New Schedule Revealed

On Wednesday, October 28, the newest version of the Berkeley High School redesign plan was presented to the Berkeley School Board for approval. The most recent incarnation of the redesign program, begun in the spring of last year, aims to create a more personalized environment for all BHS students by switching to a trimester schedule, changing the number and length of classes per day, and introducing an advisory period. The proposed plan is intended for implementation beginning in the 2010-2011 school year.

According to Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) Superintendent Bill Huyett, the redesign plan includes time designated for staff development, as incorporated into this year’s schedule, an advisory program, and additional features intended to expand opportunities for students and create better working conditions for teachers. “Parts of [the schedule] have been implemented, and parts of it we’re working on,” explained Huyett. “Specifically, the big thing we’re working on is the schedule and how advisory works with that schedule.”

The proposed plan is based upon research conducted by a design committee composed by BHS community members. Formed in the spring of 2009, the committee meets twice a week to discuss the schedule, and has visited schools with various schedules to see how well they work.

Among the schools the committee visited were San Louis Obispo High School and Grenada High School in Livermore. All schools were chosen for their proximity to BHS, and the variety of scheduling that they offered.

Ashley Milton, a member of the handpicked design committee, said that at visits the committe would meet with administration, teachers, and students to discuss the schedule. At one point, they talked to “an entire class of students about how they felt about their bell schedule, and what they thought the pros and cons were,” she said. Milton felt that the visits, because of the wide variety of people that were spoken to, presented a relatively unbiased view of the effectiveness of each schedule within the parameters of the school.

Based upon the success of the different schedules the design committee witnessed and the goals of the redesign plan, the trimester system was chosen as the optimal system for BHS.

Although the plan was considered with struggling students in mind, Huyett said he feels confident that already successful students will not be adversely impacted. Discussing the success of high-achieving students in the new plan, Huyett stated, “This was a big consideration last year as well as this year. It is something that in the design will continue to be considered. As we look at other school systems that have implemented the trimester system, there’s flexibility in how long classes are, that is how long in the year they are. The school has got to work through that and ask, ‘How do we use time effectively with these kids?...That was one of the criticisms of what was being proposed last year. It was just less. This is different than that, in that courses could actually have as much as 26 percent more time, if you chose to have them as three trimester classes.”

However, there is disagreement on this point from some students. According to Noah Teller, a BHS senior and student representative to the School Governance Council, “AP and IB classes will not be able to fit all of their course material into the allotted time unless they are given three trimesters to complete their coursework. Due to the fact that we only have five periods a day, this would mean that IB students would not be able to complete all the courses necessary for the diploma, and the scheduling freedom of students who elect to take AP classes would be severely reduced.”

There is some student opposition to the redesign, based on varying aspects of the plan and on the administration’s approach. However, there has not been any major coordinated opposition to the plan thus far.
There are two slightly differing versions of the plan being proposed, called the “red” schedule and the “gold” schedule. Both follow the trimester system, and the main difference between them is the nature of the advisory period.

As Milton explained, “the red schedule would have an advisory that is a one-trimester course for freshman and a one-trimester course for sophomores. The gold schedule would have advisory for all four grade levels, twice a week, for 29 minutes.”

Rene Jasso, a student member of the scheduling committee, discussed the positive and negative aspects of both plans. “With the red plan, which is one trimester of advisory, students would get to meet with their advisor every day for 70 minutes,” she said. “We thought it was important for freshman to have that connection with the advisor because they’re transitioning to high school, and for sophomores just because college advisors said it was the best place to start with college-going culture and everything. In terms of cons, juniors and seniors, don’t get that connection, or don’t get to keep that connection.”

The gold plan is more complicated, Jasso said, as it would require that all teachers serve as advisors, regardless of their interest in doing so. “With unwilling teachers, it might turn into just a study period, or turn into a period where nobody does anything, which we’re trying to avoid. It’s tending toward the red plan at this point.”
Jasso also noted that the content of the advisory period would range based on grade level and small school. “For the freshmen, advisory would be sort of teaching them what high school is all about... Teaching them how to take notes, or teaching them other things like organization methods,” she explained. “A lot of advisory would be focused on college-related stuff.” Advisory curriculum would be standardized under the plan, but would give teachers leeway to develop more personalized curriculum.

The redesign plan was reviewed by the Berkeley School Board on Wednesday, October 28. On Thursday, November 5, there will be a community forum during which the redesign committee will give a presentation of the plan in the BHS library. Finally, the School Governance Council (SGC), a council comprised of BHS team leaders, Principal Slemp, parent representatives, and student representatives, will meet on either November 10 or 17 to discuss the outline. If the plan makes it through these rounds of approval, it will go back to the school board for a vote. If passed, the plan will be instituted next fall.