Frequently Asked Questions

Spring 2004

Q. What are your office hours?
A. My office hours are from 8am - 4pm, Monday through Friday.

Q. What is the best way to reach you?
A. If it's a quick question then phone or email work equally well, although I have a slight preference for email. If the question is more complicated and requires follow-up, then email works better because it provides me with a record of the details of the situation.
Phone: 644-4578
Email: schang@berkeley,k12.edu
Room: D147 (new building)

Q. Are you the counselor for all CAS students?
A. I am the counselor for all CAS students, and for a group of non-CAS students. CAS comprises about three quarters of my caseload. I help CAS students with both their CAS classes and non-CAS classes.

Q. How are you notified if a student is having problems?
A. At present there is not one specific procedure. It often depends on the problem. However, the CAS staff and I are involved in developing a comprehensive student support system for next year.

Q. Could you describe the ideal procedure for a parent dealing with student problems?
A. If the problem is limited and specific, such as a student failing a particular class, then I strongly recommend that the parent contact the teacher first. A copy of the protocol for contacting CAS teachers and the CAS directory is attached. If a parent is having difficulty contacting a teacher, I can try to help connect them.
If the student is facing broader problems that affect her/his overall performance in school then I recommend that the parent call me directly. It helps if the parent can try to identify the student's core issue: subject difficulty, motivation, organization, conflict with a teacher or other student. I have more assistance to offer in some areas than in others.

Q. Do you prefer to meet with the student first, and then call in the parent?
A. I strongly recommend that students talk to the teacher or to me on their own first. It's important for students to develop the habit and skills to advocate for themselves and to negotiate situations in preparation for their increased responsibility in the future. Even when a parent can handle a situation more quickly, it is better to allow the student to attempt to manage it themselves first.

Q. Who is keeping track of attendance issues?
A. The Attendance office tracks the attendance of all Berkeley High students. CAS does not yet have its own attendance monitoring protocol although we are discussing it. There is a proposed school-wide attendance policy under discussion by the BHS staff.

Q. Who do I contact if my student's report card is incorrect?
A. Contact the BHS records coordinator, Rhonda Jefferson, for report card problems and the registrar, Barbara Mellion, for transcript problems.

Q. What are the dates for summer school?
A. June 21st through July 30th, 2004

Q. Does BHS accept make-up courses for failing grades from other institutions such as community colleges and correspondence institutions (BYU for example)?
A. Yes, BHS accepts make-up courses from any accredited school. Once the student has received a grade from the other school, they must have their transcript sent to BHS to have it included on their transcript.

Q. Do Ds in the freshman year count for the GPA? If not, is it necessary to make these up?
A. Grades in freshman year are not included in their college application GPA for UC and California State colleges and for many private institutions. However, these schools do require a C or better in all "college eligibility classes" (the UC "a" through "g" requirements). Ds in these classes must be made up in order to be eligible to apply to these colleges.

Q. How does a student change a class and/or change teacher?
A. Students can change courses (from Spanish to French, for example) during the "add period" at the beginning of each semester. Students either fill out a schedule change request form or come to my office when I'm open to see students. Changing teachers is not possible, as there is a strict "no teacher preference" policy at BHS. Exceptions are sometimes made for special education students.

Q. What is the purpose of proctoring, and can proctoring be counted as community service time?
A. The most common purpose of proctoring is to fill a gap in a student's schedule (it is similar to a study hall period). Since the budget cuts there have been fewer elective classes with space available, thus more gaps in schedules and more proctoring. Proctoring cannot be counted as community service.

Q. Who's who in CAS?
A. A copy of the CAS Communication Protocol and contact list of all CAS staff is attached.
Rick Ayers is the lead teacher, and as such is the head of CAS. This year CAS has more support staff than it's had in the past and for the first time CAS now has a part-time administrator. Matt Huxley is the Small Schools' Vice Principal and the administrator assigned to CAS. He also has many other school responsibilities.
There is also a newly formed CAS Leadership Committee that's made up of students, teachers, parents, and CAS staff. The Leadership Committee is in the process of developing the decision-making process for CAS.

Q. Is CAS planning to develop grade-level overviews?
A. Grade level overviews are being developed. These will provide a snapshot for each grade of academic and other highlights for that year.

Q. Who's in charge of Community Service projects within CAS?
A. Bill Pratt is the head of the Service Learning component of the CAS curriculum. A variety of teachers help with student placement. Bill Pratt and the teachers help place the Senior Seminar students.