Welcome!
Thank you for your interest in Crestmont School. This page is a detailed guide to our program, tuition, co-op structure, and admissions process.
Crestmont is a small nonprofit, nonsectarian, co-operative school for Transitional Kindergarten through 8th grade.
Founded in 1969, Crestmont continues to provide a nurturing, intimate, and creative educational environment for children, and a meaningful community for caregivers interested in actively participating in their children’s education.
Crestmont offers:
● Low student-to-adult ratio
● Experienced, credentialed teachers
● Strong academics
● Support for the development of children’s critical thinking skills
● Expertise in teaching to different learning styles
● Integrated curriculum incorporating social justice and promoting social/emotional growth
● Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in all its forms
● Active family involvement in education and community
For questions about our program or application process, please email our Admissions Director, Clarence Berger-Greer, at admissions@crestmontschool.org, or call (510) 237-4164 ext. 3. You can also learn more by visiting our website www.crestmontschool.org.
We know there are many outstanding educational options in the Bay Area and hope you will consider applying to our wonderful program.
Sincerely,
Leila Zaremba
School Director
Admissions Process for the 2026-2027 Academic Year
Families of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply to Crestmont. This handout describes our admissions process step-by-step.
HOW TO APPLY:
Submit an Inquiry Form
Crestmont School uses Ravenna to collect inquiries and manage the application process. Submitting an Inquiry Form on Ravenna will send your information to Crestmont’s Admissions Director.
Attend an Admissions Event to learn more about our program first-hand.
This Admissions season, we will be hosting both weekday and weekend in-person Admissions Events. Current caregivers and staff will be available for questions. Please visit our website for the most up-to-date information.
You can RSVP for an Admissions Event on Ravenna’s registration page once you’ve submitted your Inquiry Form.
For families applying for rolling admissions for the 2025-26 academic year, please contact admissions@crestmontschool.org directly to schedule a Campus Tour or to speak with a member of the Admissions team.
Submit your application on Ravenna.
Our priority application deadline is Friday, February 6th, 2026. Please be prepared to pay the non-refundable application fee of $78.
Upload your student’s required forms to Ravenna:
1. Teacher Recommendation Form (grades TK-8) - Please ask your child’s current or most recent teacher to complete this form.
2. Recent Progress Report (grades 5-8)
3. Outside Educational Assessments (all grades, if applicable)
Note: Your student cannot be considered for admission until the application, processing fee, and all required forms have been received.
If applicable, apply for Financial Aid on Clarity.
Crestmont uses the Clarity application to determine a family’s level of financial need. Applications must be submitted on Clarity byThursday February 5th, 2026. More information on Financial Aid can be found below.
Your child will be invited to attend an evaluation session.
Once we have received all your required application forms, we will invite your child to a classroom visit to meet with one of Crestmont’s teachers. Visits will begin in February 2026.
If applying for TK:
To be considered for admission to Transitional Kindergarten, a child must be four years old by October 31st (birthdays after this date will be considered on an individual basis).
Applicants for Transitional Kindergarten are invited to meet with Crestmont teachers in small groups on Saturday. Caregivers and their applicant will participate in a small get together and fun activities.
If applying for Kindergarten:
To be considered for admission to Kindergarten, a child must be five years old by October 31st (birthdays after this date will be considered on an individual basis).
Applicants for Kindergarten are invited to meet with Crestmont teachers in small groups on Saturdays or after school. Caregivers remain on campus during the visit and have a chance to talk with the Admissions staff and the School Director.
If applying for grades 1 through 8:
A visit will be arranged for your child to spend time at Crestmont and meet with a teacher in their current grade.
Admission offers are made in March 2026.
For priority enrollment in the 2026-27 academic year, Crestmont will offer admissions on Thursday, March 12th, 2026. Families are asked to respond to our enrollment offer by 4:00pm on Wednesday, March 18th, 2026. Some families may be added to a wait pool and will be offered admissions as openings become available.
We will continue to accept applications and offer enrollment on a rolling basis throughout the year as space allows.
Admissions Snapshot
Current Tuition for grades TK-8: $20,000
Current Tuition for grades K-8: $24,509
● Sibling Discount - 6% reduction of sibling’s tuition
● Need-based Financial Aid is available (see page 10 for details)
● Additional Fees:
○ Supply and Field Trip Fee:
■ Grades K-5 - $325 per year
■ Grades 6-8 - $650 per year
○ Emergency Supplies Kit Fee (new students only): $35 one time
After Care is available until 6:00pm up to five days per week, with additional Enrichment Class options. (See below for details.)
