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United States, San Francisco
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The South Berkeley campus houses the toddler/preschool and elementary programs. Classrooms are spacious and bright with natural light and are equipped with high-quality Montessori materials displayed on low wooden shelves. Classrooms include child-sized tables and chairs made from natural wood, friendly classroom pets, and plants. The campus has two large play yards, one for elementary and one for toddlers/preschool, with age-appropriate play structures and space to run, garden, or develop motor skills by riding tricycles, playing ball, and jumping rope. Older children can build with builder boards and wooden blocks.
Two large outdoor play yards provide space for gross motor activities, with age-appropriate play structures and opportunities for running, gardening, and outdoor play. Children ride tricycles, play with balls, and use open-ended equipment such as builders, blocks, and outdoor games to develop coordination and creativity. The playground environment supports daily outdoor play, including garden activities and care for campus greenery and animals. After-school enrichment programs like Soccer Shots offer structured sport activities.
AIM has Infant Community classrooms with Montessori-trained, native-speaking Japanese and Mandarin teachers in each classroom. Language tracks are chosen before enrollment and cannot be switched. Preschool/Children's House programs include Mandarin immersion on the AIM campus and Japanese immersion on BIM's campus. The Elementary program provides bilingual immersion in English/Chinese or English/Japanese for mixed-age groups (lower elementary 1st–3rd grade and upper elementary 4th–6th grade) with dedicated teachers, each fluent in one language. The elementary classroom operates in an all-day immersion environment with three Montessori teachers, one native speaker of each language (Japanese, Chinese, English) delivering lessons in their respective languages throughout the day.
Enrichment & After School Programs include LEGO Engineering/Pre-Engineering, Songs, Games and Movements, MOCHA Art Class, and Soccer Shots. In-class enrichments and playground learning provide daily outdoor time with a variety of equipment, and elementary students participate in outdoor and garden activities as part of recess. Twice a week, enrichment classes cover physical education, gardening, art, and Yosakoi Japanese dance. Field trips and in-class presentations bring guests and experiences into classrooms, and year-round cultural events such as Setsubun celebrate China and Japan while broadening students' world awareness.
American International Montessori School (AIM) is a bilingual Montessori day school serving toddlers to elementary students on two Berkeley/Oakland–area campuses. Founded in 2009 by Ernest Mahr, AIM offers three Montessori programs: Infant Community (18–36 months), Children's House (3–6 years), and Elementary (1st–6th). Language immersion is embedded across all divisions, with toddler tracks in Japanese and Mandarin, and elementary bilingual options in English/Chinese or English/Japanese. Immersion is 100% in the target language for younger children, with English introduced in the afternoon for older students; elementary classrooms maintain all-day language immersion. Classrooms emphasize authentic Montessori materials and native-speaking teachers. Two campus sites host distinct language tracks, with Montessori-trained staff across every classroom. The campus features bright, natural-light rooms, child-sized furnishings, two large play yards, and abundant outdoor and garden activities. After-school enrichment includes sports, art, and dance—most notably Yosakoi Japanese dance—and annual cultural events like Setsubun, broadening students' world awareness and curiosity.
