Our Mission

Maybeck, established in 1972, is a vibrant community dedicated to learning, where all forms of diversity can flourish amid mutual support, respect, and responsibility. Through our small classes, high expectations, academic excellence, and programs outside the school, students prepare for college and acquire the tools to engage actively and creatively in the wider world.

Our Philosophy

A Vibrant Community
Our small classes foster close relationships between students and the faculty; student-teacher dialogue frequently extends outside of the classroom. Students forge life-long friendships with each other as well as with faculty members.

A Tradition Of Diversity
Maybeck welcomes students and staff of all backgrounds and provides a safe, supportive environment where they can explore their self-expression and be themselves. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment in any form.

Mutual Support
Our seminar-style classes encourage students to be fully present in the classroom. All students have a contact teacher whom they can consult about any issue, and our counselor works closely with students up to and throughout the college application process.

Academic Excellence
At Maybeck, we hold high expectations and we expect our students to be responsible and personally invested in their education. Maybeck graduates are accepted by and attend a wide range of universities, colleges, and professional schools. Our advanced academic electives resemble college seminars, and graduates regularly tell us how well Maybeck prepared them for college. 

Experiential Education
We believe that students learn best when they get out of the classroom, understand the practical implications of what they are learning, and see themselves as a part of a community.

We begin and end each year with a whole-school retreat that encourages students to work as a community and spend time together by rivers, on hikes and under the stars. Students participate in workshops ranging from philosophy to forestry management and hear from guest speakers on a variety of subjects.

We reserve two weeks each spring for Special Programs, during which students intensely pursue a specialized activity. Local programs have included bicycling, mural and oil painting, desert wild flowers, kite-making, and photography. Travel programs have taken students to China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Egypt, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Vietnam. We hold sports days and film festivals, sponsor student plays, host an annual Film and Arts Night, and take trips to local theatrical productions.

Active Engagement
Each student completes a community social action research and implementation project. Our graduates have founded local companies, become faculty members at Columbia and UC Berkeley, and reported from the front lines in Iraq. Maybeck’s focus on the larger world encourages all students to begin an educational journey that will last a lifetime.