[BHS etree] PTSA REMINDER: Dec. 2 Advisories/Block Scheduling Proposal Meeting: All Parents Need To Get Informed!

[bhs at idiom.com]

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to the etree, contact Mark van Krieken
[markvk4 at comcast.net]

Tuesday night, December 2, at 7:00 PM at St. Joseph the Worker Church,
at 1640 Addison Street in Berkeley, Principal Jim Slemp will be
hosting the second of two public forums for informing the BHS
community on the proposed academic changes for Berkeley High.  We
cannot encourage you strongly enough to attend.

The Berkeley High School administration is proposing significant
changes for the High School and all parents owe it to themselves (and
to the school community) to attend tomorrow night's meeting and get
completely familiarized with what is being recommended.

Over the past year, the BHS Redesign Committee (a group of
consultants, BHS staff & teachers, a parent and a student) have been
exploring various possibilities for addressing the achievement gap at
Berkeley High and how to better address the needs of all of our
students.  The committee's recommendations were initially made public
two weeks ago, at a School Governance Council meeting on Tuesday,
November 18th.  They were then presented the following night to the
BUSD School Board by Principal Slemp, with the first public forum
having been held this past Monday before Thanksgiving.

As we mentioned in an earlier etree posting, the main proposed changes
are:

1) The formation of a new, 7th small school at BHS.  The school would
begin in the fall of 2010.

2) The creation of advisories -- two 30 minute advisory periods each
week on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  The advisories would start in
the fall of 2009.  A curriculum has not yet been developed.

3) A four-by-four block scheduling format would be implemented,
starting in the fall of 2009.  The schedule would be alternating days
of periods one through four on one day and periods five through eight
the next.  

4) Student Support & Community Access Periods:  Students taking six
classes in the current schedule format would take six classes in the
new format with one period per day free to pursue a variety of options
(to be explained at tomorrow night's meeting) - both off-campus and
on-campus possibilities have been mentioned.

A major result of the proposal is the reduction of instructional time
in each subject class by 25.5%.   The current schedule has students
attending six 55 minute classes per day, or 1650 minutes per week
(1630 when accounting for one late start day per month).  The new
format would have a student with the same class schedule taking three
90 minute classes on Mondays and Fridays, three 80 minute classes on
Tuesdays and Thursdays and three 65 minute classes on Wednesdays
(every Wednesday would be a late start day).  This would give a total
of 1215 minutes of instructional time per week, or a drop of 25.5%.
When adding the two 30 minute advisories in, the reduction of overall
instructional time is 22%.  How the extra time is to be spent by
students and by teachers is best heard at the meeting.

For a complete copy of the Design Committee's proposal, please visit
http://bhsacademicchoice.com 

There are lots of opinions about many aspects of the proposal and its
potential impact on Berkeley High's students.  All parents need to
make a strong effort to get informed and be as knowledgeable as
possible about the current debate.  Once again, the forum is Tuesday
night, December 2nd at 7:00 PM at St. Joseph the Worker Church, at
1640 Addison Street in Berkeley.

We Hope To See You There!