It’s rare in our information-soaked world to be truly surprised, but that’s the emotion we felt during a recent visit to the Beechwood School in Menlo Park. Tucked behind a gate on Terminal Avenue near the Onetta Harris Community Center in the Belle Haven neighborhood, Beechwood is a K-8 private school with a beautiful campus, positive philosophy, engaged students and diverse families. It’s a combination that is rarely seen in any school, let alone in a neighborhood that has some of the lowest per household income in the area.
Beechwood School brings diversity and achievement together
Beechwood’s diversity is possible due in part to the endowment established by the families who founded the school, which allows the tuition today to be capped at $1,800. The school’s academic track record has been fostered by consistent leadership and low staff turnover; principal David Laurance has been at Beechwood since 1993.
Beechwood principal David Laurance with students
Beechwood: small and happy to be that way
According to Melinda Christopherson, the school’s development director, Beechwood is happy with its small size. “Beechwood’s philosophy is ‘one student at a time,’ and our intimate school community allows us to make a personal connection to every child on campus,” she said. “We are focused on educating children from Belle Haven and East Palo Alto, and we have no plans to replicate our program or open any new schools.”
And while Beechwood’s size is a positive feature, it also makes fundraising difficult in an era of rising costs. “Beechwood is fortunate to have an endowment,” explains Ms. Christopherson, “But we need to raise about $500,000 a year to keep the tuition affordable for our families, and that is a difficult challenge.”
A commitment to the community for over 40 years
Beechwood was started in 1986 when the Wheatley, Smith and Jacobsen families of Palo Alto created the California Family Foundation (CFF). CFF hired Marilyn Anderson as its founding director and charged her with starting a school that would provide a high quality education for children from Belle Haven and East Palo Alto. At the time, there was no public charter school law in California, so CFF founded Beechwood as an independent private school.
Beechwood kids love to ride their bikes around campus
Marilyn’s daughters Melinda and Melissa, who are still involved with Beechwood, recalled the school’s early days. “Our Mom and the CFF board formed an advisory council with teachers from Palo Alto public schools, and brainstormed a number of ideas for Beechwood. Eventually, they focused on elementary school, and opened with kindergarten and first grade in 1986.”
Beechwood’s year-round program prevents ‘summer melt’
Today, Beechwood enrolls 170 students from kindergarten prep through eighth grade. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade attend school at Beechwood year-round. This provides a total of 219 additional learning days before students enter middle school, and it prevents summer learning loss (also called ‘summer melt‘), which is one cause of the persistent achievement gap for students from underserved communities.
Language, Music, art and PE…plus swimming
All Beechwood students study written and spoken Spanish, and take music, PE and art classes several times a week. Beechwood’s PE program includes summer swim lessons at the nearby Onetta Harris Community pool, a skill that is rare among many children in Belle Haven and East Palo Alto. Beechwood students also take care of the school’s farm,’ including chickens (Melissa Anderson’s son made the coop as his Eagle Scout Project), a barn and vegetable beds.
Beechwood’s barn is near its vegetable beds and chicken coop.
Rent for $1? Campus grew with luck and foresight
Beechwood’s expansive campus is thanks to luck and foresight. CFF’s luck was getting a piece of land from the city of Menlo Park for literally $1 in rent before the building boom began in the Peninsula, and its foresight was holding onto it long enough to buy it in 2012 and to build a permanent campus in 2014.
Family involvement is key to Beechwood’s success
The sense of community at Beechwood is fostered by strong family engagement. As part of enrolling at Beechwood, all families agree to volunteer 15 hours a year helping at the school, and to participate in 10 hours of parent education. Given that many of Beechwood’s parents have multiple jobs, the school makes sure parents can fulfill these commitments in a way that fits their schedules.
Beechwood fosters a strong sense of family involvement
Beechwood School graduates thrive at selective independent schools, public high schools and more
Not surprisingly, local independent high schools such as Castilleja, Woodside Priory, and Eastside College Prep recruit students from Beechwood, and many students have been offered tuition support and scholarships. Other Beechwood graduates go on to attend Menlo Atherton High School or other local public high schools.
Beechwood makes a lasting impact that transcends generations
But no matter where they go next, Beechwood students always remain part of the school community and often come back to visit. Beechwood even has its first alumna who is not only working at Beechwood, but also has a daughter who is attending the school.
Staff member and alumna Konstance Kirkendoll and her daughter, a second generation Beechwood student
To learn more
- Check out the Beechwood School website and explore the school’s philosophy and program.
- Donate to Beechwood to help keep the tuition affordable for Belle Haven and East Palo Alto families.
- Visit Beechwood to see first hand what makes this school so unique, or learn how to volunteer.
All photos by Howard Look and used with permission from Beechwood School
