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The name of my high school is Berkeley Prep High School. Berkeley Prep will create a unique, and transformative space that will forge its students for globally connected minds. Berkeley Prep will foster a compassionate community that creates inclusive pathways to help empower student learners and make a positive impact. Our school will make sure all students’ voices are heard and valued regardless of their backgrounds and culture. Ultimately, Berkeley Prep is a place where students can nurture and achieve their highest potential.

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Our school is a non-profit local public school, and most of the findings will be provided using the government budget. Therefore, this means that parents will not be paying tuition. We chose to be a public school because we believe everyone deserves equal access to primary and secondary education. Our school offers free tuition including bus transportation and lunch fees, our school helps support family students who come from a family background with low annual income. This enables students from different socioeconomic backgrounds to thrive on our campus.

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We understand that zoning might be a discouraging factor for students who may come from different backgrounds. In order to prevent biased zoning admissions, we will be designing our schools into a magnet school, in which we have programs that welcome people with different socio-economic backgrounds to attend. Our school will be dedicated to breaking the link between neighborhood and school. Our school will serve multiple attendance zones, so students from different areas can attend regardless of their racial and socioeconomic background. To implement the magnet school policy, we will also offer free transportation that will drop off students from different areas and ensure that they can attend regardless of the zones that they live in.

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Our school also promotes equal access to academic opportunities regardless of background. We foster an environment where students can explore various  fields of study, especially STEM fields that have traditionally lacked diversity. For example, the school will introduce academic challenges such as mathematics or physics competitions and encourage all students to participate.  We are committed to providing  a variety of courses and learning opportunities to students of all genders and backgrounds, helping make their dreams more realistic. We hope to expand participation in STEM fields, especially among female students, giving them  more exposure to STEM fields and encouraging them to pursue their interest with confidence.

Our school will also dedicate itself to raising awareness in eliminating racial discrimination in STEM fields. Courser, a student at UC Davis, reported that he has a feeling of exclusion and microaggressions from subtle forms of discrimination, which made it hard for him to concentrate during the program. Our school will utilize all resources available such as counselings and teacher assistance to help eliminate micro-aggression and create a safe space where students can find their passion and continue to thrive.

We believe that diversity is important because when students from different backgrounds collaborate, innovations and great ideas emerge. According to the Center of the Berkeley education, some research projects in STEM fields require creativity and innovation. This comes from teamwork and members having diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences, can lead to creativity. Students may also benefit from these learning opportunities.

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Our school includes grade 1 to grade 12. We apply different education curriculums to ensure a smooth academic journey for students. We use the standard Common Core curriculum for K-1 to K-9. This will give students the ability to choose and pursue International Baccalaureate programs or Advanced Placement programs during their high school time K-9 to K-12 school years.

From K-1 to K-9, we will be mainly enforcing the Common Core Standards education which focuses on:

Math: Content includes basic algebra, geometry, and series, and will prepare students for high school math starting from K-9 onwards.

Science: which incorporates physics, chemistry, and biology which allows students to explore their passion.

English/Language Arts: Students will be learning English and a new set of languages such as Spanish, Japanese, or other options while improving on the four criterias: Reading, Writing, Writing, and Listening where students have the options to learn a second language.

Social Sciences: This area covers history, sociology, and the introductory level of economics which helps students gain insights into social sciences.

In addition, the school will also incorporate critical race theory (CRT) in the curriculum from K-1 to K-12 through materials covered in the classroom. CRT provides instruction that is based on understanding students’ cultural backgrounds and integrating that  into the content more familiar and easier for all students to understand. With the incorporation of the CRT, students may find it easier to process information and digest the course materials in a relatable way while also being connected to and proud of their cultural backgrounds. This will help students become aware of who they are, thus offering a stronger sense of critical thinking skills as students are capable of approaching issues with multiple viewpoints. Therefore, students can solve issues on their own and become more successful.

