College Admissions 2026-27 Profile Richard Lapidus Interim Head of School Courtney Duke Interim Head of Upper School Grace Leslie-Waksman Upper School Dean of Academics
Tania Castro Bradt Director of College Counseling tcbradt@headroyce.org (510) 531-1300 x 2476 Celso Cárdenas Associate Director of College Counseling ccardenas@headroyce.org (510) 531-1300 x 2325 Hayley Shapland Associate Director of College Counseling hshapland@headroyce.org (510) 531-1300 x 2519 Kor Shin Associate Director of College Counseling kshin@headroyce.org (510) 531-1300 x 2508
Head-Royce is an independent college preparatory day school with co-educational classes from kindergarten through 12th grade. Founded in 1887 in Berkeley, California as the Anna Head School for Girls, it relocated in 1964 and now occupies a 22-acre campus in a residential area of Oakland.
441
4315 Lincoln Avenue Oakland, CA 94602 phone (510) 531-1300 fax (510) 482-7351 CEEB code: 050285
65%
students of color in our community
of graduates attend out-of-state institutions
$8m
19
72%
tuition assistance awarded
years average Upper School faculty teaching experience
of Upper School faculty hold advanced degrees
45
100
37
Sally Treanor College Writing Specialist streanor@headroyce.org (510) 531-1300 x 2325 Brittany Pruim Upper School Registrar and College Counseling Associate bpruim@headroyce.org (510) 531-1300 x 2325
72%
students in the Upper School
league championships in 5 years
athletics teams and extracurricular clubs
D1/D3 athletes in the past 5 years
Our Academic Program A CL
SS OF 202
97
7
Students in the Class
4.67
Head-Royce’s Upper School, nestled in the Oakland hills in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a highly rigorous, college-preparatory school. Our curriculum provides depth and breadth across the academic disciplines with a focus on critical analysis, independent inquiry, and real-world application. We offer 65 Honors and Advanced courses across academic areas, with robust electives in the Humanities, Robotics, Engineering, Debate, and the Visual and Performing Arts, among others. The Upper School curriculum is grounded in discovery and experiential learning. Through our 9–12 Humanities Core, students progress through an inquiry-driven, interdisciplinary program that explores essential questions of identity within the context of their local, domestic, and global communities and experiences. Through upper level seminar courses, students choose a subject area to explore in depth. Our curriculum reflects the diversity, globalism, and innovation of the Bay Area, and it’s built to develop students of character, intellect, and creativity.
High GPA
65
Honors Courses
Program Highlights Head-Royce fosters a learning environment where students are active participants in, and co-creators of, their own education.
1340–1530
The Collaboratory: More than a makerspace, the Collaboratory is Head-Royce’s emerging ethos and practice for imagining, designing, making, and rehearsing a better world together. Students and educators work across 5,000 years of technology—from blacksmithing, welding, and woodworking to laser cutting, 3D printing, and ethical AI—to bring ideas into the tangible world with care and consequence. Utilizing futures thinking, Liberatory Design, systems stewardship, and interdisciplinary inquiry, students learn to examine assumptions, ask better questions, and prototype responses to complex challenges.
30–35
The Center for Community Engagement (CCE): The CCE connects students with hands-on civic engagement opportunities, including internships and summer programs. By cultivating authentic partnerships with organizations driving social change, it helps students find areas of interest and build real leadership skills.
