The Athenian School

The Athenian School exceeded our expectations for our son when we moved from England and he went to the Athenian for middle school. The faculty is outstanding and are able to bring out the very best in their students. One of the strongest qualities is a curriculum and philosophy which develops the student to integrate their learning across multiple disciplines and not simply remember or recite facts.
--Submitted by a parent

We have had two children at Athenian 6th grade thru High School. Both have benefited greatly from what Athenian offers, which is very consistent with how they present the school. To start,classes average under 15 students in the upper school and 16 or so in the middle school. My kids have been in classes as small as 6 and no larger than 19. Teachers are motivated, they build individual relationships with each student and they know their subjects. The athletics prigram is very strong. My children went in non-athletic and each were dedicated to two different sports each year by the time they graduated. Extracurriculars, including performing arts, exchange programs thru Round Square, community service, robotics, the airplane program and superb. They learn to appreciate, communicate and relate to diverse students, whether they be from very different socio economic backgrounds or those boarding from around the world,
--Submitted by a parent

I am enrolled in this school and man, do I love it! It has GREAT acedemic structure, friendly kids, and it is set in a calm, peaceful, and GORGEOUS area- at the foot of mount diablo!
--Submitted by a student

Our son is a 6th grade student in the Athenian Middle School and we see him challenged, growing and gaining confidence in himself each day. He was identified as a gifted student in elementary school and we feel that the Athenian faculty and community are nourishing him intellectually, socially and emotionally just as we had hoped.
--Submitted by a parent

I went to The Athenian School and loved it! It was challenging and fun. It has a great learning environment, the teachers were very nice and supportive.
--Submitted by a student

We enrolled our son at Athenian after six years at our local Green Valley School, where he went from kindergarten to fifth grade. We looked at Los Cerros Middle School and decided we needed to invest the money in our son's future and send him to Athenian. Every year, our son received the personal attention he needed and his academic performance just exploded. Every child is educated as an individual and encouraged to excel. In middle school, our son attended an educational conference in Vancouver, BC as a representative from Athenian and spent part of a summer at the sea turtle preserve in Baja California. In the Athenian high school, he was one of the school's representatives at a global Round Square educational conference in the Republic of South Africa. Our son just graduated in 2005, was accepted to Stanford, graduated this year and is now at Genentech.
--Submitted by a parent

Our son is doing very well at Athenian middle school. The teachers, in general, are experienced but not ancient, young enough still to have energy for instructing. The program is well-developed. Close attention to each student is evident. Very annoying is the constant fund raising and nickel and diming for every trivial expense. This begging seems worse than other private schools we have attended. Nevertheless I highly recommend this school. Other private schools in the trivalley (we looked at Quarry Lane) are poor imitations.
--Submitted by a parent

The Athenian School has given my daughter a middle school education that surprised and overjoyed my wife and me with its excellence and fully rounded approach to childhood development. The academic standards are rigorous and absolutly top-notch, but the humanistic techniques employed by the teachers also vigorously reinforce the values of self-reliance and caring for others. I could not be happier with this school.
--Submitted by KF, a parent

My daughter has attended the Athenian School for two years (6th and 7th grade). It is by far the best accademic school amoung the private schools in the tri valley area. The school philosophy emphasis character and well-roundedness in addition to accademic excellence. I could not be more pleased with the school.
--Submitted by Robert Stanley, a parent

I attended this school and it changed my life. I left Athenian not only self assured but also educationally sound and ready to attend an outstanding college. I highly recommend this school, as would any of my classmates.
--Submitted by W D, a former student