This fall, Berkeley High School appointed AnnieJay Fischburg as a new Vice Principal to oversee Berkeley International High School (BIHS), the Visual and Performing Arts Department (VAPA), and the Science Department. Fischburg will also be working with the Technology department, BRIDGE, RISE, and the CCC, to support various programs at BHS.
Fischburg previously worked at Albany High School for 12 years, serving as a math and science teacher and director of the AHS theater program. For Fischburg, the experience as a teacher and director were key to her decision to pursue an administrative position.
“As you teach for longer and longer, your scope of the systems that you're looking at and the ways in which you understand the schooling experience tends to expand,” said Fischburg. “ I'm really excited about this job … and using these different systems to support students in different ways.”
This year, Fischburg is focusing on understanding the needs of various programs under her oversight.
“My biggest project for this year is just learning this school, meeting students and getting a sense of who they are, and meeting teachers and getting a sense for what they need in their programs,” said Fischburg.
On a day to day basis, Fischburg will be juggling interpersonal duties and administrative tasks.
“There are important interpersonal pieces for me to be intentionally spending time on [such as] walking into classrooms, watching teachers teach, watching students learn, building relationships one on one with teachers and students being around the school and making sure that it's a safe and effective learning environment,” said Fischburg. “There are [also] many on the computer, pieces that I need to accomplish. You know, answering emails, making sure that all the classrooms have all of their supplies and nothing is broken, [working on] budget spreadsheets and calendar spreadsheets.”
Fischburg also emphasized using creative solutions to build functional systems.
Fischburg will also be managing grants and funding for different departments at BHS. She is currently working with other Berkeley High administrators to use Proposition 28 funding to support the arts programs at Berkeley High School. This includes potentially funding guest arts instructors at Berkeley High, according to Fischbug.
“Money interacts with all the other funding sources that this school has, district funds and grants and parcel taxes and all of those pieces and [and we try to focus on] really thinking intentionally about spending money with a purpose to help students find their love of the arts,” said Fischburg.
Long term, Fischburg says she wants to “build and formalize systems that function smoothly and work for everyone who interacts with them” and is excited to work with the teachers, students, and systems at Berkeley High School.
“I am really excited about the distributive leadership model that this school uses and all of the teacher leaders and building connections with the teacher leaders and each department to really leverage that structure to help me understand the strengths and needs of each department and small school,” said Fischburg.