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Berkeley High School (California)

Coordinates: 37°52′04″N 122°16′17″W / 37.86772°N 122.27141°W / 37.86772; -122.27141
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Berkeley High School
Location
Map
1980 Allston Way
Berkeley, California 94704

California

United States
Information
TypePublic
Established1880
School districtBerkeley Unified School District
PrincipalPasquale Scuderi
Grades9-12
Enrollmentapproximately 3,200
Color(s)Red & Gold
NicknameYellowjackets
NewspaperThe Jacket
Feeder schools King Middle School, Willard Middle School, Longfellow Middle School
Websitehttp://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/

Berkeley High School is the only public high school in Berkeley, California. It is located one long block west of Shattuck Avenue and three short blocks south of University Avenue in Downtown Berkeley, and is recognized as a Berkeley landmark. The school mascot is the Yellowjacket.

History

Berkeley High School, rear view of building showing toppled chimneys after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

The first public high school classes in Berkeley were held at the Kellogg Primary School located at Oxford and Center Streets adjacent to the campus of the University of California. It opened in 1880 and the first high school graduation occurred in 1884. In 1895, the first high school annual was published entitled the Crimson and Gold (changed to Olla Podrida by 1899.)

In 1900, the citizens of Berkeley voted in favor of a bond measure to establish the first dedicated public high school campus in the city. In 1901, construction began on the northwest portion of the present site of the high school. The main school building stood on the corner of Grove (now Martin Luther King Way) and Allston Way, where the "H" building is located today. At that time, Kittredge Street ran through what is today's campus site instead of ending at Milvia. The local office of the Bay Cities Telephone Company sat on the site of today's administration building at the corner of Allston Way and Milvia by 1911.

On Arbor Day of 1902, noted naturalist John Muir joined Berkeley's mayor William H. Marston in planting a giant sequoia in a yard south of the new high school buildings. [2] The tree is apparently no longer there, pending results from a future investigation.

The main building of the high school suffered moderate damage in the form of toppled chimneys, broken windows and some weakened walls as a result of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Professor Andrew Lawson of the University of California included one of his own photographs (shown at upper right) of the damage in his famous report issued in 1908. [3]

In 1955, Berkeley High School band director Bob Lutt (who eventually was made executive director of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra), founded Cazadero Performing Arts Camp.

In 1964, the West Campus of Berkeley High School was opened in the buildings of the former Burbank Junior High School at Bonar Street and University Avenue. It served all ninth graders while the main campus served grades 10-12, except for an interval from the mid - 1970s to the early 1980s when it was 7-9 to accommodate construction at Willard Junior High School. It was turned over to the Berkeley Adult School in 1986 which used it until 2004. West Campus is currently closed.

A number of famous performers have played at the Berkeley Community Theater which is located on the Berkeley High campus. In 1957, Stan Getz was one of the featured performers of the Berkeley Jazz Festival.[1] Beginning in the late Sixties, many bands and singers made the Community Theater their venue, including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Van Morrison, The Kinks, Bruce Springsteen, Genesis, Elvis Costello, The Clash, Iggy Pop, and David Bowie.

A significant portion of students and faculty alike were also involved with the various forms of political activism which characterized the Sixties in Berkeley, including protests against the Vietnam War, advocacy for civil rights and third world studies, and supporting People's Park. The campus included a Black Students Union and a Chicano Student Union. In 1971, Berkeley High students elected a gay male student as Homecoming Queen.

Berkeley High School has been innovative in its high school curriculum. In the Fall of 1970, a school within a school opened at Berkeley High called Community High School. It was "alternative", in keeping with the sixties culture which permeated life in Berkeley at the time. Berkeley High School was also the first public high school in the United States with an African American Studies department, established in 1969.[2]

The Berkeley High campus was designated a historic district by the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 2008.

Administration and organization

The current Berkeley High School

Principal

The current principal is Pasquale Scuderi, who replaced Jim Slemp in July 2010. Slemp had served as principal for seven years. In the years preceding Slemp's arrival, Berkeley High was plagued by the lack of a consistent principal, as well as (unsolved) arson fires. During Slemp's tenure two buildings (A & C) were remodeled, and a new administrative center and food court (D) were constructed.

Small schools

In 2000, in an attempt to better serve its diverse community, BHS began experimenting with the idea of small schools. Bill Gates, who originally promoted small schools, has since withdrawn his support. Education leaders at the Gates Foundation concluded that "improving classroom instruction and mobilizing the resources of an entire district were more important first steps to improving high schools than breaking down the size.” [3] This point of view was amplified in a study that carefully analyzed matched students in schools of varying sizes. The lead author concluded, “I’m afraid we have done a terrible disservice to kids.” [4]

In 2005, Berkeley High School officially established four small schools and a comprehensive program, Academic Choice. The small schools use the highly controversial Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP)[5] which has come under harsh criticism for failing to prepare students for college. A very detailed analysis of IMP by U. C. Berkeley mathematician Dr. H. Wu led him to conclude that IMP does not meet the needs of "those who plan to pursue the study of one of the exact sciences, engineering, economics or biology, and those who entertain such a possibility." For students "who will not go to college as well as those who will, but do not plan to pursue the study of any of the exact sciences (mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry), engineering, economics, or biology," Dr Wu found that IMP (though not without its serious gaps) can be useful.[6] Berkeley High's four small schools have very different academic standards from the rigorous AC and IB programs which prepare students for college.

The small schools that began the 2005-06 school year were:

  • The Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA)
  • Communication Arts and Sciences (CAS)
  • Academy of Medicine and Public Service (AMPS, originally Community Partnerships Academy)
  • Green Academy (originally School of Social Justice & Ecology)

In addition to the smaller schools, there are two Comprehensive Learning Communities which comprise nearly two-thirds of the student body. Academic Choice (AC) and Berkeley International High School (BIHS)--part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program as of 2007—make up this Comprehensive Learning Community.

