Berean Christian High School

Extreme Right Wing Christian School! My teen has been a student at Berean for the past few years and this is my firsthand experience.
Berean Christian high school has been riddled with problems the past few years. First, the Lacross incident 4 years ago that caused horrible damage to a student at that time. Someone should have been arrested, but Berean covered it up in order to project a good image. Next, in 2014, the Berean High School Football Coach was charged with three felony counts of grand theft by false pretenses and three felony counts of second-​degree burglary. This year (2016), a coach was arrested for having sexual relations with several minors. Parents received little communication regarding their bad hiring choice and how this Berean employee slipped through the cracks. Last week, April 27^th, 2016 WCPD were on the schools campus for yet another Sex offense. This is public record on WCPD police blotters website. I happened to be there and the school would not communicate what had happened. I had to find out on my own through the WCPD public website.
Staff turnover is high and the school is in debt which makes it difficult for Berean to hire experienced teachers who will stay. This year, teachers left mid school year for better opportunities which negatively impact the students.
Berean «highlights» the student retreat they have in the first week of the school year. We went last year and came home with fleas and my teen was infested with bed bugs. It was disgusting.
The school has a right wing Christian philosophy and its practices are inconsistent among the student body. There is heavy judgement from Dr Noriega, the school principal and his staff if parents are remotely out of line with his philosophies.
Policy decisions are made sporadically and inconsistently. When we press Berean to address the «bullying» issues at the school, they simply bury their head in the sand and refuse to address or acknowledge there is a problem.
The school is in a nice neighborhood in Walnut Creek but the school itself is run down. They had communicated to parents years ago that there would be an extensive renovation and improvements would be made, none of this has happened. We later found out that the school’s debt made it impossible to make any improvements to the school.
Berean Christian also pushes most of the students to go to Christian colleges. They have «college» days but there has never been a big name university attend, only private and expensive out of state Christian colleges.
This schools tuition is the cheapest out of all of the surrounding area Christian schools. To sum it up, you get what you pay for and Berean comes up short. Highly recommend that you find another school where your teen wont be stifled.

My daughter has attended Berean Christian High School for the past four years. She will graduate next month. The school has been fantastic! The office staff is friendly and helpful, the teachers go above and beyond, the music and drama departments are out of this world, and the Christian atmosphere is great. Berean was the best choice we could have made for our daughter’s high school years. So grateful for the wonderful principal, Dr. Noriega, who leads from a godly heart. Definitely a five-​star school!

Berean’s biggest differentiator is, of course, the fact that they teach everything in the context of God wanting humans to knowledgeably manage the earth; public schools won’t even let faith be expressed even privately anymore. Every teacher mixes their love for God, kids, and their subject well so that the students learn a lot of things in the right worldview. Dr. Noriega and the teachers and staff also care about the students as young men and women growing up; they’re there to talk to about any problems you have or advice you need.
Now, of course no school is perfect. These are some cons. First, the tuition is expensive. I went there on a big pastor’s son discount as well as a scholarship from an outside organization; those in similar financial situations to mine probably wouldn’t be able to afford going there at all. Next, when I went there there weren’t that many AP classes. I think every year they add one or two, so there should be a lot more new AP classes now that I didn’t have. The other typical challenges for high schoolers are, I think, less severe at Berean than at other schools (these would be pressure to drink and have sex, bullying, racism). The last con is that most of the kids are rich and white; unsurprisingly, they (and their parents haha) form the biggest cliques in each grade.
I graduated from Berean and went to a top 15 college, and lots of my friends went to Berkeley and UCLA. Academically it prepared me quite well — as proof, I never did an all-​nighter in college since the Berean workload was already big.
Typically the people who say negative things about Berean are those with a problem with Christianity and its socially conservative values. If you can afford the tuition, sending your kids to Berean is a safe way to guide them in the Lord before they head off to college and are, for the first time in their lives, completely on their own «in the world.»
PS — every year there is a fantastic all school retreat to kick off the new year. Very fun and an easy way to make new friends, and it shows the school’s not just about academics but about building a relationship with God.
And everyone ignore Sarah G. She obviously hates Christian schools and spent a day googling every incident Berean ever had, and flat out lied about high turnover and debt. Almost all the teachers I had years ago are still there. If I were to google every incident a public school had, it’d be pages and pages. Unilocal removed her first review for being an impersonal angry rant, but she reposted the same review and for some reason this time Unilocal let it stay.

