For two weeks before spring break, the school suspends regular classes and conducts Special Programs. Students divide into small groups led by staff members, each pursuing its own activity. One group may go snowboarding while another group paints murals in our halls or builds kites to fly at the Berkeley Marina. Other popular programs have included film-making, sewing, and drama. Over the years, we have also traveled all over the world, visiting such places as Baja California, China, Cuba, Costa Rica, Egypt, France, Greece, Vienna, and Vietnam.

Special Programs allow students to explore areas of interest in depth and outside of the structure of our usual academic schedule. They also foster a sense of community among students, who spend an extended period of time together pursuing a common goal. Our travel programs expose students first-hand to other cultures.

Special Programs are a required part of our curriculum. They are worth 5 units and are graded P/NP. A catalog of program descriptions is published before the winter break. In the interest of fairness, we use a lottery system to place students in programs of their choice.

Expenses for special programs are in addition to tuition. Because we want all students to have the opportunity to travel, we offer financial aid for travel Special Programs in the form of Jeremy Harrison Scholarships. These scholarships, which are endowed by the family of a former student in his memory, are available to students in their third or fourth year at Maybeck who are on reduced tuition and have not participated in a travel program.

Special Programs - 2008

This year's program dates are March 24 - April 4. Our selection of programs includes:

Descriptions of this year's programs are coming soon.

Click these links to see complete descriptions of previous years' programs: 2006 2007