circle

Longfellow Middle School

Park Day School

Trackers Outdoor Homeschool

Archway School

Edna Brewer Middle School

Montera Middle School

Berkwood Hedge Middle School

Westlake Middle School

The Berkeley School

King Middle School

Oakland School for the Arts

Redwood Day School

Willard Middle School

High Schools

Albany High School

Bishop O Dowd High School

Lick-Wilmerding High School

Oakland School for the Arts

Bard High School Early College

College Preparatory HS

Maybeck High School

Saint Mary’s College HS

Berkeley High School

Head Royce School

Millennium High School

The Urban School

Colleges and Universities

Barnard College

Boston University

Columbia University

Goucher College

Lewis and Clark University

Mount Holyoke College

Pomona College

San Jose State University

Sonoma State University

UC Berkeley

UC Santa Cruz

Vassar College

Beloit College

Brown University

De Paul University

Harvard University

Mills College

New York University

Reed College

Sarah Lawrence College

Stanford

UC Davis

University of Chicago

Yale University

Bennington College

Carnegie Mellon University

Evergreen State College

Humboldt State University

MIT

Occidental College

San Francisco State University

Tufts

UCLA

University of Wisconsin

Creative Energy

Creativity enhances learning—by translating experiences and ideas into dance, drawing, music, and writing children deepen their understanding of the topic at hand. Drawing has been shown to help students consolidate knowledge and store it in long-term memory. Learning a pattern in a song or seeing symmetry in a painting can form a vibrant foundation for mathematical concepts. Our teachers understand that an arts-integrated curriculum employs all the senses, engaging more children and engaging them more deeply. Tapping into creativity deepens learning for all children.

Learning Styles

Experienced teachers support and challenge each child where they need it most. In order to take in new concepts, students must be open and trust their environment, peers, and teachers. Walden provides this by working intensively with children on group and individual interactions, striving to create a climate of respect for differences and similarities as learners. Multi-age classes offer learners a chance to bond with teachers and peers, creating opportunities for challenge and support. Our integrated curriculum features hands-on activities, connections to students’ interests, and authentic assessment—not teaching to the test.