Correction: This article has been edited to correct information that has now been verified.   The Berkeley Unified School District COVID-19 dashboard shows that in December 2022, 91 cases of COVID-19 were reported at BHS.

As Berkeley High School gears up for the 2022-2023 school year, the administration prepares to control the spread of COVID-19, given the high rates of transmission.  “What we know from the district, that sets out a COVID safety plan for all of our sites, is that we’re trying our best to go back to

Over two years ago, on March 12, 2020, California announced an official lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the mask mandate for California has come to a partial end.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the educational challenges it brought, the state of California has given school districts relief money to use as they choose.

Dawn Williams and Spencer Pritchard, both teachers in the African American Studies Department at Berkeley High School, had a vision for the department.

At its February 2 meeting, the Berkeley Unified School District School Board convened to commemorate this year’s Black History Month and review future steps regarding COVID-19 policies including mask mandates, testing, and employee vaccination requirements.

Starting on January 26, Berkeley High School recently implemented an optional COVID-19 surveillance testing plan that aims to test all 3,100 students twice per week.  According to Principal Juan Raygoza, over the first four days of the testing schedule, BHS administered 3,809 rapid tests and identified 22 positive cases.

Since Berkeley High School’s return from winter break, there have been more empty desks and missing teachers. This is no surprise, given that COVID-19 case counts across the country are surging due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

In the past few weeks, over 300 students attending Berkeley High School tested positive for COVID-19, due largely to the surge of the Omicron variant and increased rapid testing in Berkeley Unified School District.

The Berkeley Unified School District School Board held its first meeting of 2022 on Wednesday, January 5. Due to the Omicron variant’s spread across the United States as well as Berkeley and its public schools, the meeting focused on how the district is handling this COVID-19 surge.

At the beginning of this school year, there was no guarantee that classes would continue to be in-person. It was uncertain if masks would be required for the whole year, and many worried over the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak at school.

For a long time, student fights have been a large aspect of Berkeley High School. Fights have been witnessed on campus and spread through social media to the point where Instagram accounts have been made just for this reason.

One morning, Berkeley High School teacher and career advisor James Dopman woke up with a sniffle. In a normal year, he would have shrugged this off. After all, he felt relatively fine and had a history of allergies.

Students limiting who they’re in contact with, mask recommendations changing, and COVID-19 cases increasing — this feels all too familiar.  The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus has sent the world into a new state of panic, making Bay Area communities reconsider how they have handled in-person education in the era of COVID-19.

Unhoused people face many challenges surrounding receiving medical care in traditional health settings, such as high costs, stigma and discrimination.

​​At its September 22 meeting, the Berkeley Unified School District School Board discussed topics such as a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for eligible students, Latinx and BLM resolutions, and Berkeley High School’s sports teams’ need for accessibility to their gyms.

Berkeley High School ninth grader Zoe Glass pushed her way through the crowds at an outdoor Jonas Brothers concert on Friday, August 27. With her mask on and an intention to keep distanced from others, she said she took precautions to ensure she was safe and felt comfortable.