Bus Service

Athenian students come from all over the Bay Area. As a school that values environmentalism, we encourage our families in adjacent neighborhoods to bike or walk to school. For those who live further away, carpooling and the school bus are great options.

Four of our bus pickup locations are at BART stations (Oakland, Orinda, Pleasanton and Lafayette), allowing students to use BART to get to our buses from other parts of the East Bay. View our transport schedule.

School Lunch

Athenian’s dining services encourage healthy and sustainable food choices. Our kitchen is run by Epicurean Group, a values-based company that operates on the principles of quality, integrity, and sustainability. Our lunches include a daily hot entrée, salad bar, deli bar, and soup station. There is also a breakfast option for students who arrive early to school.

Athenian partners with Epicurean Group to offer delicious, healthy options, including:

• Fresh, organic, and non-GMO foods.
• Natural ingredients prepared from scratch.
• Low-sodium, low-sugar, and low-fat choices.
• Local produce, dairy, and eggs when available.
• Antibiotic-free poultry and beef; cage-free chicken eggs and hormone-free dairy products.
• Fresh seafood purchased according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch guidelines for sustainability.

We value Epicurean’s eco-friendly waste reduction program, commitment to diversity, and safe work environment with ServSafe-certified staff.

Sports Teams

There is no better way to build social bonds and foster communication and teamwork than actually playing on a team.

At Athenian, we develop student-athletes who are positive role models with a strong sense of fair play and commitment to their school, team, and coaches. In addition to sports-specific skills, students develop discipline and confidence. The athletic program is an integral part of the education program at Athenian and more than 85 percent of Upper School students participate in at least one sport and many are two or three sport athletes. We are league champions and scholar athletes. Most of all we are a team.

The Athenian Middle School competes with other schools in interscholastic athletics in a number of sports, including: Ultimate Frisbee, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and flag football. Practices take place during the school day’s elective period. Games occur after school with transportation to and from events provided by Athenian buses or vans.

Athenian Upper School students compete with approximately 30 similar-sized schools in the North Coast Section (NCS). Athenian teams are consistently invited to the NCS end-of-season tournaments, placing in the top half of our division. In recent years, Athenian's athletic success has brought home numerous league championships as well as a state championship. We are consistently one of the stronger athletic programs in the NCS Division 5. Our success has afforded many of our student-athletes the opportunity to continue playing at the collegiate level.

All teams are Upper School unless Middle School is in the name. Most Upper School sports have a JV and Varsity team, and a few also have Fresh/Soph teams.

Fall:

• Cross Country (Men's, Women's and Co-Ed)
• Soccer (Men's and Co-Ed Middle School)
• Flag Footbal (Co-Ed Middle School)
• Pickleball (Co-Ed Middle School)
• Tennis (Women's)
• Volleyball (Women's)

Winter:

• Basketball (Men's, Women's and Middle School Boy's and Girl's)
• Soccer (Women's)
• Wrestling (Co-Ed)

Spring:

• Badminton (Men's, Women's)
• Baseball (Men's)
• Golf (Men's, Women's)
• Swimming (Men's, Women's)
• Tennis (Men's)
• Track & Field (Men's, Women's)
• Ultimate Frisbee (Co-Ed Middle School)
• Volleyball (Co-Ed Middle School)
• Lacrosse (Women's)

Extracurricular Activities

Affinity Groups

Clubs

University Destinations

In the past four years, (2023-2026), Athenian graduates have most often entered the following colleges and universities:

• Barnard College (3)
• Boston University (12)
• Chapman University (4)
• Cornell University (4)
• Dartmouth College (3)
• Diablo Valley College (3)
• Emory University (5)
• Georgetown University (3)
• Lehigh University (4)
• Loyola Marymount University (3)
• New York University (10)
• Northeastern University (10)
• Northwestern University (4)
• Occidental College (12)
• Pitzer College (2)
• Purdue University (9)
• Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (3)
• San Diego State University (5)
• Santa Clara University (12)
• Scripps College (3)
• St. Mary’s College CA (3)
• Tulane University (5)
• University of California, Berkeley (13)
• University of California, Davis (10)
• University of California, Irvine (8)
• University of California, Los Angeles (4)
• University of California, Riverside (5)
• University of California, San Diego (3)
• University of California, Santa Cruz (6)
• University of Colorado, Boulder (3)
• University of Miami (FL) (3)
• University of Michigan (5)
• University of Pennsylvania (4)
• University of Southern California (11)
• University of Washington (6)
• University of Wisconsin (4)
• Washington University, St. Louis (11)
• Yale University (3)

