Berkeley Parents Network: Small Schools at BHS

Berkeley Parents Network

Small Schools at BHS

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > K-12 Schools > Berkeley Public Schools > Berkeley High School > Small Schools at BHS

Questions

What is the ''small schools'' thing at Berkeley High?
How can I get more information about the BHS small schools?
Are "Small Schools" really better?
Parents discussions about small schools from 2001

What is the ''small schools'' thing at Berkeley High?

January 2007

I have a child who will be entering BHS in Fall 2007....I have some questions that I couldn't find answered on the archives (although maybe the moderator will point me in the right direction).

1. What is the ''small schools'' thing at Berkeley High? Are all the students in small schools, or is this system separate from the general high school population?

2. What is the procedure for getting into these small schools? I have heard that it is very difficult to get into the ''most academic'' one. What are the eligibility requirements, or how do they determine who gets into which school?

3. Is getting into small schools different for kids with disabilites? My child is a very high-functioning autistic young man....I guess I am wondering if his disability status will make him any more or less likely to get into a particular ''small school.''

Thanks for your help! anon

Berkeley High's Small Schools program is intended to ameliorate a long-standing problem: the school is so big a lot of kids get lost. Each of the small schools has a manageably small cohort of kids who pretty much stay together throughout their high school careers; each focuses on a broadly-defined subject area, like arts & humanities, communications, community work, hardcore academics, etc. Each school's curriculum is designed to prepare students for college, but has its own focus and methodology. Depending on the size of the school, students take some or most of their classes within that school and go to the Comprehensive High School for anything their small school doesn't offer. More information is at http://www.bhs.berkeley.k12.ca.us/smallschools/Choices_v08.pdf

The small schools kids are not kept separate. They just mostly take classes together.

You get into a small school by indicating your preferences and entering a lottery (see http://www.bhs.berkeley.k12.ca.us/smallschools/lottery.html). I don't think disability status would make any difference at all.

I think the small schools have overall been a success at BHS. John

It would be a good idea for you and your son to visit the high school if you can. There are information nights for prospective students and parents coming up. A notice just came out on the e-tree for a Feb 27th, 7:00-9:00 presentation for families. You should subscribe to the bhs e-tree: send an e-mail to bhs-request@idiom.com with only the word 'subscribe' in the subject line, and you will be kept informed of these upcoming dates. More specifically, you could make an appt to meet with someone from the special ed dept at the high school. Diane Colborn is the head of the program and I'm sure she would be happy to speak with you. The lottery process will be explained at the Feb meeting. And there is no program that is particularly 'more academic' than another. The four small schools and the two large school programs have different areas of emphasis and varying numbers of courses that a student takes within the schools. Jane

I'll respond to your third question, about students with disabilities, as I also have a very high functioning son with autism. I had some meetings with the district when I was considering transferring him to Berkeley High from a private school, though we eventually decided against Berkeley High. It's not clear to me from your question if your son is currently enrolled in the district and whether he has an IEP. Unless he has an IEP (or 504 plan) or you are in the process of seeking one, I don't think his disability will make any difference in school or program assignment. If he does have an IEP or you are in the process of trying to obtain one, my understanding is that they try to distribute special ed students in a ''balanced'' way among the small schools and programs. So, in theory, he could be assigned to any of them. Our child previously had an IEP in the BUSD, which lapsed when he left for a private school, and I'm sure he would have had one again had he enrolled at BHS. The interim placement the district offered us did not say which small school or program my son would be assigned to. They explicitly said that he would be assigned to a program only after we enrolled him, at which time they would take into account all the factors they use to balance enrollment. If the IEP makes a case for certain courses that are only available in some of the small schools, I'd guess that could influence placement. In our discussions, the district raised the question about which of the two different math tracks would work best for him and discussed the elective and international language offerings. Honoring these preferences would have narrowed down the possibilities, but would not have dictated one specific program. At no point did they ask which small school or program we'd prefer -- the focus was on identifying courses that might contribute to his success.

If you'd like further feedback from parents of students with similar disabilities, there is an etree for parents with special needs students within the Berkeley district. To join, I believe you can send email to BSPED[at]pacbell.net. anonymous

How can I get more information about the BHS small schools?

March 2005

My son is an 8th grader on his way to BHS next fall. I need some feedback on the small schools, of which I believe, there are five. Can the readers of this site recommend any of these schools for a bright boy who gets bad grades because he lacks discipline? The Community Partnership Academy impressed me as the one that might do him the most good. But this is only based on the March 3 intro night we attended. thanks. RA

Editor Note see Community Partnerships Academy for a review submitted in response to this question.

This month (March 2005), students begin registering for the classes they want to take next year at Berkeley High School. Those entering 9th and 10th grade can choose from among six different options: (1) Arts & Humanities Academy, a small school, (2) Communication Arts and Sciences, a small school, (3) Community Partnerships Academy, a small school, (4) School for Social Justice and Ecology, a small school, (5) the Academic Choice program within the large school, and (6) the large school, not within a program or small school. For information about these six options, visit http://www.bhs.berkeleypta.org Juliann

Are "Small Schools" really better?

Feb 2005

I want to start an informal discussion of the Berkeley High small schools program and whether these programs are really going to ''fix'' substantive proplems in the school. It seems like the idea was tried years ago, and the ''big school'' was meant to be an improvement... and now we're back to small schools.

