Elementary students on our Piedmont campus worked together to write a classroom agreement. They based it on the core value of the school: respect, respect of others, of oneself, and of the environment. The dictionary proved very helpful in writing the agreement and there was a lot of great discussion. Here are the values and virtues they chose;
Tolerance, teamwork, thankfulness, try, truth, trust
Respect, responsibility, reaction, rules
Intelligence, individual, improving, independence
Self-motivation, safety, self-control, self-independence

The classroom agreement was also a group effort. Here is what the students wrote:
We are proud to announce that The Renaissance International school has won several Best of Parents' Press 2015 Awards for schools in Alameda County California.

Our “Best” awards:
The Renaissance International School is growing! We have added a second campus location at 5201 Park Boulevard in Piedmont to house first grade through middle school.
The site, which was previously occupied by Zion Lutheran School, is being leased by TRIS. It provides the school with approximately 10,000 square feet of classroom and administration space.
“The Piedmont site is a great asset to our school, and meets the needs of our growing student body,” says Leslie Hites, TRIS’s founder and head of school. “It provides the space to expand all our class levels from preschool through middle school.”
Since its founding in 1992, TRIS has been located at 3650 Dimond Avenue in Oakland. It will maintain that campus for pre-primary and primary levels, administration offices, and possibly an infant program in the future.
TRIS’s course of study encompasses the full substance of the traditional curriculum, and goes beyond to teach students how to think clearly, do their own research, express themselves well in writing and speech, and put their knowledge to practical application. The school has excellent music, fine arts, and English/French/Spanish language immersion programs.
Central to TRIS’s philosophy is to provide students with an international center of learning and culture that is open and supportive where students develop and achieve their highest potential.
ABOUT THE RENAISSANCE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
The Renaissance International School is a Montessori school in Oakland, California for children ages two years old through middle school. In 2015, the school won Parents’ Press “Best of” awards in the following categories: Best Bilingual Preschool; Best Montessori Preschool; Best Independent Preschool; Best Montessori Elementary School; and Best Bilingual Middle School.
Students from Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro, Alameda, and other San Francisco Bay Area cities attend The Renaissance International School, with campuses in Oakland’s Dimond District and Piedmont.
Graduates of The Renaissance International School attend top San Francisco Bay Area public and private schools including Head Royce, The College Preparatory School, Bishop O'Dowd, Bentley School, Lick-Wilmerding, and Oakland Tech.
For information, call 510-531-8566.
When the sad events related to the earthquake in Nepal were presented to our Montessori middle school and elementary level students, they asked how they could help. The students wanted to contribute in a direct way by involving themselves in the fundraising process. They all agreed that help needs to occur as soon as possible and here are some of the ideas they came up with:
Read-a-thon- Donations would be based on the number of pages/chapters read. The students decided to look for supporters amongst their families, and neighbors.
Bake Sale: Students volunteered to bake pies, cakes, and cookies. The first bake sale was held on May 12 and was very successful. The entire event was coordinated by the middle school students. They coordinated with the retail location, Oaklandish, to hold the sale outside the store, they recruited volunteers to bake (providing them with recipes), and work at the booth (under adult supervision).
In addition, students researched which organizations they would donate to with the goal of finding groups in which the funds would go directly to victims.
On Tuesday, May 19, students will hold a second bake sale fundraiser for earthquake victims. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Oaklandish location on Fruitvale in Oakland. We hope you will stop by to lend your support.
Last weekend's Earth Day festivities at The Renaissance International School (TRIS) included planting native and drought-tolerant plants around the school grounds. The TRIS community dug, mulched, released ladybugs and set up a caterpillar/butterfly nursery! As they worked parents and teachers provided children with information about the plants.


Earth Day awareness was also present in our classes. Our middle school students presented information to students in lower levels (from preschoolers up to elementary age students) about the current drought in California, and provided recommendations on how to conserve water. These included:taking short showers instead of a bath; turning of the tap when brushing teeth and washing hands; eating leftovers; choosing foods that don't require a lot of water to produce; and turning off lights when not using them.

The middle school students also encouraged everyone to continue to drink water, explaining that there is still enough for drinking, and we all need water to stay healthy.
Our Lower Elementary I class had this to say about the presentation from the middle school students:
"Do you know how many gallons of water it takes to produce one almond? Or how many gallons it takes to make a pair of jeans? In observance of Earth day, the Junior High students came to speak about how much water we consume, and ways we can reduce our water intake. This is especially relevant to us, as California is experiencing a drought."
