We, the undersigned parents, guardians, teachers, staff members, administrators, and students of Berkeley High School wish to declare our support for the Redesign Plan that was put forward on November 18, 2008, by a representative and highly-qualified group of 19 BHS teachers, with participation from the parent and student community.

We understand that the achievement gap at Berkeley High School, under which many African American and Latino students at BHS are not being provided the structure, support, and resources necessary to academically succeed, is unacceptable, and that the time for bold action is now. The Redesign Plan is intended to address this achievement gap through a number of measures with the ultimate outcome being the academic success of all students at BHS.

In particular, we support the implementation of Advisories which will increase the personalization of the student experience at BHS, and give each student a relationship with an Advisor who will be responsible for mentoring the student, connecting her or him with appropriate resources, and providing access to the crucial information and student support necessary for that student to flourish at BHS.

We also support the implementation of a comprehensive professional development plan for BHS teachers, so that certificated staff are fully trained in how to teach Advisory, effective at teaching in the proposed 90 minute block scheduling, and better understand how to work in classrooms with a diverse group of students.

In summary, we believe that this Redesign Plan is an important step forward for Berkeley High School complying with the spirit and letter of the 2020 Vision that the Berkeley Board of Education and the Berkeley City Council unanimously approved in 2008, because it will allow for:

Personalized Student Support
- Advisory two days a week for 30 minutes each
- Block Schedule (successfully implemented at King and Willard Middle Schools)
- Academic help during the school day

Professional Development for Teachers
- Improved achievement for ALL students.
- Focus on equity
- Ability of teachers to instruct students with different learning styles
- Teachers to have more time to collaborate and share best practices

Accountability
- Program evaluation by independent company
- Goals set for small learning communities
- Student evaluation of teachers
- Administrators to hold teachers accountable for quality instruction & professional growth.

It is time for change at Berkeley High School, and for all students to be provided with what they need to succeed academically. The Redesign Plan moves us, as a school community, forward toward this goal. We look forward to continuing to work together on all the elements of this Redesign Plan so that implementation in September 2009 will be successful.