Rafael del Castillo
In 1975, in one leased classroom in the basement of Lowell Elementary School, Brigitte Bertschi founded a dynamic, multi-cultural community focused on early education. In 2016, on a modern and sustainable campus we continue to value and respect the notion of childhood.
The first years of elementary school help shape the person a child becomes. I arrived in the United States from Cuba in 1968. My first day of school, I came home crying and telling my parents, “I don’t understand what anybody is saying!” Working closely with my family, my first teachers inspired me to become the first of my generation to complete a college education.
At Bertschi School we foster the vibrant school-home partnership that is as strong today as it was in 1975. Your active involvement in the daily life of our school helps us serve each member of the community in the “just right” way. Bertschi helps foster lifelong friendships among students and their parents.
My personal and professional educational experiences overseas have helped me see the world from different global perspectives. Our teachers and staff and our parent community come from all over the world, and Bertschi kids see that world as their classroom. Teaching children is a balance between what is timeless and what is informed by ongoing research. It is a balance between the world children explore and the inner world they invite us into. It is a balance between a preparation for life and the daily, joyful expression of that life. Throughout its 40-year history, Bertschi has been an exemplar of that balance.
Our school's mission is our promise; and Bertschi kids are compassionate, confident, and creative. Their stature may be small, but their ideas are monumental and honored in the daily life our school. What does it mean to be a Bertschi kid?
- They are curious about their world.
- They care about each other.
- They enjoy solving problems.
- They thrive in a diverse and welcoming learning community
- They think creatively and welcome new ideas.
I invite you to explore Bertschi here on our website and in person so you can begin to experience our mission, our programs, and our community.
I look forward to meeting you in person “beyond the sidewalk.”
Read more from Rafael on the Head's Blog, "A View of the Playground"