School Schedule
TK and Kindergarten: 8:45am-2:45pm
Grades 1-5: 8:15am-2:45pm
Grades 6-8: 8:15am-3:00pm
Note: All grades have a minimum day every Wednesday, with dismissal at 2:00pm.
Co-op Community Membership Requirements per family
● 20 Community Hours* (10 hours for single caregivers)
● Family Job*
● 2 Work Parties (1 work party for single caregivers)
● 5 Membership Meetings
*Buyout options are available. (See below for details.)
Important Dates
● Financial Aid Application Due Date: February 5th, 2026
● TK-8 Application Due Date: February 5th, 2026
● Enrollment Notifications Emailed: March 12th, 2026
● Family Responses Due: Wednesday, March 18th, 2026 by 4:00 p.m.
Our Community
We proactively recruit and welcome children, families, and faculty who reflect the diversity of the Bay Area. Our families hail from all over the East Bay. Our staff includes five teachers, two classroom aides, our School Director, admin support staff, Admissions Director, After Care providers, a learning specialist; specialty teachers in music, Spanish, art, and physical education; and a troop of devoted volunteers.
Educational Philosophy & Programs
At Crestmont, we cultivate a creative learning environment where students become critical thinkers, skillful collaborators, and courageous change-making citizens. To achieve this, we emphasize the following:
Individual Attention
Every child’s voice, identity, and expression matters. Our teachers create a curriculum that respects and responds to the dignity and individuality of each child. Our low student-to-adult ratio makes it possible to offer differentiated and flexible teaching styles to meet each child’s needs.
Social-Emotional Development
We understand that children need both academic and social-emotional competencies to accomplish their goals. We teach and nurture the skills of self-awareness, self-management, awareness of others, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
Challenging Academics
Crestmont defines rigor as work that challenges students in new and interesting ways. We design a curriculum that is engaging for students, stretching their thinking and cultivating a love of deep knowledge. Our philosophy focuses on being responsive to children’s interests to create meaningful learning experiences, with a balance between well-planned strategic lessons and those that are adaptable and driven by curiosity.
Social Justice Curriculum
We are committed to teaching in a way that empowers students to grapple with real-world problems, co-create solutions, and engage in practical actions. Our social justice curriculum starts with issues of fairness and moves up into environmental, racial and economic justice issues. We celebrate and honor the diverse cultures and multiple perspectives of our classroom communities. Through these investigations, students develop tools to take action in their community.
Multi-age Environment and Mixed-grade Classes
Crestmont groups students into multi-age classes and across multiple grades - K/1st, 2nd/3rd, 4th/5th, 6-8th - to enhance individual learning. They learn to mentor, cooperate and lead, building their self-esteem and competence. Teachers develop a deeper understanding of each child, focusing on teaching to “learning levels” rather than “grade levels”, which better addresses the diversity of abilities and ages.
The Arts
Drama, dance, music, and visual arts play a crucial role in the development of the whole child. The Arts provide an outlet for individual expression, bringing joy and richness to the classroom community. Currently, we offer weekly music instruction, dramatic productions in every class, and visual arts instruction.
Field Studies
Crestmont embraces the application of learning, research, exploration, and experiential learning through a wide variety of field trips, including overnight when possible. Field Studies enable students to apply their knowledge and skills in a real-world context and develop a greater understanding of self, place, and subject.
Enrichment Classes and After Care
A wide range of Enrichment Classes such as music, chess, dance, and engineering are offered each semester, usually for an additional fee. High quality After Care is provided until 6:00pm, up to 5 days per week, at a monthly rate of up to $395. Families are asked to commit to a consistent schedule for the entire semester - August to December and January to June. There is a $40 flat rate for drop-ins, if there is space available.
Caregiver Involvement at Crestmont
How are caregivers, parents, guardians, primary and extended family members involved at Crestmont?
Caregivers can assist with the educational program: participating in the classroom, chaperoning and driving on field trips, and managing classroom events.
Caregivers help out with the functioning of the school: facility improvements and maintenance, fundraising, serving on the Board of Directors, helping with admissions and marketing events, and other key functions.
Caregivers participate in decision-making: voting on tuition and other fees, the co-op obligations, and other major decisions.
