Concurrent enrollment question
I'm having trouble finding answers to some specific questions regarding concurrent enrollment while attending Berkeley High OR Berkeley Independent School. I wonder if anyone out there can provide some BTDT guidance. Here goes:
1.- If attending Berkeley High, how many classes/units can a student take from a different accredited school (Berkeley Community College and/or Stanford Online High School, for example) each semester?
2.- Does this vary by grade level?
3.- What is the process like to make this happen?
4.- Same questions for Berkeley Independent School.
5.- Follow-up question about WHO at BIS might be a good contact willing to speak with a prospective HS parent with these. No luck finding this person yet!
Thanks in advance!
Oct 7, 2019
Parent Replies
Hi there. My son is a Senior at the Berkeley Independent Study program.
1 / 2. Call the front desk at BHS and the volunteers will help you answer this question. When my son switched over from BHS to BIS, he was told he could not take any classes outside BHS until he was a Junior. That may have changed which is why it's important to call BHS
3. All changes to classes is handled by a students academic advisor. When my son started failing at BHS, is was his academic advisor who got him set up with a 504, helped him get through his exams, and provided him the information needed to transfer over to BIS.
4. Call BIS and ask to speak with someone who can help you navigate the intake process. Get on the list of interested students. There are information sessions monthly. The Head of School is Heidi Weber and there are academic counselors who can speak with you.
5. At BIS, a full load is 3 classes because classes complete a year of work in one semester. Students must take two classes at BIS, then are free to take additional classes at other schools, including BHS, Berkeley Community College, etc. Important to note that it can be very difficult to get into popular BHS classes because BIS students are added last, after all BHS students.
Hope this helps.
Mom to former BHS and current BIS Senior
Hi there, A google search for "berkeley community college concurrent enrollment high school" turned this up:
https://web.peralta.edu/admissions/enrollment-steps/high-school-student…
From what I understand, if the class is offered by BHS or BIS, the student cannot take it at another school (BCC or otherwise). For example, since BHS/BIS offers AP Calculus, the student can't take it elsewhere. However, my daughter took Statistics at BCC during the summer before her senior year (since no summer stats was offered).
For Berkeley High School, there is a process. The first time the student goes through BCC enrollment, BHS requires the student to go through their academic counselor and registrar for signatures, and there may be a placement test requirement at BCC depending on which class the student wishes to take. Then the student gets an appointment window to enroll in the class (es) they wish to take. After the first semester at BCC, the student is in the system and it's a lot easier to enroll in classes for future semesters.
At BIS the process is a little different; BIS admin assists in concurrent enrollment, but the student will still have to go through the BCC process first to get in the system. My suggestion is to go to one of the orientation sessions offered by BIS and you can ask anyone your questions there. Hope this helps.
As with anything in BUSD, policies may have changed since last time we did this (my daughter just graduated from BIS last year). And you might get conflicting responses from staff due to such policy changes, staff turnover and resulting loss of institutional knowledge, or just misinformation. You might want to get confirmation from more than one source.
Best of luck!
Hi! My daughter is a sophomore at BIS, she currently takes two classes at BCC that is the maximum they can take all the way to Senior (2 classes per semester) BUT they only get HS crédito for one.
The process is super simple, you go to the office (BIS) un working hours, they give you a form to fill, the student has to get teachers signatures and has to have acceptable grades, take that sheet to the institution, college, or whatever, and get registered!
Good luck!