Overall, this was a great school for our daughter, who graduated from Berean. No, it’s not perfect. No school is perfect. But, on the whole, the environment they create at Berean that goes against the grain of public schools is very good. After going to a public high school, our daughter chose to transfer to Berean for the very reason that it is a Christian school. She had been in an environment where most of the students drank alcohol, did illegal drugs, were having sex and were very open about this behavior, and more than that, mocking of others who didn’t engage in the same behaviors. Even though she was very nonjudgmental of others, she knew very few students who chose a different path – to not be oversexualized at too early an age and to avoid drugs and alcohol. Most of the Berean students try to avoid these typical teenage behaviors without trying to seem «pious.» At this school, our daughter felt free to enjoy being a teenager without the typical pressures of sex and drugs (and the constant focus on sex and boys treating girls like objects).
Most of the teachers at Berean care deeply about their students. I was impressed by so many of the teachers who really loved our daughter. I could tell they wanted her to grow and develop into a critical thinker and a person of character, showing humility, love and kindness to others. Many of her teachers still stay in touch with her and I’m sure will be mentors to her throughout her life. Not all the teachers were this way, (and maybe Berean should look at weeding out the few bad apples), but the overwhelming majority were kind, respectful, caring, skilled at teaching, funny, interesting, humble, nonjudgmental, devoted (above and beyond), and truly loved teaching. Academically, Berean was more difficult than the public school our daughter previously had attended and she felt much more challenged. Again, Berean still has a little work to do with making the academics consistent across all teachers. Some teachers were unnecessarily hard and unfair, and some were a little scattered and disorganized, but overall, I felt our daughter was prepared for college when she graduated.
The other staff members at Berean are also very kind. It’s unusual to be around adults where the norm is to always show patience and treat others with respect – and not just with other adults, but students as well. When your child is surrounded by people who act not just with civility, but with genuine kindness toward others, they can’t help but incorporate this into their personality. Even though this isn’t an «academic skill,’ treating others with respect goes a long way in terms of getting into college, getting through college, getting a job, and building and maintaining healthy relationships with others. This long lost skill of respect, politeness, and being socially appropriate is critically missing from many youth today.
The community outreach impresses me about this school. The students are required to volunteer a certain number of hours every year by providing services to the community. Many of the residents who live near Berean have benefited from the community outreach Berean provides – yard clean up, house cleaning, babysitting, dog walking, students coaching younger kids’ sports teams, washing cars, etc.
I am a teacher myself and have worked in the public high schools in the area. The respect that I see from the Berean students toward others is impressive and it is a stark contrast to what I have seen from students at public high schools. People are quick to jump on Berean students for various issues, such as driving too quickly through the neighborhood. When we drove and picked up our daughter from school, I never saw a student speeding through the neighborhoods or driving erratically. However, I have noticed that some Northgate students drive through the neighborhood too quickly and at times dangerously. I suspect Berean students are being blamed for these drivers.
In terms of the students, our daughter came across more «mean students» at her former high school compared to Berean. But every student’s experience is unique. She graduated with a large group of friends – girls and boys – who she connected with deeply and felt accepted by. Her experience was very positive at Berean. While it’s not a perfect school (and no environment is perfect), it was much better than the environment she came from and much better than schools I have worked at (public schools).

Both of my children graduated from Berean and we were very happy with our experience there. Some see the school as over strict and there are always rules that we personally don’t agree with in any school or job. But, this I know, the teachers loved my kids and they felt very cared for. As mentioned in another review, there are rules about PDA (public display of affection). Most high schools have those rules, they just don’t expect them to be obeyed. I’ve heard many more students tell me that they are glad for that rule because it makes them uncomfortable when kids are over affectionate. Hey, i’m no prude and I’m certainly not against hand holding but school isn’t the best time, maybe. So, please check out Berean Christian, especially if you want your kids really loved by their teachers.

