13 minute read
40th Year Anniversary on Mulholland Campus
In 1911, sisters Leila and Mabel Cooper founded and developed the school that may have started small in structure and enrollment, but over the decades has flourished, growing to our current, beautiful 66-acre campus. Looking at our campus today, you would never know it was once a swath of dirt on a mountaintop. This campus is the fourth location that BHS has occupied in its illustrious history. The first location was a small house in the West Adams Heights district of Los Angeles, across from the first gated community in Los Angeles called Berkeley Square (inspiring the sisters to name their school “Berkeley Hall”). Two short years later, a larger location was needed, and BHS moved to a home five blocks west on 4th avenue. In the fall of 1925, the school moved to its new “English Village” campus on North Swall Drive in Beverly Hills. On April 18, 1978, the Los Angeles City Council granted BHS the permit to acquire the land BHS has called home since 1980.
We are grateful to the Cooper sisters who had the dream that became Berkeley Hall and to everyone throughout our history who has carried BHS “Toward the Mountain” with their loving dedication, limitless vision, unfailing determination, and generous financial support. We wouldn’t be here
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without all of them and you. 1980, the first year of a fresh new decade filled with opportunities and adventure.
In February, The Winter Olympics were held in Lake Placid, New York.
On February 22, The US Ice Hockey Team defeated the Soviet Union, 4-3 in what will be forever known as The Miracle on Ice.
In April, 3M began selling its latest creation, Post-It Notes
On June 1, CNN (Cable News Network) became the first 24hrs News Station
On June 20, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back opened
In early September, Berkeley Hall School moved to its new home at 16000 Mulholland Drive!
FOCUS ON Barbara DeNisi
TEACHER PROFILE
“I did not want to be a teacher. Honestly, I wanted to be a spy,” Mrs. DeNisi laughs (as do those in the background who know her history). Mrs. DeNisi has been teaching Kindergarten at Berkeley Hall most of her professional life with the exception of a few years in her family’s business and the year she taught Kindergarten at an international school in Japan. In fact, her association with Berkeley Hall began when she attended summer camp on the Beverly Hills campus when she was a little girl.
Mrs. DeNisi has been called, “The Kindergarten Whisperer,” and those who watch her in action or have had a child go through her class would agree. She just knows 5 year-olds. She knows how they think and what they need, how to communicate with them and how to make learning fun. “Over the years, Kindergarten has become more academically focused. But you have to make sure learning is fun,” said Mrs. DeNisi, “because the ultimate goal is not just to teach people, but to encourage them to love learning and become lifelong learners. If fun is not part of the process, then that activity will not be part of their lives going forward.”
“We often describe Kindergarten as the hinge year between the preschool experience which is mostly play and social development, and the academic years which have not as much play. That’s the year they learn to read and comprehend and really understand; it’s like a brain firing on all cylinders. It’s just the most amazing thing to witness. I think it’s the best year!”
“At this age, magic is still real. They still believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. There’s an understood compact among adults to not spoil that magical experience for children. We pretend in order to make things fun for children. And that compact has protected children from growing up too fast by not making it too real, too fast.”
“Pretending and playing is vital for this age, especially when they act out the role of savior and the role of victim. When they’re acting out the fireman and then the person who needs to be saved, they work through some of their fears. They have to do this for reassurance and also to figure out what kind of person they are. For example, do they want to be saved or do they want to save someone? They get to know a bit more of who they want to be.”
“I feel a sense of mission teaching here. This school’s mission and my mission match. I just loved this school when I was here at summer camp and now I get to come here every day. Teaching at Berkeley Hall is different. We have a loyalty to our mission and our students based on their unlimited God-given potential. I’m determined to make sure I’m doing everything I can to help them in every single way: how they hold the pencil, how they write, how they treat other people, how they stand in line. In a lot of schools, they just want to get to the curriculum, but I don’t, and I don’t think any teacher here at BHS does. We want to use the curriculum to teach work habits, self-respect, how to set personal goals, and the indefinables like persistence, growth-mindset, and being good citizens. You have to call out the things you notice and highlight them. That’s how children learn to express them.”