  • Academic Choice (AC)
  • Berkeley International High School (BIHS)

Departments, parents, and student organizations

Campus and architecture

The Berkeley High School campus covers four city blocks between Milvia Street and Martin Luther King Jr Way. It contains several buildings, built between 1901 and 2004, which display a variety of architectural styles.

In the late 1930s, Berkeley High was remodeled and old buildings were replaced with newer ones. The Florence Schwimley Little Theater, The Berkeley Community Theatre, and the science buildings are prime examples of the Streamline Moderne style designed by architects Henry H. Gutterson and William G. Corlett. The rebuilding was financed largely in part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program the WPA.

Notable people

Main article: List of Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) people

The main article provides a list of individuals associated with Berkeley High School through attending as a student, or serving as a member of the faculty or staff.


Berkeley High in Books, Music, Film, and Theater

The Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble has gained a reputation for international excellence, with both the big band and numerous combos having won American Jazz festivals such as the Reno, Folsom, Delta, and Monterey international competitions multiple times. In 2011 and 2012, the "A" Combo won the Downbeat Magazine award for Best High School Jazz Combo. Additionally, the Ensemble has made appearances at the Montreux, North Sea, and Tokyo Jazz Festivals, the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba, as well as numerous private venues throughout the Bay Area, Japan and Europe. BHS is also known to be a factory of sorts for world-famous jazz musicians, being the alma mater of Benny Green, Ambrose Akinmusire, Peter Apfelbaum, David Murray, Lenny Pickett, and Joshua Redman. The BHS Jazz Program is divided into 3 tiers of Big Bands - Ensemble, Lab Band II, and Lab Band I. The program is now under the direction of Sarah Cline, a Bay Area trombonist and Berkeley High alumna.


It is mentioned in the Danzy Senna novel Caucasia, when the character Cole Lee reveals on pages 411-12 that she attended Berkeley High in the early 1980s.

Ariel Schrag documented her years at Berkeley High during the late 1990s in her graphic novels Awkward, Definition, Potential and Likewise.

The non-fiction text Class Dismissed by Meredith Maran followed three Berkeley High seniors for the 1999-2000 school year.

Nancy Rubin - taught the class "Social Living" at Berkeley High from 1977 through 1996. She published a book titled Ask Me If I Care: Voices from an American High School by addresses teen social issues and is compiled entirely of journal entries by anonymous Berkeley High School students written during their Social Living classes (a mandatory course at the school).[7]

Yellow Jackets - Berkeley High School is the subject, and setting, for the 2008 play entitled Yellow Jackets. Written by Itamar Moses, Yellow Jackets premiered in August 2008, and ran for two months at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, in a production directed by Tony Taccone. The play focused mainly on the themes of race, multiculturalism in education, and the different facets and flipsides for political correctness.

Additionally, Berkeley High School compiled and published a dictionary of youth slang, available to the greater public.[8]

It was also the subject of an episode of PBS's Frontline about racial politics at Berkeley High School entitled "School Colors". The documentary was filmed throughout the 1993-1994 school year and aired on October 18, 1994. [4]

Weapon Incidents

Berkeley High has had several lockdowns due to safety concerns with students bringing weapons onto campus. On March 22, 2011 at approximately 8:45 a.m., two BHS students (both aged 15) brought a loaded firearm to school. The weapon accidentally discharged, shooting through a wall in one of the bathrooms near the portable classrooms area. Later, another student (aged 16) was found with an unloaded gun and marijuana in his backpack. This follows two other occurrences of guns on campus in recent months. There were no injuries, and the students' names have been withheld. They were all promptly arrested and face mandatory expulsion. Berkeley High will have increased security measures, at least until spring break. A hotline has been started to encourage anonymous tips related to suspected carrying of weapons.[9]

Demographics

The demographics of the school as of the 2011-2012 school year were 37% White, 26% African American, 13% Latino, 10% Native American/Asian /Pacific Islander, and 11% Multiracial. 32.7% of the students receive Free/Reduced Lunch (“WASC Self Study Report,” 2012).

The demographics for the 2009-2010 school year were 36.7% White, 29.1% Black, 12.6% Hispanic/Latino, 7.9% Asian, .6% Filipino, .3% Native American, .1% Native Hawaiian, and 12.5% multi-ethnic.[10]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Oakland Tribune, Aug.2, 1957
  2. ^ http://www.dailycal.org/article/12003/fate_of_berkeley_high_african-american_studies_pro
  3. ^ Wainer, Howard (2009). Picturing the Uncertain World. Princeton University Press.
  4. ^ Wainer, Howard (2009). Picturing the Uncertain World. Princeton University Press.
  5. ^ Wu, H. "Review of the Interactive Mathematics Program". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. ^ Wu, H. "Review of the Interactive Mathematics Program". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  7. ^ Rubin, Nancy J. (1994). Ask Me if I Care. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-0-89815-597-6
  8. ^ Rick Ayers, Berkeley High School "Slang Dictionary"; most recent ed. 2003 (North Atlantic Books); ISBN 1-55643-520-7; ISBN 978-1-55643-520-1.
  9. ^ Taylor, Tracey. "Gun shot fired at Berkeley High School, no injuries". Gun shot fired at Berkeley High School, no injuries. Berkeleyside. Retrieved March 22, 1011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. ^ [1]

Further reading

37°52′04″N 122°16′17″W / 37.86772°N 122.27141°W / 37.86772; -122.27141

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