The controversy continues over Berkeley High School principal Jim Slemp’s proposal to eliminate before- and after-school time for science labs in order to direct funding towards “equity grants” aimed at reducing the achievement gap in the school. See Berkeleyside’s original post on this issue here and an open letter on the subject from Priscilla Myrick, a former BHS Governance Council parent […]
Berkeley Unified School District
Posted inOpinion, Schools
Op-Ed: Science at BHS, an open letter
Photo/Jeremy Franklin We wrote last week about the debate over science and the achievement gap at Berkeley High School. There’s a stream of comments on that earlier post that are well worth reading, if you’re concerned about the issue. Priscilla Myrick, a former Berkeley High School Governance Council parent representative and mother of two BHS […]
Posted inSchools
Endangered science at BHS
Berkeley High’s School Governance Council voted this week to approve principal Jim Slemp’s latest proposal for a new schedule at BHS. It now goes to the Berkeley Unified School District (although Slemp claims that the proposal doesn’t need BUSD approval). The most contentious aspect of the new schedule is the elimination of before- and after-school […]
Posted inSchools
Ouch! Students get H1N1 vaccine
Public health officials started inoculating students at Berkeley High School on Tuesday against the swine flu.
Posted inSchools
BHS schedule shift rumbles on
If you’re keeping up with the running debate about changing the schedule at Berkeley High School, you’ll want to read all 11 pages of the latest action plan, submitted by teacher team leaders and principal Jim Slemp. The action plan allows each of the small schools and programs to determine their own schedules to some […]
Posted inSchools
10 years later: How 2 Berkeley High reporters broke sex-ring scandal
Greenwell and Montauk (Examiner photo by Chris Hardy) Ten years ago, two young Berkeley High School reporters started to investigate the death of a young Indian immigrant woman. Carbon monoxide had killed Seetha Vemireddy while she slept in her Berkeley apartment, and her sister had been seriously sickened. The original incident received some cursory notice […]
Posted inSchools
Next steps in the BHS schedule redesign
Photo/Jeremy Franklin Last week, Berkeley High’s School Governance Council rejected a controversial schedule change. If you thought that was the end of the matter, you might be wrong. The SGC has a special four-hour meeting planned for December 3 to try and craft a new proposal that will be acceptable to the majority. BHS principal […]
Posted inBusiness, Nosh, Schools
The tale of two Berkeley High basketball coaches
The Berkeley High Jacket has the tale of two basketball coaches this week. The first is a story about Damion McNeil, who took over as the boys’ varsity coach just a few months after the team was banned from entering any playoff games for the next two years. The suspension was issued in May, after […]
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Schedule change at BHS fails
The controversial proposal to move Berkeley High School to a trimester schedule was stopped at the School Governance Council last night. The scheme failed to receive the necessary two-thirds majority at the SGC before proceeding to the Berkeley Unified School District Board. According to an email to parents from Mark van Krieken of the BHS […]
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Update on H1N1 vaccine in Berkeley schools
For anyone who has had a hard time obtaining H1N1 flu vaccine for their children, help may be at hand through the Berkeley schools (hat tip: Catherine). Here’s the latest update from the Berkeley Unified School District: The H1N1 vaccine has been arriving more slowly and in smaller quantities than health officials anticipated, and they are apprehensive that the […]
Posted inSchools
Should BHS’s schedule be changed?
Photo/Jeremy Franklin The long-running debate over scheduling changes at Berkeley High School is nearing its denouement. Changes are being proposed as a way to tackle the so-called achievement gap, where too many students are underachieving in high school. At the core of the proposed changes is a required advisory period, so students can have, in […]
Posted inSchools
What future for Berkeley’s schools?
Regular reader Deirdre Nurre writes: Tonight, for one night only: a rare joint work session of the School Board and the City Council convenes to present the 2020 Vision. Session begins at 7 pm in the auditorium of Longfellow Middle School. 2020 Vision is a citywide movement to ensure academic success and wellbeing for all […]
