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.

Berkeley International High School senior Beckett Ellis-Chatman grew up hearing his grandparents speak Russian and Ukrainian. His family hired a Russian tutor to teach him the language at a young age.

During the fall semester, Berkeley High School students attended consent education assemblies led by professional consent educator Shafia Zaloom. During the 58-minute assembly, students were provided information and definitions about the topic, so they could determine if a series of complex romantic situations were consensual.      Now, to build off of the assemblies, Zaloom is

When Berkeley High School teachers Sarah Cline and Linda Carr first heard about proposed renovations to the BHS’s A-Building, they were under the impression that despite some temporary inconveniences, long term benefits — specifically a dance studio for Carr and improved jazz spaces for Cline — were also a part of the deal.

Berkeley High School’s Black Student Union hosted a Black History Month event at lunch last Friday, February 25, to celebrate the diverse cultures of the African diaspora.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the educational challenges it brought, the state of California has given school districts relief money to use as they choose.

North Berkeley families were the latest targets of the Goyim Defense League, a hate group run out of Petaluma, California. On the morning of Sunday, February 20, hundreds of North Berkeley residents awoke to find plastic baggies carrying anti-Semitic flyers containing messages blaming Jewish people for COVID-19.

“It’s been an intense three-year period. I’m really proud of all of the things the district has accomplished during this time, and it’s also been exhausting,” said Brent Stephens, the superintendent of Berkeley Unified School District.