Dear parents,

BAKS+ is a full-immersion German-language program for children between the ages of 5 and 15 years, grade levels K-10. Our mission is to cultivate German language development in literacy and oral communication skills. Most of our children come from homes in which one family member speaks German.

BAKS+ was founded in 1999 for a group of graduates from Kinderstube's preschool program (BAKS). Parents were hoping to keep the German language skills acquired during the preschool years alive. Additionally they wished for their children to become fluent in reading and writing German as well.

Today we have grown into a program with over 60 students enrolled in our eight classes. The school is officially recognized as a German-language school through the German government, hence our official name changed to:

Deutsche Sprachschule Berkeley (DSS Berkeley)

But since the name BAKS+ is so engrained in the community we decided to keep both names.

Many of our BAKS+ students are graduates from our preschool program, but we are open to all students. However, students entering any class of BAKS+ are expected to understand and speak German on an age appropriate level since our classes are held exclusively in German.

Most of our older students participate with great success in annual German exams and essay contests. Besides the teaching of reading and writing it is very important to us to provide a German-speaking environment to our students, where they can develop friendships, and experience German culture and traditions.

Our curriculum is enriched by arts, crafts, music, and games as well as many extracurricular events and celebrations. Our younger students are invited to join the annual celebration of Laternenfest in Kinderstube (BAKS). We also celebrate many Advents- and Christmas traditions, Karneval, Easter and other traditional German holidays.

We are looking forward to meeting you and your child!
With warm regards,

Heike Feltes and Sylvia Klein
Directors of BAKS+