REALM Charter School

I am so surprised at some of the horrible and disgusting comments about this school that it makes me SICK ! First of all, this is a wonderful High school ! I had the opportunity to meet the principal and staff here. WONDERFUL ! This is the type of program that teaches kids in a new way. Not the classic textbook, Cookie cutter student way of traditional public schools. I bet you anything that if REALM was in Albany or Piedmont, There would be NOTHING SAID ! I’m putting my child in this school. Now, i will admit. The only thing that i do question about is the Safety of the high school students. If you’re not in the main building, you have to walk out of the building and down the street a bit to your next class. The problem can be easily fixed. I do not want any pervert abducting any children, so i think it should be a fully enclosed campus. I hope that the principal addresses this important issue. Other than that, I love the concept of this school ! The remarks of the schools «Red Flag» and Thinking that its COMMUNIST RUSSIA is so silly. Get a grip ! Jim Jones ??? REALLY ??? Lol ! I will tell you what’s SICK ! Albany Unified school district and their OBVIOUSLY racist superintendent of schools ! This PERSON has gotten rid of the majority of Black and Latino students who does not reside in the school district. THIS PERSON has hired investigators to follow these kids home. The very sad part about it all, is that there are East Indian, White and Asian students attending Albany Schools who resides in El Cerrito, Berkeley and Richmond. I have proof because i know their parents and they are using a relatives address in Albany. TALK ABOUT THAT? I cannot even tell you the horror stories about West Contra Costa Unified School District. I’m very satisfied about Realm, They are INNOVATORS !

Wow! Where to begin? I’m not sure what particular axe you might be grinding, John of Santa Cruz, but I and my daughter have taken the tour at Realm and sat in on two classes there each and we both had radically different experience than yours. I can’t give the school any sort of final rating because my daughter isn’t enrolled there (yet). My overall impression, however, is that we would be very lucky to be admitted to Realm. I found the teachers and staff to be warm, caring, intelligent, and committed. I saw all the adults at Realm challenging the students to be hardworking, responsible, ethical, and inclusive. I witnessed a writing exercise in which the kids were asked what they were grateful for and was moved by what they wrote: expressions of gratitude and respect for their parents and for what their families have done to meet their needs. I saw their teacher, in words and deeds, hold his students to a standard of cooperation, thoughtfulness, and critical thinking. Not one student in the class was allowed to fly under the radar or impede his/​her classmates in their learning.
While I am currently a stay-​at-​home mom, I am a former professional with a Masters Degree, and Caucasian to boot, I would have to count myself and my daughter lucky to be admitted to Realm. I found your remarks to be racist, classist, hysterical, and deeply, deeply offensive. I find it hard to believe you actually set foot inside the school, met any of its staff, or bothered to do much more than judge people by their appearance using the most superficial and ignorant of standards.
I would encourage anyone to go to Realm and actually enter the premises, speak with the Administration, the teachers, the students, the parents. I believe your experience will be much more like mine than John from Santa Cruz’s.

Amazing new charter school in Berkeley! Finally, an alternative to BUSD Public schools… with its vision and philosophy REALM has its head and heart in the right place! REALM = Revolutionary Education And Learning Movement. They have a 6 – 8 grade middle school and a 9 – 12 grade high school (currently enrolling just 6^th & 7^th grade & 9^th & 10^th grades). Located on the corner of Addison and 8^th st in West Berkeley, off University.
MISSION: to cultivate resiliency, develop critical thinking skills, advance knowledge through rigorous studies, and equip students to serve our communities and the world in the 21^st century. Realm Charter School will serve diverse urban students in grades 6 – 12 using a student-​centered model that features project-​based learning, an emphasis on technology, research and action on concerns in the community and activities that develop emotional resiliency.
VISION: to increase academic achievement and social responsibility by creating authentic and challenging learning environments based on four central program elements: (1) project-​based learning, (2) immersive technologies, (3) mindfulness in education (Transformative Life Skills), and (4) participatory action research. We seek to develop in each student the ability and passion to work wisely and creatively in order to become life-​long learners with the skills necessary to contribute to the betterment of humankind. This will be accomplished by immersing our teachers and students in authentic and virtual learning environments that require collaboration, inquiry, critical thinking, ingenuity, imagination, and active problem-​solving.
PHILOSOPHY: REALM is designed to be a project-​based, technology-​rich learning environment that promotes critical and socially responsive perspectives. This means that students will learn to think about the world as a set of interconnected systems that can be affected through rigorous studies and action. Students will navigate and create complex information networks, virtual worlds, and immersive learning environments by utilizing emerging technologies. Moreover, through culturally relevant instruction and curricula, students will recognize and own their ability to shape our world and to better humanity.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Victor Díaz, President, Jabari Mahiri, Vice-​President
Tracey Sheer, Board Chair, Christyna Serrano, Secretary, Nancy Williams, Chris Knaus, Becca Prager