PE at Berkeley High
My son will be entering Berkeley High next fall. He wants to complete his PE credits in the first two years, since he anticipates taking lots of AP courses in his junior and senior years. He wants to run cross-country in the fall; I thought he could take a spring semester PE course, but I just looked at the course catalogue and it looks like PE courses are all year-long. Is this right? What can he do in the spring to get 5 credits, if he doesn't want to do YMCA classes? (This is assuming there will be in-person school and sports a year from now!). Thanks in advance
Oct 17, 2020
Parent Replies
That is correct. PE classes at BHS are a full year. He shouldn’t discount the Y so quickly tho - it is actually a pretty decent program and he would only need two semesters of it if he runs XC his freshman and sophomore years. If he runs all four years, he wouldn’t need the Y at all.
A lot of Freshmen start out at BHS worried about fulfilling the PE requirement, but it isn't actually that big a deal and there are many ways to do it. Your son could run cross country all four years for example. Kids need exercise even while taking AP classes and there is really no reason to fulfill this requirement as quickly as possible. Lots of students play on sports teams while also taking heavy course loads...and if college admissions is a consideration, it looks better to have a solid extracurricular that he participates in for all four years. He might also find other interests along the way such as mountain biking, ultimate frisbee, or dance. Berkeley High has so much to offer and taking a PE class means possibly missing out on taking something more interesting such as art or music. Also, the dance classes count towards the PE credit. Best of luck at Berkeley High School!