Category Archives: Berkeley High School
BUSD addresses concerns over BHS campus construction
Earlier this month, the Berkeley Unified School District abruptly closed Berkeley High School’s Old Gym citing the unsafe condition of the building. The lack of warning meant that several of the school’s sports teams, including its football squad, had no place to store equipment. The rowing team abruptly lost access to its ergometers, the football team lost its weights room, and the wrestling team lost its practice facilities.
Superintendent Bill Huyett apologized for the disruption, but staff, students, and parents have expressed concern over both the handling of that case and a variety of issues related to construction at Berkeley High. BUSD last week responded to these issues in an email to the school community:
A plan for communication regarding construction projects at Berkeley High
• Weekly Wednesday communications sent via e-tree with updates directly from both the Berkeley High site and the District Facilities Department. … Continue reading »
Superintendent Huyett apologizes to BHS football team
Last week’s sudden closure of Berkeley High’s Old Gym puzzled and angered many student athletes and their supporters. Last night, at the Berkeley Unified School District board meeting, Superintendent Bill Huyett apologized for the disruption, but said that his decision was forced by the unsafe condition of the building.
“We do recognize the problems that have been put upon the [football] team,” Huyett said. “I don’t think anybody wanted this to happen, especially in this way. It happened very clearly out of a lack of information on my part.”
Huyett said that he had spoken to the BHS football team and coaches after practice on Wednesday to apologize.
The superintendent was responding at the school board meeting to Richard Boyden, a parent of a current member of the Yellowjackets. … Continue reading »
Closure of BHS gym rattles athletes, angers parents
The unexpected and abrupt closure of Berkeley High School’s Old Gym this week has thrown some of the school’s athletic programs into turmoil.
On Monday, members of the football team were told they could not go into the locker room in the Old Gym to suit up for practice or to retrieve their belongings. Since then, the team has not had a place to change, store personal items, use weights, or watch films to prepare for upcoming games.
“It has caused a lot of confusion and it is having an effect on how we practice,” said one member of the varsity football team who did not want his name used. “It has a detrimental affect on the team.”
The abrupt closure on Monday October 3 came about because Superintendent Bill Huyett only recently learned of reports that the structure may not be seismically safe, and decided to take action.
“I am a very prudent and cautious person when it comes to student safety,” said Huyett.
Huyett was referring to an engineering study included in a 2006 environmental impact report that raised – but did not answer — questions about the seismic stability of the Old Gym. The structure was built in 1922 based on a design by architect William Hays. In 1929, an addition housing what is now known as the Warm Pool was added. The complex is slated to be torn down in 2012 and replaced with a $35 million, three-story building that holds 15 classrooms, a new gym, and a fitness center. … Continue reading »
Berkeley filmmaker makes comedy about teenage angst
When Rob Richert returned home this summer from graduate school at Columbia, he went right back to his alma mater, Berkeley High School.
He wasn’t there to greet old teachers or to reminisce about his times wandering the halls. Instead he was on a mission: to recruit talent for a 30-minute film he planned to shoot over the summer.
Starting in mid June, Richert and his sister would head down to Berkeley High right around lunchtime. They would wander through … Continue reading »
Students see security changes at Berkeley High School
As Berkeley High students returned to school this week, they weren’t permitted to enter by the Allston Street door leading into the main office. Instead they were directed to a nearby gate.
“Visitors Entrance Only,” read the lettering on two new signs posted by the office. “Students Please Use the ‘A’ Gate.”
Five and a half months after two students discharged a gun in a portable bathroom, spooking students, parents, and administrators, change has come to Berkeley High. Access to … Continue reading »
Student director hopes to address “opportunity gap”
On August 31, Maddy Roberts, a senior at Berkeley High, will face one of her most important challenges yet: representing the 9,000 students in the Berkeley Unified School District.
Roberts, 17, was elected in May to serve as the Student Director for the forthcoming year, which means she will sit on the school board and represent the diverse student voices in the district.
Roberts won the position in a race that attracted the high school’s most politically ambitious and passionate … Continue reading »
Berkeley High students draw the human condition
“The Human Condition”, an exhibition of large charcoal drawings by Berkeley High students is on display at the Addison Street Windows Gallery until September 15. The drawings were done by collaborative groups of three or four students in the Advanced Painting and Drawing class in the Academic Choice school at BHS last semester.
