The district’s superintendent of three years, Brent Stephens, announced he was leaving Berkeley Unified School District this spring. Since then, the search for a successor led to one finalist, Enikia Ford Morthel, the deputy superintendent of instruction in the San Francisco school district.
On May 23, Berkeley Schools Excellence Program approved a proposal for a paid student advocate, a new position in the Berkeley Unified School District Title IX office for the 2022-23 school year.
As Berkeley High School approaches the end of the 2021-22 school year, the administration looks to the students for ways to improve BHS in the coming years.
“Back when I was a kid … I loved all of the Marvel superheroes except for one,” said award-winning cartoonist Gene Luen Yang. “I did not like Shang-Chi at all.” As a child, the character of Shang-Chi made Yang feel uncomfortable.
From May 2 to May 6, Berkeley High School celebrated Staff Appreciation Week by holding a raffle for the staff of approximately 320. By the end of the week, the school was able to hand out 223 prizes, with four of them being, “grand prizes”.
On April 26, the Berkeley High School Stop Harassing organization began their consent education presentations to Berkeley Unified School District middle schools.
“It kind of felt like a slap in the face,” said Sam Matsumoto, a film photography teacher at Berkeley High School as she shared her opinion on the pending overturning of Roe v.
On Wednesday, May 4, Berkeley Unified School District’s School Board met to discuss growing class sizes, wages among teachers, and the Berkeley Schools Excellence Program’s budget. After acknowledging Asian American and Pacific Islander History Month, the board opened up the microphone for public comment, with nine members of the webinar sharing their thoughts.
When enrolling into her Small Learning Community in ninth grade, Berkeley International High School junior Rylyn Jaggar ended up with her third choice.
In February of 2021, Matthew Bissell, a former chemistry teacher at Berkeley High School, quietly resigned after signing a separation agreement with Superintendent Brent Stephens.
“We [at Berkeley Unified School District are] creating a world where anyone can feel that they are important and that they have a space in our society to contribute,” said Shawn Mansager, executive director of special education for BUSD.
New to Berkeley High School, the Black Scholars Center provides a space for students to do their homework, eat snacks, make friends, and work with others.
On Saturday April 16, several members of the Berkeley High School Mountain Bike Team were robbed at gunpoint in North Berkeley. The group consisted of three coaches and two student-athletes who were returning from a practice in Napa in their minivan loaded with bicycles and other expensive equipment.
This year’s seniors were sophomores when COVID-19 forced the students of Berkeley High School into lockdown, so they began their junior year in isolation.
Berkeley Unified School District community members gathered on Wednesday, April 13 for a school board meeting. Topics of discussion ranged from the plan to close BUSD’s virtual academy, an online school option for BUSD students, to a presentation on takeaways from a community survey on budget priorities.
Over two years ago, on March 12, 2020, California announced an official lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the mask mandate for California has come to a partial end.
Cultural clubs throughout Berkeley High School surrounded the campus green to spread awareness and show their spirit at the Cultural Club Fair on Friday, March 11.
“It’s lighthearted and fun to have a day where you randomly bring muffins,” said Berkeley High School student Benjamin Lemkin. “I know that if I was walking around and somebody [offered] me a muffin, it would brighten my day.
