Keldon Clegg is a man who wears many hats, has many talents, and has a wide spread rapport with Berkeley High School staff and students. Clegg has been working at BHS for 15 years now, and has gained a myriad of experiences from different positions and roles.
This fall, Clegg takes the vice principal chair and now overlooks and supervises Academic Choice (AC). Clegg has worked in Berkeley International High School (BIHS), Academy of Medicine and Public Service (AMPS), and AC. He has been in teaching roles in courses such as World of Media and social studies, taken on roles in the technology department, and has served as the professional development coordinator for teachers, a job that entails focusing on the development of teachers during student holidays and late start Mondays.
Clegg also supervises the Puente Program which functions as an integrated part of 10th and 11th grade AC classes with the purpose of teaching students more about college and college applications. The Puente Program comes out of the University of California system.
“It needs a place to begin incubating. I supervise it because it’s within AC and it made natural sense to put it there,” Clegg said.
One thing Clegg looks forward to is this year’s presidential election.
“An election year is always an interesting year at (BHS). And I say that as a social studies teacher who loves election years … (social studies classes) allow us to talk about in more depth.” Clegg said.
After many years of working in many different positions at BHS, Clegg said, “I kind of forced myself to either become an admin or go to a different school for more opportunities. And I’m really excited I didn’t have to leave, and I got to stay here.”
Clegg has been a long time patron of BHS, and he has many things to say about jump-starting his new position this year as admin.
This year, Clegg is reflecting on the history of AC and its aspirations for this new school year.
“One big focus that I have with our team is looking at Academic Choice, the AC program. It’s the twentieth year of Academic Choice this year, which means it’s a great time for us to stop and reflect as students and staff and community members about what is Academic Choice,” Clegg said. “What are the choices that we’re offering? How do we know that our students feel comfortable and excited and prepared to learn?”
AC was founded in 2004, making 2024 a big year for the program as it prepares to celebrate its 20 year anniversary.
“Being a vice principal means that you are already sitting in a position where you get to collaborate in new ways that you don’t get to do with a classroom teacher,” Clegg said. “I think you have new vice principals and then the school changes and the vice principals work to figure out how to make that change positive, and in line with what students want.” Clegg expressed an open-minded approach to the vice principal position, and is ready to evaluate and support the needs of the students at BHS.
Clegg emphasized the importance of teamwork with both BHS staff and students. “What I can say is that if we don’t work well together as a team, it’s really hard to get everything done … I hope that students know that administrators are part of their team.”
For these upcoming years, as vice principal, Mr. Clegg explained his goal to act as a backbone to unify BHS staff and students and focus on the educational needs of all students.