The works are based on printed media depictions of current events, ranging from the Haitian earthquake to the Arab Spring demonstrations in Cairo to labor protests in … Continue reading »
Berkeley High harassment case heading to settlement
The long-running case concerning alleged sexual harassment by Berkeley High counselor Anthony Smith came to Federal Court today in San Francisco and now looks likely to be settled by the school district.
Judge Maria-Elena James considered the Berkeley Unified School District’s motion to dismiss the federal suit against Smith, the district and Superintendent Bill Huyett (the full text of the suit is here). The judge denied the motion to dismiss three state law claims in the suit and dismissed a claim of negligence without prejudice, providing an opening for the plaintiff to refile with a more specific complaint of negligence.
Berkeleyside broke the news that Smith had been accused of sexually harassing a junior at BHS in April 2010. In September 2010, at the beginning of the student’s senior year, a temporary restraining order was granted ordering Smith to stay at least 100 yards away from the student. An out-of-court settlement was reached on the restraining order in October, when Smith agreed to stay at least 50 yards from the student. The federal case considered today seeking unspecified damages was filed in April this year. … Continue reading »
Pasquale Scuderi on his first year as head of Berkeley High
Pasquale Scuderi accepted the position of Principal of Berkeley High School one year ago this month, succeeding Jim Slemp, who headed the school for six years. Scuderi came to the district in 2006 and was formerly a Vice Principal at BHS before moving to a post in the district administration.
The position of Principal did not prove an easy one to fill, despite a national search. Few are in any doubt that running Berkeley’s only mainstream high school, which is on an open campus in the city’s downtown with a register of more than 3,200 students, is a challenging task.
Scuderi’s first year on the job has required him to deal with a slate of gun-related incidents at the school, as well as budgetary pressures, the aftermath of an at-times bitter battle over science labs at BHS, and the transition of one of the small schools into the Green Academy. There were also compensations inside the classrooms and out, including a state girls’ basketball championship game and an early morning pig roast.
Berkeleyside interviewed Scuderi on June 27. We asked him for his perspective on the past academic year, reflections on successes and frustrations, and to outline his priorities for the next 12 months. The full transcript of the interview can be read here.
Interview snapshot
* Gun incidents at BHS made headlines this year, but great learning and inspiring achievements not covered by the media happened every day on campus.
* Scuderi’s primary goal in his first year was to get into classrooms to be able to observe teaching and give direct feedback to teachers and students. He achieved this on average 1.5 days a week.
* Scuderi feels he has earned the respect of students, partly because he listens to them and takes their opinions into account.
* On safety, a renewed intensity in dealing with prevention has paid off, but there is no room for complacency.
* A focus on attendance will go some way to tackling non-permitted out-of-district students and the historic achievement gap between white and non-white students.
* Scuderi’s four focus areas for next year are attendance, assessment, instruction and program development.
Berkeleyside: Looking back at the year, what would you say were the highlights for you?
I feel I have just started to get things done in a job that has been like being in a washing machine from the beginning. There hasn’t been time to stop and reflect because the one thing the job is is constant in terms of its pace.
It was easy for people who are not part of our daily operations to just let what was covered – the weapons and such – define us. For those of us who are here every day, that wasn’t the case. We’re still sending kids to Ivy League schools and running some very creative programs.
I could point to something in almost every community that was emblematic of the great work and great teaching that was going on in all of those communities, from the bus commemorating the Montgomery boycott that AHA did, to the girls’ basketball team… The list is too long to enumerate, but I can say there was something pretty terrific happening here every day in terms of teaching and learning. … Continue reading »
Berkeley school board considers weapons safety report
While Berkeley High should tighten its perimeter, enlist its uniformed police officer to patrol its edges and nearby park, have its security officers wear identifiable uniforms, and teach students about the impact of guns, it should not require students to wear a visible identification badges and use them to get on and off campus – at least not yet.
There are still too many unresolved issues on how to implement the mechanics of closing the campus and requiring ID badges to move forward quickly, school board members decided Wednesday night. The board directed Superintendent Bill Huyett and his staff to more closely examine those items and return with a more detailed and workable plan.
“We don’t have to do this by fall,” said Board member John Selawsky. “I just want to see us working on it.”
Huyett agreed that rushing into a new set of requirements might not be the best idea. … Continue reading »
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