Kindergarten students performing for parents Halloween Parade preparation
Mrs.DeNisi summed up this way, “I can’t imagine teaching anywhere else. I can’t imagine a blessing greater than a Berkeley Hall education. It sets kids up for life. This becomes their friend group. The kids here have a special connection. They develop a sense of community and it gives them skills that set them up to work in all the communities they belong to later.”
“A good teacher has to adore kids,” says Mrs. DeNisi, “adore your level, have a connection to the age you teach, and have patience and a really good sense of humor. You want to communicate that this is fun. It’s not, ‘You have to do your homework.’ I counsel parents to say ‘You get to do your homework!’ I love to get up and come to work and be with the kids.”
“The job of teaching encompasses every other job there is. It’s like the umbrella job; you have to be good at lots of different things to be an effective teacher. Teaching,” Mrs. DeNisi smiles, “gives you a chance to be a coach, a nurse, a parent, a musician, and yes, even a spy.”
Kindergarten after a reading lesson of Thank You Omu! by Oge Mora
Young ballroom dancers strutting their stuff at the Variety Show
Mary Poppins dress rehearsal turned into their final performance due to COVID-19
PERFORMANCES AT BHS On stage and On Zoom
| Per’ fôrm | verb - to carry out, accomplish or fulfill (an action, task, or function).
Berkeley Hall Bobcats perform! Opportunities abound within academics as they grow to be fearless scholars, but also as performing artists in drama, music, and art. Students are asked to perform from Nursery right through Eighth Grade, challenged to express themselves fearlessly. During Bobcat Assembly, Christmas sings and programs, countless writing celebrations and academic presentations, the variety show, costume contests, dances, Bobcat Chorus, plays and musicals, there is no shortage of opportunities to perform. At every level, students present to others regularly; they become very adept at stepping onto a stage (metaphorical or actual).
Young ventriloquist at the Variety Show
But how is this process different at BHS than at other schools? The whole culture at Berkeley Hall supports it. The adults in our community are trained to see students as limitless, to see their unlimited potential, and to put into practice the Cooper sisters’ founding principle in 1911, No Limits, No Labels, and Lots of Love. This foundational way of thinking sets the stage (so to speak) for students to reach for their highest potential and break through the limitations they put on themselves. Adults see them as capable, and this creates a safe atmosphere in which to be vulnerable, a critical ingredient in the creative process. This allows students to reach and fail and reach again with no fear of feeling ridiculous — this allows students to be fearless scholars in their pursuit of performance.
Notable breakthroughs include a Zoom performance by the Bobcat Chorus that was so good it was used during graduation, and a production of Mary Poppins performed days before the show date without the luxury of a dress rehearsal. Students stunned the audience with their courage and ability to reach for the top!
There is an expectation that each student, by the time they graduate, will have enough experience in public presentation that they will leave Berkeley Hall knowing their abilities as a performer and public speaker - skills that will serve them well during their school career and beyond.
COVID-19 and Remote Learning brought a whole new set of challenges to our teachers and students getting ready to perform.
Unsung Hero MARC LIGNIER
For many years, one of our unsung heroes on campus has been our backdrop artist, BHS parent and now custodian, Marc Lignier. His artistic talents run deep and are expressed in stunning, original backdrops, hand painted for each show. Giving of himself very quietly and never calling attention to the numerous hours of work, Marc’s creations have adorned our BHS stages for years and always lent a very special atmosphere to our plays, musicals, and programs. We want to thank you, Marc, for your talent and your generous heart.
Handpainted backdrop for Mary Poppins
PROFILE IN GIVING Zully Gonzalez and Jerry Pacheco
For every family who gives to Berkeley Hall, there is a why. Why do they give, and why do they keep on giving? The Pachecos, a family who embodies the spirit of giving, have a history of giving to our community and to all that Berkeley Hall represents. Jerry Pacheco, Zully Gonzalez, and their two children Jeremy (4th grade) and Jerry, have been giving to Berkeley Hall since Jeremy was in Nursery.