SAT Middle 50% Composite Score
ACT Middle 50% Composite Score
17
National Merit Finalists (Past three years)
13
National Merit Semi-Finalists (Past three years)
Capstone Experiences: All seniors design a month-long legacy project to apply the skills they have developed at Head-Royce in a real-world context. Projects take place over the course of three weeks in the spring and culminate in a presentation to the community. Additionally, all seniors take on a role in the senior play, an annual reimagining of a Shakespeare classic. Computer Science and Engineering: A rigorous and expansive four-year curriculum emphasizes both foundational knowledge and advanced, college-level exploration. Courses offer an interdisciplinary introduction to computer science, engineering, and robotics, building skills in programming, problem-solving, and design. As coursework advances, students can study objectoriented programming and data structures, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and software development. Experiential Education: Students participate in a number of off-campus experiences, including Fall Out, an annual outdoor overnight experience with their grade-level peers, and Intersession, a twoday immersive program where students choose a course inspired by the passions and expertise of our talented faculty. Our Global Studies Program facilitates robust study-travel experiences for students around the world, such as Germany, Ghana, Korea, and Spain. Speech and Debate: Students build a strong foundation in critical thinking, nuanced argumentation, and extemporaneous speaking. They have the opportunity to compete at state and national levels, including at the Tournament of Champions, across three tracks: Parli, Student Congress, and Independent Events.
Head-Royce College Admissions (2022–26)
The following is a partial list of colleges and universities that have offered admission to graduates of Head-Royce, followed by the number of students enrolling in those colleges over the past five years. Members of the Class of 2026 will attend the colleges in bold type. American University (2)
Johns Hopkins University (3)
University of California, Davis (5)
Amherst College (2)
Lehigh University (2)
University of California, Irvine (2)
Barnard College (5)
Lewis & Clark College (2)
University of California, Los Angeles (18)
Boston College (2)
Loyola Marymount University (5)
University of California, San Diego (6)
Boston University (7)
Middlebury College (4)
University of California, Santa Barbara (3)
Bowdoin College (2)
New York University (17)
University of California, Santa Cruz (5)
Brandeis University (1)
Northeastern University (13)
University of Chicago (14)
Brown University (9)
Northwestern University (10)
University of Colorado, Boulder (4)
Bryn Mawr College (1)
Occidental College (8)
University of Denver (1)
Cal Poly, Pomona (3)
Pitzer College (5)
The University of Edinburgh (1)
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (5)
Pomona College (5)
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2)
Carleton College (4)
Princeton University (2)
University of Miami (2)
Case Western Reserve University (3)
Purdue University (4)
University of Michigan (9)
Chapman University (3)
Reed College (1)
University of Oregon (1)
Claremont McKenna College (8)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1)
University of the Pacific (1)
Colby College (3)
Rhode Island School of Design (1)
University of Pennsylvania (11)
Colgate University (8)
Rice University (5)
University of Pittsburgh (1)
Colorado College (4)
Rider University (1)
University of Redlands (1)
Columbia University (5)
Saint Mary’s College of California (1)
University of Richmond (1)
Cornell University (8)
San Diego State University (2)
University of Southern California (18)
Dartmouth College (6)
Santa Clara University (7)
University of St Andrews (5)
Drexel University (1)
Scripps College (1)
University of Utah (1)
Duke Kunshan University (1)
Skidmore College (1)
University of Virginia (6)
Duke University (1)
Smith College (2)
University of Washington, Seattle (12)
Emory University (3)
Southern Methodist University (3)
University of Wisconsin, Madison (4)
Emory University at Oxford (1)
Stanford University (9)
Vanderbilt University (4)
Fordham University (1)
Swarthmore College (2)
Vassar College (6)
Franklin & Marshall College (1)
