Our Story

 The East Bay School for Boys started with girls.

Parents and educators at Julia Morgan School for Girls in Oakland saw girls growing, stretching, learning, and going home with smiles on their faces about school—and knew that boys deserved the same.

They also knew that preparing confident girls meant that we needed to prepare confident boys. This could only be done by envisioning a space for boys to be vulnerable, make mistakes, and grow their self-reliance and self-advocacy.

Conversations around coffee tables in living rooms about educating boys grew into monthly committee meetings, which then grew into a facilitated envisioning session in the spring of 2009. This session documented the community’s thoughts on what a dream school for boys might look like. Many of the guiding visions and principles documented on this website arose from this envisioning session.

From the clarity of the envisioning session, the school was born. Steering committee members became board members who wrote a business plan, filed for incorporation and 501(c)(3) status, and gathered our first class of sixth graders. We had clarity of vision and an appetite for hard work on our side—and now, a community that had faith.

By the fall of 2010 we were able to hang a small sign at 1798 Scenic Avenue in Berkeley and welcome four staff members and eighteen boys to the very first day of school at EBSB, the first step toward educating the engaged, thoughtful, and courageous men of tomorrow.

Now we have moved to a larger home that welcomes all with a beautiful sign, wood-burned by an EBSB alumnus; our adult community has grown to 20 faculty and staff and 16 board members, whom you can meet below; we serve 100 lively 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys; and we have developed a uniquely innovative program, rich with opportunities for all kinds of boys to become all kinds of great men.