This school is great. My cousin went here and loved it. The teachers actually care about the students. They have summer class and AP classes. The students make friends quickly and just about evryone is very nice. Yes, it is a Christian school, and if you don’t believe in God or think that your students should be taught about Christianity, then just don’t send your kid there in the first place. They’re academics aren’t the best, but they certainty are up there. They have many sports and clubs and extracurricular activities. It is a great environment, and I really recommend sending your kid to this school.

As a Berean graduate who spent all 4 years at this school, I am qualified to tell you that this school is not a good place to send your kids.
The teachers are more concerned with outwardly appearing pious than actually educating or preparing students for college. They’re were a few good teachers when I was enrolled but all of them left the year I graduated.
The kids are just as mean and ruthless as any other school, they just know how to turn on their false charm as soon as a parent or teacher is within earshot.
I was bullied physically and had my car vandalized multiple times at this school, and the staff is uninterested in addressing these issues.
The Religious doctrine is the last thing anyone should force their child to swallow. It is up to each individual to decide whether or not to believe in a religion. It is counter productive to force children to believe in God, and punish them for asking critical questions or having doubts.
As a prerequisite, each student must submit a paper confessing his or her convictions and belief that Jesus is the one true God, and any deviation from this belief during your time at Berean results in being punished as a liar, as they hold true the belief that once a Christian you cannot lose your faith. This type of indoctrination is a fear based one commonly used in places like N. Korea.
Also kids who attend this school will be far from socially trained to deal with the real world, where many people do not believe Jesus is the answer to every question.
They also don’t do school dances because believe it or not, they say outloud that it leads to pregnancy. Since when does dancing always lead to sex? Let alone unprotected sex?
Dancing is a fun way to safely explore romance and sexual desire in the presence of your peers, and with adult supervision. Yes unprotected sex is a poor choice for young adults, and many of you foolishly believe protected sex is either unsafe or immoral outside of marriage, but even if you do believe these things, it has been proven many times that abstinence is an ineffective method for preventing the expression of hormones.
The best defense against poor choices, is a framework of a possible future that could not happen if a baby were to come into play. For example, a parent who is very involved in helping their child set up a future full of success, and a career path that they will enjoy, and then drop in, you know if you get a girl pregnant or you become pregnant, these goals just won’t be nearly as possible, but if you ever do don’t be afraid to come talk to me. etc.
They also do not allow pda (public display of affection) at the campus. This includes hugging, kissing, and holding hands. So tell me how this is not going to interfere with social development?
Trying to ignore the hormonal processes going on within your child, and shield him or her from his or her own body and the world and peers around them is not going to be helpful. In the then they will seek out these things outside the realm of your influence, and will eventually associate the pleasure of sexual desire and romanticism with disobedience and secrecy.
Also the school wastes much of it’s time on biblical classes that simply pour over every detail out of context and without any historical or empirical emphasis. The bible is taught in the context that each portion is meant literally, rather than focusing on the writer, reader, context, time scale, etc. So when the passages read hateful scripture towards gays, acceptance of slaves, and horendously violent punishments for arbitrary ‘sins’, the pious teachers simply state that these things are just, and that the only way around it now is because Jesus paid for our sins. Which is teaching the kids that they do deserve to be stoned to death if they disobey their parents, and should ridicule homosexuals as sinners, and to thank their lucky stars Jesus paid it all for them.
This is flat out wrong, and more fear mongering to promote christian indoctrination. Thankfully most of the kids in my class that I still keep in touch with have come to realize how pathetic Berean was, and how wrong the school was. Even the few who are still christian recognize that the messages taught here were far from what Jesus ever intended, but most of us are just so turned off by our experience that we just chose to become agnostic, Buddhist, or atheist.
Many kids were expelled for simple infractions like listening to linkin park on their headphones on the bus, getting pregnant but still wanting to follow christ, generating too many demerits for small things like being late to class, or for just being black.
Seriously, don’t send your kids here, it’s a very poor choice, and it will reflect on your kids, and on yourself as a parent.

Great school with great staff!