Hippies, countercultural values, protests all over the place — these are all part of Berkeley’s reputation. When talking about Berkeley High School, many of the same ideas might come to mind. But what actually sets Berkeley’s only public high school apart?
Kate Rosen, an English teacher at BHS, moved to Berkeley in 2006 from Overland Park, Kansas. “I just thought (Berkeleyans) were crunchy granola hippies, who were really liberal … I just bought into all the stereotypes,” Rosen said.
Those may have been the same stereotypes which caused former Vice President Kamala Harris to avoid claiming Berkeley as her hometown when she ran for president in 2024, even though it is in fact where she grew up. Instead, the Harris campaign preferred to claim Oakland or the nonspecific “East Bay.” Oakland’s reputation evokes coolness and grit rather than tie-dye and flower-power.
BHS is known for its history of activism, just like Berkeley itself. It is also unusual that it is the only public high school in the city — most cities of similar size have more than one. This results in a huge student population, with a wide range of socio-economic groups, backgrounds, cultures, and personalities interacting together on campus.
Anne-Lys Marque, a BHS sophomore, moved to Berkeley from Bordeaux, France just this year. Marque knew Berkeley only for its famous university. She says the most surprising thing about BHS is student-teacher relations. “I think the biggest difference I felt when I arrived was how much the teachers cared about the mental health of the students … they really want to know about you and not just teach you. They’re trying to make a relationship,” Marque said.
Perhaps the good relationships between students and teachers have also changed the learning environment at BHS. Marque noted, “My first day here I thought it was kind of weird how everyone was kind of relaxed about school … I think that’s kind of a good thing.”
Rosen also echoed the idea of BHS having a good environment, but this time applies it to the student body. She compares her own high school to those in the movies, referencing the cliques in "She’s All That." Rosen adds that the classic lunch scene of a clique-segregated cafeteria actually happened at her school. “We didn’t have off-campus lunch and so all the cafeteria was like in 'Mean Girls.' That’s what it was. And then here there aren’t really cliques and everyone gets along,” Rosen said.
Rosen recalled that when she went to high school, some students would throw pennies at Jewish students like her. “And I know there’s still bullying, but there’s a lot less bullying at (BHS) that I’m aware of,” Rosen said.
BHS’s friendly environment may show the best of Berkeley. Bria Matubrew, also a BHS sophomore, grew up in Long Island, New York. According to Matubrew, “People here say ‘hi’ more to each other in the street versus in New York, (where) that didn’t really happen. So that definitely caught me off guard when I moved here.”
To Matubrew, people in Berkeley seem to get along better than in other places. Of the Berkeley population she said, “I think that it’s a lot of different types of people who are still kind of unified by a similar mindset and a love of the area.”