User:Azakeri/Berkeley Hall School

Berkeley Hall School (BHS) is a coed independent school for grades Nursery through 8th located on 66 acres off Mulholland Drive near the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles, California. Berkeley Hall School is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC).

History and background
Berkeley Hall was founded in 1911 by educators Leila and Mabel Cooper. Leila Cooper was a popular teacher at the Westlake School for Girls before leaving to open her own school at the urging of Westlake parents.

Berkeley Hall School was the first coed independent elementary school in Los Angeles. The other existing private schools were single sex. They were The Harvard School for Boys, Westlake School for Girls Harvard-Westlake, and Marlbrough School for Girls.

Berkeley Hall was named after Berkeley Square where the first campus was located in what is now the historic West Adams district. The area was marked by tree-lined, upper-class neighborhoods, linked to downtown by electric streetcars.

In 1913, the school moved to a larger facility on 4th Avenue in the same district. Ten years later, a committee of parents and friends began searching for a new location that could accommodate an expanding enrollment. The committee secured money from 20 families to purchase a 70-acre farm known as the Rodeo Land and Water Co. in the village of Beverly Hills. 77 acres were purchased that included lots on Wilshire Blvd to the north to Burton Way and from Doheny to Clark Drive. Parents began subdividing & selling the lots and saved 10 acres for the school.

In 1925, Berkeley Hall School moved to its Swall Drive campus in Beverly Hills where it remained for 51 years.

In 1976, the school purchased its current 66-acre campus on Mulholland Drive. In the fall of 1980, Berkeley Hall School opened its doors to serve both the westside of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.

Administration
The Head of School since 2011 is Dr. Lisle Staley. Dr Staley has a Master's and Ph.D. in learning and Instruction from UCLA. She developed and tested assessments at UCLA's Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing. She also was Director of Research and Evaluation for the Santa Barbara Public School District prior to joining Berkeley Hall, Dr Staley was VP of Design and Development for Pearson Achievements Solutions, an education company focused on the development and implementation of large-scale solutions for school districts and teacher professional development programs across the U.S.