Caregivers are part of a community of children, faculty and families, learning and growing together. This includes everything from ordinary daily events, to supporting families in need, to annual whole-school celebrations. Our community values are kindness, inclusion, and engagement. For families, being a part of the Crestmont community is often a deeply valuable, unique, and transformative experience.
Why is caregiver involvement so important?
Two, rather than one, unique sets of knowledge are best for children. Students are most successful when caregivers and teachers share information and work together to deepen their understanding of each student.
Caregivers better understand their children. Through their involvement at Crestmont, caregivers understand their student’s school experience, and are therefore better able to support their student.
Children become more resilient. Students thrive when they are known, heard, and have connections with multiple adults.
Children and adults learn first-hand about democracy. We are a living, breathing example of democracy in action. Caregivers, students, and staff all develop the skills of communication, collaboration, and problem solving by working together in this community.
Caregiver involvement allows your tuition dollars to go further. Having caregivers handle some school functions typically managed by paid staff allows us to keep overhead costs and tuition as low as possible.
Our robust level of caregiver involvement supports our commitment to diversity. By allowing us to maintain an affordable tuition, caregiver involvement at Crestmont ultimately makes it possible for us to welcome families who may not otherwise have access to an independent school education.
What are the Co-op Responsibilities?
Being a family at Crestmont School means being a part of a cooperative. The responsibilities required of families to keep our co-op functional are flexible, and a wide variety of families find it possible to meet these expectations. The responsibilities can be completed through helping the school with various activities and tasks, or “buying out” of certain requirements. Please note that charges will be applied for failure to complete co-op obligations.
1. Membership Meetings:
All families, even those buying out of an obligation, are expected to attend five membership meetings per year.
2. Family Job*:
Each family has a specific co-op job each year, assigned every spring based on interests and skills. There is a wide variety of jobs: classroom helper, graphic design, fundraising team, event coordinator, and more. Note that hours spent on Family Jobs do not count towards required community hours, with the exception of Chair or Board-level roles.
3. Community Hours*:
20 service hours per family. These hours may be fulfilled in a number of ways including volunteering in classrooms, driving/chaperoning on field trips, volunteering at various fundraising, marketing, and admissions events, and doing extra maintenance work.
4. Work Parties:
Families are required to participate in two Saturday Work Parties per year. Families are assigned to one Work Party in August and choose another date during the school year. Childcare is provided for the duration of the Work Party.
*Buyout options:
Families have the option to buy out of the Family Job and/or the Community Hours requirement. This option is available on a first-come first-served basis and is open to a maximum of 10% of the family population.
Community Hours Buyout
Waives the 20 hour per year Community Hour requirement.
Two Work Parties and Family Job still required.
$1,700.00
Family Job Buyout
Waives the Family Job requirement.
Two Work Parties and 20 Community Hours still required.
$2,200.00
Sabbatical Year:
Families who have fulfilled their co-op requirements for 6 years may choose to have a sabbatical in their 7th year at Crestmont School. This means they may choose to not hold a Family Job or not fulfill 20 Community Hours. Families must still fulfill two Work Parties.
Financial Aid for the 2026-2027 Academic Year
Tuition is currently set at $20,000 for TK and $24,509 for grade K-8.
Financial Aid is available for applicants who demonstrate financial need. The goal of Crestmont’s Financial Aid program is to facilitate a socio-economically diverse student body. The school uses the Clarity application to evaluate families’ financial need.
When considering Financial Aid requests, the Crestmont Financial Aid Committee - comprised of the School Director and finance staff - will take into account the recommendation of Clarity as well as other factors such as the number of applicants for aid that year and the amount of aid available.
Financial Aid awards are determined solely by the members of the Financial Aid Committee. Financial Aid decisions are made independently from admissions decisions and do not affect an applicant’s opportunity for acceptance. All financial information submitted is kept confidential.
To view a step-by-step guide to applying for aid with the Clarity application, view the 2026-27 Clarity Family Application Guide.
All forms must be completely filled out, signed, and submitted by the Thursday February 5th, 2026 deadline in order to be considered for Financial Aid.
The Crestmont Financial Aid Committee meets in February to review applications. Letters announcing Financial Aid awards are sent along with acceptance letters on Thursday, March 12th, 2026.
Please email finance@crestmontschool.org with any questions about Financial Aid.