Another advantage of incorporating CRT is it makes learning contextual. Instead of just telling students what happens throughout history,  teachers can explain to students what resulted in communities as a result of those historical events. Teachers can present concepts and enable students to draw parallels. In addition, CRT encourages students to leverage their cultural backgrounds. For example, the teachers can offer students to speak about their background when discussing historically minor communities or relevant topics in the classroom. Critical race theory allows students to have a voice and to find active ways to express their cultural capital, allowing each student’s voice to be heard.

Our school also decided to incorporate both the International Baccalaureate and the Advanced Placement Program for students to best achieve their potential and are challenged academically. These programs will be offered to all students and students can choose them based on their college counselor feedback.

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The Berkeley preparatory school will be pivoting away from the traditional standardized testings  towards focusing on emphasizing the ideas of participation and project-based learning activities. Specifically, for STEM classes such as mathematics, algebra courses, I would like to introduce project based learning such as team work. Students will no longer be instructed to take up to 2-3 hours of exam. An example of a grading scheme is: student’s participation (5-10%), homework(10-20%), and projects(40-50%), with examinations only accounting for less than 20% of the entire course. There may be multiple projects throughout the semester or a final cumulative project. Projects are graded based on students’ effort and the amount of improvements they make.

The main reason for lowering the weight of standardized testing is that our school does not want to use standardized testing to dictate students’ success. Instead of actually improving the quality of education, the NCLB has led to schools offering more opportunities to those who perform well while disregarding students who are struggling with the material. Although standardized testing is an economic way to evaluate a student's performance, it is not necessarily the most accurate since a student’s performance is impacted by a variety of things, like personality types and ability to handle pressure. For example, some students may perform worse than they normally do because they are stressed under timed exams or may be dealing with family or mental health issues. As a result, standardized testing is inherently biased, favoring those students who are good test takers. Standardized testing does not show a student’s full potential while limiting students’ opportunities to attain higher education as it evaluates students based on their achievements.

According to the presentation (Project Based Learning), the group shows that project-based learning can help students to learn in different ways and improve different skills such as students’ probabilistic reasoning. There is also flexibility in designing projects. Teachers can also incorporate presentations during the final stage of the group project. The presentation can both assess students’ progress and understanding and also provide them the opportunity to improve delivery.

Standardized testing will only serve the purpose of helping the students to understand where they stand during the semester, and it will not be used as a sole tool to indicate students’ progress. However, students’ international baccalaureate and advanced placement scores are solely dependent on student’s performance on external examinations based on the program instruction.

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Benefits of Project Based Learning (PBL) and STEM

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Bibliography:

Common Core:

https://www.cde.ca.gov/re/cc/

Berkeley Center of Academics Discussion on Diversity

https://ofew.berkeley.edu/academic-recruitment/faculty-contributions-regard-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-belonging-berkeley#:~:text=%E2%80%9CDiversity%20%E2%80%94%20a%20defining%20feature%20of,of%20culture%20and%20circumstance.%E2%80%9D%20%5B

Standardized Testings:

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-why-standardized-tests-arent-working-for-teachers-or-students/2019/06

Pros and Cons of Standardizes Testings:

https://bcourses.berkeley.edu/courses/1542146/assignments/8854549?module_item_id=17308059

Project-Based Learning:

From presentation Project Based Learning (Fiona Chan and Tommy Tran)

Culturally Responsive Teaching:

https://repository.library.brown.edu/storage/bdr:xe36uxrp/PDF/

Model Minority:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/these-groups-of-asian-americans-rarely-attend-college-but-california-is-trying-to-change-that

Stem Diversity:

1. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180123102002.htm

2. Why so few ? Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

3. https://edsource.org/2018/latino-african-americans-have-less-access-to-math-science-classes-new-data-show/598083

LGBTQIA:

Psychological Impact of Discrimination on LGBTQIA community:

https://time.com/7012940/anti-lgbtq-policies-impacting-queer-youth/

Video:

Roses in Concrete:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB8mTOiQXjY

Benefits of Project-Based Learning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDBsgzcG-MQ

Should America Get Rid of School Zones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbtQ_muI-tM&t=109s

Primary School EAL Programme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu9CkdmHEaM&t=84s

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Every teacher will need to attain bachelor's degrees in the fields that they are teaching to ensure that they comprehend the materials before teaching students. Our school will also ask teachers to have a minimum of 600 hours of teaching experience before entering the school. Teachers who are applying for multiple-subject teaching will also be required to have a Multiple-subject Teaching Credential, which is to pass the California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) as well as the Multiple Subject Teaching Examination (MSTE). This is to ensure that the quality of education helps prepare our students the most.