Syracuse University (2)
Villanova University (1)
George Washington University (2)
Texas Christian University (1)
Wake Forest University (2)
Georgetown University (1)
Trinity College Dublin (1)
Washington University in St. Louis (12)
Grinnell College (1)
Tufts University (14)
Wellesley College (2)
Harvard University (1)
Tulane University (9)
Wesleyan University (9)
Harvey Mudd College (3)
United States Military Academy at West Point (1)
Whitman College (1)
Haverford College (3) High Point University (1) Hofstra University (1) Howard University (6)
United States Naval Academy (2) University of British Columbia (2) University of California, Berkeley (22)
Willamette University (1) Williams College (4) Yale University (3)
Course Offerings 2026–27 Subject Requirements
Required Courses Grades 9-11
Upper Division Courses
English Four years required
English 9 English 10 English 11 (H)
Seminars + Asian American Literature (H) British Romanticism (H) Detective and Crime Fiction (H) Literature and Jazz (H) Lyric Poetry (H) Postcolonial Literature, Thought, and Theory (H)
Postmodern Literature: Hybrid Genres (H) Queer Lit (H) Short Stories (H) The 1950s: Conformity and Rebellion (H) The Great American Novel (H) Wit Lit – The Art of Satire (H)
History Three years required
History 9 History 10 (H) History 11 (H)
Seminars + Civil Society and American Democracy (H) Economics (H) Global Indigenous Studies (H) History of Repair and Reconciliation (H) History of the Holocaust (H)
Oakland Through Many Lenses (H) Psychology (H) Revolutions (H) The Civil Rights Movement (H) Women in Modern America (H)
Science Three years required
Physics 9 Chemistry (H) Biology Biology (H)
Advanced Chemistry (H)* Anatomy and Physiology* Astronomy* Environmental Science (H) Neurobiology (H)* Planetary Science
Mathematics Three years required
Geometry Geometry (H) Algebra 2 Algebra 2 (H) Precalculus Precalculus (H)
Calculus Calculus (H) Data Science (H)* Finance* Multivariable Calculus (H) Linear Algebra (H)
Physics (H) Principles of Engineering (H) Principles of Engineering 2 – Civil and Environmental (H)* Principles of Engineering 2 – Mechanics and Machines (H)* Principles of Organic Chemistry*
World Languages World Languages Three years required; Students must complete Level 3 of one language
French 2 French 3 French 4 (H) French Language and Culture (H) French Literature and Cinema A (H) French Literature and Cinema B (H)
Latin 1 Latin 2 Latin 3 Latin 4/5 (H) Latin Seminar A (H) Latin Seminar B (H)
Arts Electives
Mandarin 2 Mandarin 3 Mandarin 4 (H) Mandarin 5 (H) Mandarin: Language and Culture (H) Mandarin: Literature and Cinema A (H) Mandarin: Literature and Cinema B (H)
Spanish 1 Spanish 2 Spanish 3 Spanish 4 (H) Spanish 5 (H) Spanish Electronic Music Production Spanish Language and Culture (H) Spanish Seminar A (H) Spanish Seminar B (H)
Other Electives
Introductory Courses
Advanced Courses One year of Advanced Art required
2D Art
Advanced 2D Art Studio Art Portfolio (H)
3D Art – Beginning Ceramics
Advanced 3D Art – Ceramics
Dance 1
Dance 2 Dance 3 Dance Production (H) Chorus Colla Voce
Drama 1 Theater Production
Drama 2 Drama 3 Drama 4 (H)
Intro to Graphic Design
Advanced Graphic Design Advanced Graphic Design - Yearbook
Computer Science
CS 1: Intro to CS, Engineering, and Robotics CS 2: Principles and Practices of CS (H) CS 3: Data Structures (H) CS 4: Intro to AI and Machine Learning (H)* CS 4: Cybersecurity and Ethical Hacking (H)*
Humanities
Expository Writing Speech / Debate 1 Speech / Debate 2
Global Online Academy (GOA)
Head-Royce is a founding member of GOA, a consortium of leading independent schools from around the world whose mission is to translate into online classrooms the intellectually rigorous programs and excellent teaching that are hallmarks of its member schools.
Legend
Jazz Band 1 Jazz Band 2
(H)
Honors, which is a rigorous, college-level curriculum
Orchestra
+
Photography 1
Photography 2 Photography 3 Photography Portfolio (H)
All English and History Senior Seminars are semester-long courses
*
Semester-long senior elective
Technical Theater 1
Technical Theater 2
Grading System and GPA Equivalents (an additional point is added to the GPA for each Honors course) A
93–100
4.0
B+
87–89
3.3
B-
80–82
2.7
C
73–76
2.0
D+
67–69
1.3
A-
90–92
3.7
B
83–86
3.0
C+
77–79
2.3
C-
70–72
1.7
D/F
<66
1.0