There are a variety of non-traditional schooling options for teenage aspiring artists. Many are homeschooled, and others attend arts schools, like the Bay Area’s very own Oakland School for the Arts. What makes Berkeley High School’s Berkeley Independent Study (BIS) program unique is that it enables students to remain on a conventional educational track within an academic structure that allows for other large commitments.
BIS is an alternative to in-class teaching that, while still satisfying BHS’ course requirements, allows students to complete their coursework with greater flexibility. While the program demands self-motivation and organization from its students, it also carves out time that students can devote to their passions.
Musicians can spend hours practicing, attending private lessons, performing, or taking advantage of opportunities that necessitate travel. For many BHS musicians, BIS gives them the academic freedom to pursue a professional career.
Judah Press, a BHS senior in BIS, has been playing the jazz saxophone since fourth grade. “I play 20 hours or more a week, including practice and the jazz band and gigs and everything,” Press said.
Before transferring to BIS in the second semester of his sophomore year, Press felt that his daily schedule was eating up productive time. “Independent study allowed me to practice, and do all my classes while spending a lot less time sitting in class, bored,” Press said.
Elan Dorman Mackenzie is a BHS senior in BIS who has been playing the cello for ten years.
“My parents kind of forced me to play (cello) for a while, but, after a certain point, I started loving music. I wanted to pursue it on more of my own accord,” Dorman Mackenzie said.
He’s now been in BIS for two years, which has allowed him to follow his passion for music without forfeiting his education. If Dorman Mackenzie were still enrolled in the more traditional BHS pathway, he would have to leave school halfway through the day to make it to his music lessons in Cupertino.
“(I can) do a lot of things that I really wouldn’t have the time for if I wasn’t in independent study,” Dorman Mackenzie said.
Like any education program, BIS is not without its drawbacks. This year, new challenges for musicians have been introduced to the program. Sean Rudner is a BIS junior who has been in Independent Study for two semesters. “Students can’t be in any room that’s unsupervised on school grounds, meaning they are mostly limited to the CCC or library,” Rudner said. This is difficult for students like Rudner, who plays the trumpet, and likes to practice in the BHS music rooms.
There are also more general downsides to BIS. “With 30 kids in each class, I’m only meeting maybe 10 new people through my independent study classes each year,” Press said. This can limit the peer community for students who have been or plan to be in BIS for all of their time at BHS. Nevertheless, it is unanimous among the three musicians that the benefits of BIS far outweigh the drawbacks. “I’m a very big fan of independent study. I really recommend people consider it,” Dorman Mackenzie said.