What if he's out of town during orientation

We have joint legal custody of my child, but dad has physical. Dad is planning to take child to family camp the week of his orientation at BHS (8/23). Child will miss getting schedule, id photo, text books, etc. and child would rather not go to camp because of this. Do I, as the non custodial parent, have any recourse to prevent the custodial parent from making the child miss their orientation? Frustrated

Last year they were ruthless about helping kids fix their schedules. If the kid was not at orientation they refused to fix the schedule. Sometimes the kid could not fix the schedule until a parent showed up to strong arm the situation . It was very unpleasant. Everyone hopes that next year will be better.

I suggest that you try to get your kid to orientation. If you cannot strike an agreement with your ex, then get some paperwork to that effect and talk to someone at school ahead of time to at least see if you can have the power to fix a schedule if there is a problem. And get the books the next week. BHS mom

Last year the administration decided to only accept requests for schedule changes during the registration week. As a result, the first week of school was remarkably smooth in large part because the change requests were dealt with before school started. These schedule changes were only accepted in the case of mistakes made by the school. In other words, schedules were not changed just because a student changed their mind after they filed their course requests in the spring. Counselors were available to talk to students during registration. Counselors were not available to talk to students the first few weeks of school as they were registering new students.

Every year there are families that for one reason or another cannot come to registration/orientation. If your child cannot register as scheduled, you may send a proxy to pick up his/her schedule. The proxy should either be the parent or come with a written note from the parent and a contact phone number. Your student, or you, or someone authorized to make changes, should be available by phone when the proxy picks up the schedule. If there is a mistake, the counselor will want to talk with the student (or you) in order to resolve the issue. The proxy can turn in forms and purchase a school organizer, but will not be able to have a picture ID taken. Last year some proxies were able to get lockers and textbooks, others weren't. Clearly that has to be worked out one way or another.

I am the BHS volunteer coordinator. If you have questions about the BHS registration/orientation, please feel free to contact me. My email is below. Janet Huseby

Is there an orientation before school starts?

My son will be entering BHS next fall (2010). I have heard that there are some mandatory events before school starts in September, such as 9th grade orientation and class registration for kids entering 10th-12th grade. Can current BHS parents tell me if this is true? And if it is true, when do these events usually occur (e.g, the week before school starts? earlier?) . Are there multiple dates available or is it just once and you can't miss it? We've been going to Berkeley Tuolumne Camp for the last week of camp for the past 10 years, which usually means we are away until the Sunday immediately before school starts and are wondering if we need to change our family tradition. Thanks very much for the information. Karen

For students who are new to Berkeley High, a lot happens during registration. Picture IDs are taken, forms turned in, free and reduced lunch forms handed out, student organizers sold, lockers assigned, and class schedules distributed. If there is a mistake in the student's class schedule registration is the time to submit a request for change form. Finally, freshmen will meet with administrators and be taken on school tours by upperclassmen. Janet H