2 each to:

• California State University, Chico (2)
• California State University, Long Beach (2)
• Case Western Reserve University (2)
• George Washington University (2)
• Harvey Mudd College (2)
• Haverford College (2)
• Indiana University (2)
• Las Positas College (2)
• Lewis and Clark College (2)
• Ohio State University (2)
• Oregon State University (2)
• Pitzer College (2)
• Pomona College (2)
• Rice University (2)
• San Jose State University (2)
• Skidmore College (2)
• Smith College (2)
• Southern Methodist University (2)
• Swarthmore College (2)
• Tufts University (2)
• University of California, Santa Barbara (2)
• University of Chicago (2)
• University of Edinburgh (UK) (2)
• University of Hawaii, Manoa (2)
• University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (2)
• University of Oregon (2)
• University of Rochester (2)
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute (2)

1 each to:

• American University (1)
• Amherst College (1)
• Arizona State University (1)
• Art Center College of Design (1)
• Babson College (1)
• Bentley College (1)
• Berkeley City College (1)
• Boston College (1)
• Bowdoin College (1)
• Brandeis College (1)
• Brigham Young University (1)
• Brown University (1)
• Bryn Mawr College (1)
• Bucknell University (1)
• California Polytechnic Institute at SLO (1)
• California State University, Monterey Bay (1)
• Carleton College (1)
• Chabot College (1)
• Claremont McKenna College (1)
• Colorado School of Mines (1)
• Columbia University (1)
• Constructor University (Germany) (1)
• Cuesta College (1)
• Dickinson College (1)
• Elon University (1)
• Emerson College (1)
• Emory University - Oxford College (1)
• Endicott College (1)
• Hamilton College (1)
• Hofstra University (1)
• Johns Hopkins University (1)
• Kenyon College (1)
• Lafayette College (1)
• Lawrence University (1)
• Marist University (1)
• Merritt College (1)
• Middlebury College (1)
• Milwaukee School of Engineering (1)
• Morehouse College (1)
• New Jersey Institute of Technology (1)
• Northern Arizona University (1)
• Oberlin College (1)
• Otis College of Art & Design (1)
• Pepperdine University (1)
• Princeton University (1)
• Quinnipiac University (1)
• Reed College (1)
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1)
• Rhode Island School of Design (1)
• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (1)
• Seattle University (1)
• Sophia University (Japan) (1)
• Stanford University (1)
• Steven’s Institute of Technology (1)
• Syracuse University (1)
• Texas A&M (1)
• The New School (1)
• The University of British Columbia (CAN) (1)
• The University of Texas at Austin (1)
• Trinity College (1)
• University of Arizona (1)
• University of Connecticut (1)
• University of Denver (1)
• University of Maryland (1)
• University of Puget Sound (1)
• University of Redlands (1)
• University of San Francisco (1)
• University of the Pacific (1)
• Vassar College (1)
• Virginia Tech (1)
• Washington & Lee University (1)
• Wellesley College (1)
• Wentworth Institute of Technology (1)
• Wesleyan University (1)
• Williams College (1)

University Counseling

When college prep schools boast about their students getting into prestigious colleges, the story often ends there. Athenian believes in preparing students for life, not just college. To this end, we strive to make the college search and application process into a time for reflection.

Our three full-time college counselors work collaboratively with parents, teachers and advisors to ensure that the student remains the focus. We recognize that in the current climate, college admissions can be extremely anxiety-producing, but it can also be a wonderful experience of self-discovery. We strive to facilitate the college admissions process in a way that allows students to explore their college options with an open mind and enroll at a school where they will find their place and thrive.

We offer a comprehensive college counseling program devoted to developing in our students the confidence and skills required to meet the complexities of their futures. The Athenian college counseling team offers a program that promotes self-exploration, goal-setting and portfolio building. With a 30:1 student to counselor ratio, Athenian students begin working with a counselor in the spring semester of their 10th grade year.

In an ever-changing college admission environment, we are here to stay up on the latest trends and offer sound guidance to our students, including bringing colleges to our campus to share the incredible breadth of options available (We host more than 100 college admission officers on our campus every year).

We hope the information here helps answer questions you might have whether you are considering attending Athenian or preparing to start the college process.