When the Pachecos were asked why they give, the answer came quickly and simply from these two people filled with warmth and generosity. “It’s fun to bring smiles and joy to the kids’ faces. You do it for the children,” said Jerry. “I just love to give,” continued Zully. ”The gift is in the giving — truly. It is important to me that kids feel loved. To me, giving is a form of showing that love.”
The Pacheco family was attracted to Berkeley Hall because the kids are taught compassion, Jerry said. “It’s a caring environment and it’s a home away from home — that’s super important to us. Jeremy gets up ready and excited [to go to school] and that says a lot.” Zully added, “Berkeley Hall has had a lot to do with developing Jeremy’s character. The community is very inclusive; we’re all one.”
“We’re all on the same journey,” Jerry went on to say. “If you care about your children and you put everything else aside, then that’s the common ground.” Zully expanded on what that has meant for them. “We have made the school community our friends and have very close relationships that have grown over time. I didn’t expect that, but that’s just the way the school is.”
The Pachecos’ commitment to and connection with the community prompts them to give. “The gift is in the giving. Give without expecting anything in return.
The Pacheco family
These kids think in possibility — to never allow anyone or anything or any challenge to dismiss your goals and to expect the challenges. If the training is there, that mindset will carry them forward. That’s the legacy that we work for and we’re going to spend all the money we can before we go.
Don’t give because it’s a tax write-off, give because you love giving and know that the focus is the kids and appreciate the joy that you’re bringing to their lives,” said Jerry. Once she understood what the Annual Fund represented, Zully said it made a huge difference for her to know where the money was going. “It’s a responsibility; we have to give. We have to help. Our kids are all going to benefit from it. What have you gained? When I look at Jeremy, I see how great the school has been. We have a responsibility to maintain our children’s education, and they can’t become stronger if our teachers aren’t becoming stronger, if there aren’t the resources to strengthen the school as a whole. So give!” Jerry added, “We know first hand what city schools are about. Part of our giving is to give a kid the opportunity [for a Berkeley Hall education]. When we give we want to give to the whole community.”
“For me it’s an investment in your child,” said Zully. “If you’re giving of your time, you’re involved in your child’s life, you’re in tune with not just him but his classmates, what’s going on in his/her world. If you’re giving with money, you’re supporting their growth in other ways and supporting a community at large. So to me giving at Berkeley Hall is an investment in your child, your family, and your community.”
Mr. Pacheco said the investment in Jeremy and his friends is worth it. “The results are there, really. We see it in Jeremy; he’s creative, he’s outgoing, and he’s social, and he cares about his friends. All of those little things can be taught, but they’re more absorbed from his environment. That’s the way they learn — from examples. So that’s what we’re looking for in a school that complements that. That’s the investment I see from giving.”
Jeremy with his friend Ryan
They hope their giving leaves a legacy — a legacy of mindset — that as a result of being at Berkeley Hall, “these kids think in possibility,” said Jerry, “to never allow anyone or anything or any challenge to dismiss your goals and to expect the challenges. If the training is there, that mindset will carry them forward.”
Zully beamed, “We hope that we’re able to inspire other parents to give to the school because it really is important to give.” “I’ll second that,” Jerry concluded with a smile.
Parent volunteers
Community is at the heart of everything we do at Berkeley Hall.
All parents are expected to be involved in the school, and most go above and beyond to make sure that our community activities are successful. Whether it’s planning the big Gala fundraiser, or decorating a classroom door, Berkeley Hall Parents are helpful every step of the way. We are eternally grateful for these individuals, who bring so much talent, love, and dedication to our school.
THANK YOU, PARENTS!
Volunteering at the ECD Fall Festival Setting up for the Halloween Howl
