Mentoring Academy, Berkeley | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

2019 Edit: Unfortunately, this school lost several of it’s instructors in 2017 and 2018 and I can no longer recommend it as an alternative place of education. It got so bad that we transferred our son to another school, even though it was his senior year. Look long and close if you’re considering this school. End of 2019 edit.
Mentoring Academy has been a blessing for my son. He’s a young man who is very bright but learns differently than most. Because he is ‘outside of the box’, the traditional method used by most schools (especially public) caused him to fall behind. Fortunately my wife, after an exhaustive search, found The Mentoring Academy. From the Headmaster, John Muster, to all of the Mentors (they are not just teachers), this High School has allowed my son to learn in a way that suits his unique needs. Most importantly, the low ratio of ‘mentors’ to students helps to insure each student gets the individualized attention they require. I would recommend this school to any parent who has a student struggling to learn via a traditional approach. It may not be for everyone but it is certainly worth exploring (try a ‘shadow day’ for your child and have them help you decide). As an amazing added bonus, the school takes a yearly field trip (the last two years trips have been to Costa Rica and Poland), which provides a unique opportunity to learn from a more worldly perspective outside of the classroom.

Mentoring Academy was definitely an important factor in the transformation that resulted in our son graduating from high school and receiving a generous merit scholarship to a great university.

Prior to entering Mentoring Academy our son was enrolled in a “good” public school. However, he found the public school instructors and curriculum uninspiring and this lead to a significant “failure to thrive.” Our son’s unhappiness with school resulted in him totally abandoning his previous joy of learning and we became concerned he would never graduate from high school. We began desperately searching for an alternative that would reignite our son’s academic potential and passion.

We met John Muster during a school tour for prospective students. After John spoke with our son for less than 20 minutes our son turned to us and said ”I could go to school here.” It would be disingenuous to say our son loved Mentoring Academy all the time, but I can honestly say that the individual attention and high quality of instruction reignited our son’s academic passion to the point that when he graduated he was transformed into someone we are confident will thrive in college and beyond. The transformation was miraculous and Mentoring Academy played a very important role in that journey.