My personal concerns (in no particular order) are currently that:

a) Common Ground seems to have disappeared w/o a ripple -- what happened there? Will other programs vanish in mid-course? What happens to those kids?

b) CAS is well reputed but may have some problems bending UC reqs to their curriculum. I also don't understand their relationship to AP classes. CAS is also the most popular, too bad for kids who don't get in. Hopefully someone is working to replicate the good parts and fix the bad.

c) CPA kids can't take English or History APs, and the courses offered in place seem to suffer 'the soft bigotry of low expectation''. Easier courses, with gut finals and higher grades than outside CPA. Also CPA doesn't not to meet the ''diversity guidelines'' for the district, but because they have more kids of color no one seems to care. Unlike,

d) Academic Choice (not really a small school), which has been hammered by the district, for not having enough students of color, even though their program is the only one in the school that was previously open to ALL students choosing to enroll (until now). By the districts rules AC will now enroll kids by the new ''system,'' and be forced to stop accepting students when they run out of applicants from any one of the district identified racial groups. In theory that means the program next year will be EQUALLY represented (or under-represented) by all ethnicities... and size of the program will be limited to 3 times the number of the most under-represented group in the pool.

AHA and SJE are still unknowns.

The obvious advantage of small schools is the continuity and potential for smaller communities and closer relationships with teachers and fellow students. The advantage of the big school seems to be avoiding the disadvantages of the small schools.

When did school stop being about academics and become heavy-hand social engineering? Where do kids go who just want to be educated in a safe environment where most of the challenges are academic?

Anonymous at present

I've had two kids go through the CAS program & graduate, so I can attest that it was and is a great program. It's really too bad that it isn't big enough for everyone, or that BHS hasn't been able to grow small schools fast enough for everyone who wants to be in one. BUT that's exactly the reason CAS has succeeded where Common Ground floundered: A small school needs support from the school administration, an unreasonable amount of commitment from all staff involved, and a really clear focus. Common Ground was a great idea and there were many good teachers, activities and students, but it just got too big too fast.

You didn't say whether you currently have a student at BHS or are considering the school for the future. I think you'll find the school as a whole has improved immensely. Also, there are lots of other ways to create a 'small school' for yourself: Through the arts, certain sports, certain academic subjects like Latin. A strong commitment to any one of these often forces you into certain scheduling choices with like-minded students, creating an unofficial, but real, community.

Also, the great thing about CAS and the other small schools, so far, is that they are NOT exclusive; students do participate in the diversity and excitement of the community at large.

Yes, CAS has developed a strong social-political component. Yes, there need to be a wider range of choices in small schools, for families who don't want that. But for many many of us CAS families, parents and students alike, this is the best part of the program.

And finally, being part of an academic community for four years resulted in a really meaningful and supportive college application process, from help choosing appropriate schools to apply to, to strong guidance through the essay-writing, to letters of reference from teachers who really really knew my kids. Once at college, my kids felt like they had a tremendous head-start, both academically and socially, over other freshmen.

been there

From whatI know as a parent whose child is in CPA, the information you presented is inaccurate and is what I've heard from others who have relied upon ''hearsay'' rather than information from CPA itself or are using outdated information from when CPA was a ''program'' not a true small school (just became a true small school this year). First of all, students interested in AP classes can request to ''passport out'' to the big school just like CAS students can(and can also do so for arts classes if requested - however the majority of a child's classes must be within the classes since being part of the community is a critical part of the experience) and I know that ALL of my child's freshman core classes offer an honor's option. In terms of course content - in varies with the teacher (true in all of the District not just BHS). I would say that of my child's 6 teachers - 3 are exemplary, 2 are competent, and 1 I (and my child) have some questions about. I consider this VERY competitive with any other ''school'' or program at BHS. I know the Director is very concerned about attracting and retaining excellent teachers and in academic excellence for all students at every current achievement level.

It is true that CPA is not as ''popular'' as CAS. There is less publicity - no trips like to Cuba at this time - and when CPA started as a PROGRAM rather than a full small school CPA's emphasis was to assist underachieving students to succeed - and for some this has translated into a fear that as a small school, CPA would settle for less academic rigor. I would say that CPA does have more of an emphasis on ''bread and butter'' than ''jelly'' than CAS but that approach has merits as does a more ''creative'' type of emphasis. Definitely, CPA is fully aware that the curriculum has to address the needs of students at all current achievement levels - because that should be the goal of ANY small school or BHS program AND that it is needed for CPA to be sustainable within a community that absolutely values the highest academic achievement (and after all - families of children that are not achieving aren't looking for the minimum either). I certainly expect my CPA child (who has always been an honor roll student) to be competive for UC or one of the better private schools (in terms of my child's ability and from his academic and personal preparation - and so far, I have seen the type of growth at CPA that would make him successful with that goal). In terms of diversity - as a true small school (as opposed to the program it was before this year) CPA must now enroll students using the same diversity formula as any District school (zip code, socio-economic, etc.) and is mandated to reflect the demographics of the BHS as a whole.

There is a CPA Parent meeting on Monday, February 7 at 6:30pm. in the room across from the library. Perhaps some of your questions/concerned can be addressed by attending this meeting or requesting a meeting with Flora Russ, the Director.

anonymous for my kid's privacy

I am also interested in analyzing and discussing the impacts of the small schools movement at Berkeley High. There are clearly gains and losses in these early days of programmatic shifts and a mix of approaches will probably prevail in the long run and meet the diverse interests of most of our students.

However, I'm disturbed by the atmosphere of intolerance for open discussion that surrounds this revolution. I do not understand the antipathy towards those who want to preserve more demanding academic programs that seem to work for some of our children nor the antipathy towards those looking for new ways to engage our students. Why should access to any programs be limited by racial barriers instead of open to all? Why can't we find out which approaches attract our children, while meeting the requirements of various education and career choices, and then assign staff appropriately? Why should any respectfully-stated opinions need to be anonymous? I would hope that these discussions can find a place in the open, as well as in these pages. I would be interested in knowing about or creating public, constructive, non- antagonistic discussions of these issues at the high school.

Nicki

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