Teachers are also required to conduct extensive Critical Race Theory training to understand cultural diversity and the ability to foster communication among students. In addition, the entire faculty is also required to take formal training conducted by the school to understand the LGBTQIA community, concepts of Asian minority stereotypes, and how to support students with mental health issues.  This will also help support the lower income students, since many of them lack the access to these services.

Our school will also have a smaller classroom so our teachers can actively engage students and help them to learn the best. Our teachers will also be trained to mediate school bully, microaggression, and discrimination (as these will be non-tolerated). This helps to foster a more inclusive and compassionate community.

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The school can definitely incorporate sports programs, including soccer, basketball, tennis, cross country, and other activities that help with students’ physical and mental wellness because it helps to build stronger bonds between students and better teamwork ability. We are also considering introducing wind ensembles and orchestras. Research has shown that children ages 5-7, have found significant improvement in motor skills and measurable changes in the brain for memory and auditory-only after 15 months of music study. This can be a lifetime beneficial for children. In addition, our school is also looking to partner with chartered voluntary programs such as Habitat for Humanity, an organization that helps to build houses for homeless people. Through these voluntary programs, we not only hope to build a more compassionate community within our campus but also around us. A lot of students who come from lower socioeconomic status may not have the exposure to these activities and are limited in finding their passion. Our school is dedicated to help children like these to find out their career paths while developing their skills. In the end, we want to nurture and to inspire students along their academic journey.

Our school also believes parents play a vital role in their children’s education. Every year our school will host a career fair for high school students to explore their interests. We will invite parents who specialize in some industry such as law, business, or education to help give a presentation for students, allowing students to have a glimpse of what they want to pursue in the future.

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We pay particular close attention to the LGBTQIA community, and issues related to model minority stereotypes. We want to provide a place where students feel safe about their identity and would be able to consult with our professionals when in need. Our school is also dedicated to helping students who face psychological issues. Our physicians are specialized in dealing with students who might be associated with model minority stereotypes. We will also be training our therapists to understand the causes of anxiety and depression and to stop any suicidal attempts since it is the leading cause of ages 15-24 children for Asians.

We will also offer onsite tutoring where students can leverage the opportunity to refine what they learned in the classroom. These sessions will be free and are organized by different topics, for example, grade-9 teachers and math teachers may have 1 - 2 sessions from 3-4 pm per week. This provides valuable learning experiences for students. This is also helpful for students who come from a lower socioeconomic background and for those who do not have access to help tutoring at home.

Our school also provides one-to-one tailored college guidance and all necessary preparations for students, such as helping them with writing applications and standardizing test preparations. We want to help our students to find a university that they can thrive in for the next part of their life. We believe that every student needs a process of college selection and application that will best develop their passion and talents. The admission team understands the importance of college to students later on career and professional development. We also offer admissions help across the US, UK, and other countries, including the standardized tests and application materials required during the application process.

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Our school will be providing EAL or English As An Additional Language center. This is to help immigrant students who do not come with a background to have a better experience with learning English. Hence, we will have one-on-one tutoring which helps the students to get better, such as a teacher practicing oral speeches with a student weekly for an hour. This helps our students be up to pace in the classroom. During group projects, EAL will also help those students  participate more and help them communicate with their peers.

Our school will also provide deaf translators for students with disabilities. Deaf students need accommodations such as sign language interpreters to learn. This program will allow them to participate in classroom activities and not be isolated from their peers during classroom activities and studying.