August 2011

Dear Friends,

I offer a warm welcome to the Bay School. You will discover that Bay is a distinctive educational community—carefully envisioned to create abundant opportunities for our engaged, diverse and friendly students to develop the skills, habits and values that will serve them well throughout their lives and prepare them to assume leadership roles as agents of postive change in the world of their future.

Now, in our eighth year, the Bay School displays the high academic standards, optimism, aspiration and creativity of our founders. Our mission is to provide a 21st century education that enables our students to embrace and manage the rapid pace of change of modern life while seizing its opportunities. The Bay School program has been rigorously constructed to graft well-tested pedagogy to research-informed, innovative approaches to secondary education. Bay has achieved much success in our short history, including a prestigious six–year accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the matriculation of our first four graduating classes at competitive colleges and universities throughout the country and abroad. Importantly, there is a passionate sense of shared ownership and responsibility for the success of the school among students, teachers, parents and alums.

At Bay you’ll witness a strong connection and great respect between students and their teachers. Our skilled and passionate educators combine excellence in their craft of teaching with a true desire to connect with students both inside and outside the classroom, whether as coaches, advisors, or mentors. Many of our teachers are qualified and inspired about teaching in two different subject areas—sculpture and astrophysics, or theater and religion for example —and they collaborate closely with their peers to embrace ongoing innovation. Bay’s trimester system encourages our students to choose from a rich array of more than seventy-five electives across eight disciplines in the junior and senior years, and our eighty-minute class periods encourage in-depth exploration of each subject.

The Bay School is a close-knit community. Because students are encouraged to bring their "whole selves" to school, the ethos is inclusive and respectful. Cross-grade friendships are common. There is success available for everyone, especially for those who invest themselves with gusto. All members of the Bay community assemble at the start of every day for an informal and popular Morning Meeting. Here, students, teachers, and often guests, offer short talks about issues of importance to them. A few moments of mindful silence precede student-led announcements and then it’s off to classes. 

We invite you to explore our website for more information about Bay and encourage you to join us for an admission open house or campus visit. Thank you for your interest in the Bay School.

Sincerely yours,

Timothy W. Johnson
Head of School

Curriculum Vitae

• Founding Executive Director, Team-Up for Youth, Bay Area youth athletic development program,
  2003-2007.
  
• Head of School, Marin Country Day School, 1988-2003.
• Assistant Head of School/Dean of Faculty and Curriculum, Graland Country Day School, Denver, CO, 1980 -1988.
• Dean of Students/Teacher, Nichols School, Buffalo, NY, 1973-1980.
• Led approximately 20 WASC, Colorado and California Association of Independent Schools visiting evaluation teams; developed and co-facilitated Working with Faculties seminars for NAIS mid-level administrators; co-director, NAIS Beginning Administrators Institute; served as a juror US Department of Education Blue Ribbon School recognition program. Founding faculty team member, North Carolina Outward Bound School, Asheville, NC.
• Education: Lake Forest College, BA with high honors. Harvard University Principal's Center Leadership Program; matriculated at Adlai Stevenson Institute, University of Chicago; The Fletcher Institute, Tufts University, and the Stanford University Graduate School of Education.