BHS--recent experience with AHA?

My very artistic child decided not to do AHA and she had absolutely no regrets. It does have a reputation for being less academic, and from what we could tell, that reputation was accurate. My daughter graduated last year and was in AC. She had friends in AHA who hated it. I’m personally glad she didn’t choose it, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad SLC.  It just isn’t for everyone, and I think if your child wants strong academics, AC would be a good fit. You get more electives than IB and BHS has some pretty strong art teachers. 

If academics are important, I would not choose AHA. My kids didn't do AHA but some of their friends did. I am currently housing/helping a 21-y-o friend who went through AHA. She is completely unprepared for any type of continuing education or working career. She can barely spell well enough to create a grocery list that someone else can decipher. No doubt she arrived at BHS as an 8th grader with poor academic skills, but she sailed through AHA all four years with passing grades, got her diploma, and then they enrolled her at Berkeley City College upon graduation. I assume this was to improve AHA's college attendance rates because it should have been completely obvious to any of her teachers that she would not survive a day in a college-level class, and now, she will not consider taking any other class ever again, not even an art class, because of the confusion and humiliation she felt when she attended BCC that one time. 

A cynical person might say that AHA exists for the kids who need more help than BHS is able to or willing to provide. There are few resources at BHS for students with learning disabilities, especially kids who don't have parents advocating for them.  So instead of getting the help and support they need to succeed - the kind of resources that more affluent LD students have access to, like tutors and therapists, individualized instruction, vocational guidance, summer classes - they are parked in programs like AHA for 4 years and then sent on their way. 

I think that a child who is self-motivated and well-supported at home would be fine in AHA.  But AHA does not exist to give students a high school education. Its target audience is the kids who can't do high-school-level work. BHS provides an excellent education for students who are motivated or have involved parents who make sure they stay on track and get the help they need. But what happens to the kids who don't have those things is shameful.

Hi all - I just wanted to give a different perspective about AHA. My son graduated from AHA in 2021 and he really benefited from the smaller community. There are some amazing teachers in AHA - Devon Brewer, Amanda Toporek, Miriam Stahl (RAD Women series), Andrea Sanguine, Mat Glaser, Laura Gorrin, Kate Garfinkel, among others. My experience with most of the team was amazing. It’s true that students don’t have access to all of the APs, but some kids aren’t interested in those classes. I’m on my second kid going through Berkeley High and my opinion is that the education is what your kid makes of it there. As with any large school, there are challenges. And as a neurodivergent family that accesses special education services, my kids and I have other obstacles to navigate. But I just wanted to give a different take on the small-school experience at BHS. 

I'm no fan of AHA, my son was assigned to it and hated it, but having read a recently posted response I'm compelled to comment on its inaccuracies about how students are assigned to AHA. It is not, as the writer suggested, that "AHA's target audience is the kids who can't do high-school-level work." The assignment algorithm BHS uses to put students into Small Learning Community (AHA, CAS, AMPS) is a black box that is largely but not exclusively based on student choice, but for certain placement into AHA is not based on a student's having a learning disability or poor academic standing. Berkeley High is a huge school of over 3000 kids, seemingly the right environment for Small Learning Communities; the reality is they lock students into taking most of their classes with specific teachers and a pool of 60 classmates for 3 years. CAS students seem to be the most satisfied as CAS lives up to providing a community. Unquestionably, regardless of whatever BHS learning community students are assigned to, those with parental support and privilege do better than many of their low-income peers who lacked these resources in elementary and middle school and won't find support much at Berkeley High.

My younger son graduated from AHA in 2012.  Many of the good teachers mentioned by the previous poster were there at that time--and they are good--at least as good as the teachers at the top private school my older son went to in Atlanta.  Plus the benefit of the small learning community is the teachers get to know the students and vice versa.  I was moved to tears at the AHA graduation ceremony when all graduates gave short speeches--many credited AHA with getting them to that point (and many indicated limited family support...). 

That said, my son did "get by" with least effort possible.  He went to University of Puget Sound and did not have the study or social skills to manage, despite having a learning center coach.  I think it comes down to knowing your child and what they need to thrive--personally and academically.  BHS is a complex environment.  I have enormous respect for the teachers and students who try to make it work.