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.
The Berkeley Unified School District School Board met on February 16 to discuss Visual and Performing Arts equity challenges, the special education program, and new COVID-19 protocols.
In honor of the late Berkeley High School graduate Eli Kane, the Eli Kane Spirit Award, launched this year by Eli Kane’s family, will allocate a $3,500 cash prize to one BHS junior or senior in April 2022.
With the beginning of February comes the question of how Black History Month will be approached by Berkeley Unified School District, particularly during the first year back in-person since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In past years, Black History Month in BUSD differed depending on the student’s grade level, school, and teacher.
For the second year in a row, the Parent Teacher Student Association is hosting an art contest in honor of Black History Month. The PTSA established the contest as a way to recognize the importance of Black History Month, acknowledge the struggles Black people face, and offer students an opportunity to celebrate Black History
After a two-year hiatus, Assassin has finally returned to Berkeley High School. The game, which was designed by and for the seniors of BHS, officially began on Monday, January 31.
At its February 2 meeting, the Berkeley Unified School District School Board convened to commemorate this year’s Black History Month and review future steps regarding COVID-19 policies including mask mandates, testing, and employee vaccination requirements.
Starting on January 26, Berkeley High School recently implemented an optional COVID-19 surveillance testing plan that aims to test all 3,100 students twice per week. According to Principal Juan Raygoza, over the first four days of the testing schedule, BHS administered 3,809 rapid tests and identified 22 positive cases.
Berkeley High School held its annual Open House virtually this year, allowing students and parents to interact with teachers and giving current freshmen the opportunity to learn about BHS’s small schools for next school year.
On Wednesday, February 9, Superintendent Brent Stephens of Berkeley Unified School District announced that he will not extend his contract with BUSD past June 30 of 2021.
After the return to in-person learning, Berkeley High School administrators are working to address increased violence on campus, believed to be due, in part, to the stress of the pandemic.
In the past few weeks, over 300 students attending Berkeley High School tested positive for COVID-19, due largely to the surge of the Omicron variant and increased rapid testing in Berkeley Unified School District.
Many Berkeley High School students and staff are concerned about the current bell schedule, including its impact on students’ mental health and learning.
Berkeley Unified School District recently purchased 2,300 Google Chromebooks that are now available for students to check out through their school libraries. In the most recent newsletter from December 2021, BUSD shared that approximately 2,300 students in Berkeley schools didn’t have access to a personal device for distance learning, which led them to apply
A student from Berkeley Independent Study was reportedly seen carrying a BB gun at Berkeley High School around the end of lunchtime on January 19. School Resource Officer Geoffrey Mitchell and two police officers from the Berkeley Police Department apprehended the individual in Downtown Berkeley after they had left campus.
The Berkeley Unified School District School Board held its first meeting of 2022 on Wednesday, January 5. Due to the Omicron variant’s spread across the United States as well as Berkeley and its public schools, the meeting focused on how the district is handling this COVID-19 surge.
Gabriel Fredman Gabriel Fredman, born and raised in Berkeley, was recently hired as one of Berkeley High School’s vice principals. A BHS graduate from the class of 1997, Fredman said his deep ties to the Berkeley community have inspired his dedication to building a collaborative and unified BHS environment. Fredman began his career in
