Category Archives: Schools
Cal Day: Life, the universe and everything
Sather Gate is the heart of Cal Day. There will be crowds, but there is a wealth of activity. Photo: Colby Gutierrez-Kraybill
Tomorrow is Cal Day, the University of California Berkeley’s annual open house, which runs from 9:00 a.m. to a closing concert at 4:00 p.m. Honestly, if you can’t find something to interest you among the 370-odd events, consult your doctor. As the university’s Twitter account declared the other day, “Like the universe, Cal Day continues to expand.”
That expanding universe is itself one of the features of this year’s Cal Day, with Berkeley’s 2011 Nobel Laureate in Physics Saul Perlmutter interviewed by Chancellor Robert Birgeneau at 11 a.m. at Pimentel Hall. If your interests are more grounded in the here-and-now, perhaps you’d prefer Robert Reich’s 1 p.m. talk on Political Civility Should Not Be An Oxymoron, at Dwinelle Hall.
Don’t want to be stuck inside on what promises to be a beautiful, sunny day? Wander down to the Cal Golden Bears football scrimmage at Edwards Stadium — apparently the first time the team has ever played in the stadium, which opened in 1932. Coach Jeff Tedford has promised appearances by some of the Cal alumni who are in the NFL, as well as an autograph session. … Continue reading »
Fifty Berkeley High students caught in attendance fraud
Update 7:00 p.m. Berkeley High principal Pasquale Scuderi has replied by email to Berkeleyside to say that 32 suspensions have been issued so far and two students are being considered for expulsion. “The remaining students appeared to be minimally and peripherally involved and alternative forms of consequences are being considered for those students,” he wrote.
Scuderi wrote that the attendance irregularities were discovered in late December and changes were found dating back to October. The next 8-10 weeks were spent following the paper trails and “working with district staff to locate the computers, passwords, and patterns that allowed us to locate and identify those students involved”.
According to Scuderi, there is no evidence “at this time” that any component of PowerSchool (which is used for both attendance and grades), other than the attendance portal was accessed. … Continue reading »
Berkeley district votes to fund at-risk edible programs
Late last night, the Berkeley Unified School District School Board voted to authorize funding up to $350,000 for three elementary schools — Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Washington — that were in danger of losing their gardening and cooking programs for the next school year.
The move came as welcome news for all those involved in the programs and anyone who champions teaching children to eat, grow, and cook their greens.
“The Board showed a remarkable commitment to edible education by continuing to fund the garden and cooking programs at Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Washington next year,” said Leah Sokolofski, who supervises the program for the district. “The decision is dependent on the district receiving Network for a Healthy California funding. We are still waiting for more information to be released about the Network funding. The district’s current Network contract continues through September 30, 2012.” … Continue reading »
Longfellow holds Hoodie Day in honor of Trayvon Martin
Today was Hoodie Day at Longfellow School in Berkeley. Students and teachers at the middle school wore hoodies in memory of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, in Sanford, Fla. on Feb. 26.
The class of teacher Erin Schweng also had skittles and Arizona Tea, both items Martin was carrying when he died.
“We talked about what happened, and how what we’re doing today is just a small thing but that it shows solidarity and support,” said Schweng. “Our middle school students are young people with heart, passion, and a budding activism all their own.” … Continue reading »
Community seeks life support for school edible programs
This week, Berkeley parents and community members rallied to find ways to secure funds to save the gardening and cooking programs at three local elementary schools.
The programs at Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Washington, whose combined budgets are $372,000, are threatened because, under existing guidelines, the schools no longer qualify for federal monies as they have fewer than 50% of their students enrolled in the free and reduced-lunch program.
At a meeting at Malcolm X on Monday night, about two dozen people representing the three schools and the South Berkeley community hashed out ideas to find money in the short-term — and discussed the bigger-picture concern of making these programs sustainable, as well as available to all BUSD students over the long haul. … Continue reading »
Berkeley High students hold rally for Trayvon Martin
Several hundred Berkeley High School students left their classes Thursday afternoon to stage a rally calling for justice for Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old high schooler who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Fla. on Feb. 26.
Students, some of them wearing hoodies with the hoods up and carrying packets of Skittles and cans of iced tea, as was Martin on the day he died, gathered at 2:45 pm in the main courtyard at BHS before marching off campus, down Allston Way to convene outside Old City Hall.
There, they were addressed first by Berkeley High student Nikko Butler, who was using a megaphone to organize and speak to the rally. Several representatives of the Nation of Islam also addressed the crowd. … Continue reading »
Lady Jackets scrap hard, fall at the last, 57-40
Berkeley High’s girls basketball team, the Lady Yellowjackets, started strongly against Mater Dei in Saturday night’s state championship game in Sacramento, leading 16-15 at the end of the first quarter. But the Southern California team, ranked fifth in the country, used a swarming, tenacious defense and solid offensive play to beat the Jackets, 57-40, in a repeat of the 2011 championship game.
Junior Rachel Howard led the Jackets in scoring, with 12 points. Senior Elisa Davis, who has been the team’s consistent scorer and leader all season, often found herself double and triple teamed — she finished with 10 points, with only two field goals. Mater Dei was led by the California player of the year Nirra Fields, who finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists. … Continue reading »
Berkeley school gardening, cooking programs face cuts
Three of Berkeley Unified School District‘s elementary schools – Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Washington — are in jeopardy of losing their entire cooking and gardening program funds beginning in October this year.
Under existing guidelines, the schools will no longer qualify for federal funding because they have fewer than 50% of their students enrolled in the free and reduced-lunch program, according to Leah Sokolofski, who supervises the program for the district.
Berkeley has an international reputation for its edible schoolyards, where public school children of all economic means learn what it takes to grow a radish and sauté some chard. Such funding cuts to the program, whose total budget is $1.94 million a year, would represent a significant setback in the city’s pioneering efforts to date.
School gardening and cooking champion Alice Waters, whose Chez Panisse Foundation helped fund the Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, expressed dismay at the potential budget cuts to programs. “It’s inevitable cuts will come — people think these programs are dispensable and the state of California is in a financial crisis — but it’s a tragedy,” she said. … Continue reading »
UC Berkeley’s Doe Library celebrates 100 years
Hundreds of people streamed through Doe Library on the UC Berkeley campus on Wednesday to eat cupcakes, listen to a Capella groups, learn from conservators how to repair rare books, and gawk at the enormous room that houses more than a century’s worth of newspapers.
Oh yeah, and they got a lot of free books as well.
It was the 100th anniversary of the dedication of Doe Library, the central library on the Cal campus. Architect John Galen Howard’s massive granite building, with its spectacular Morrison Library and Heyns and North Reading rooms, stands at the literal center of campus, right near Sather Tower. … Continue reading »
Concerns raised over expansion of Jefferson School
The Berkeley Unified School District is planning a major expansion to Jefferson Elementary School in 2013, but the plan to add new offices, classrooms, and a gleaming new library has drawn criticism from some parents.
The school district does not have enough space in the north zone for a projected increase in enrollment and is adding the new buildings to meet future demand, according to Mark Coplan, a spokesman for the district. A 2009 demographic study done by Davis Demographics determined the district needs room for 1,264 students but only has space for 1,180 pupils, according to school district documents.
The current $5.4 million plan, designed by WLC Architects, would create five classrooms in a new two-story building, another two-story structure that would house offices and a new library, and upgrade some of the existing facility. The district will hold a community meeting about the expansion on Thursday March 22 at 6:30 pm at the school. … Continue reading »
