All teachers are committed to get homework accessible to students through the website.  But the staff is also engaged in trying to transition to using PowerSchool as the main method to communicate with parents and students about both assignments and grades.

We have a commitment as a staff to making homework accessible online to families and other adults working with our youth, as well as to the students.  We've trained our students to go to our bhscpa site for that information.  In order for our school to move to using the PowerSchool
portal for this purpose, we have to train our students and our parents in accessing that information, and we have to train our teachers in posting the information. 

Parents have been offered training at the last two parent meetings, and the school has sent information home as well.  Training the students will ensure further parent trainings, particularly if we make it a part of the student training: extra credit points if they get their parent or another
adult with whom they work on homework to demonstrate their ability to check the site. 

Students could be trained if teachers at every grade level (advisory lead teachers?) make learning how to access the portal an assignment for class, bringing in the computers to allow them to do it where problems can be addressed.  15 to 20% of our students do not have access to computers at
home, so we need to make sure that we are supporting them to work with a mentor or other supportive adult to access the site here at BHS.  We have asked teachers to continue working to send assignments to Lisa Lee until students have done this step so that we know students and their supportive
adults can access the information.

Teachers have been mostly getting up to speed on using PowerTeacher to assess.  Most of us are just getting down using it as a gradebook and haven't started using the planning capacity of the program.  It is a relatively simple process to upload our assignments to PowerTeacher's gradebook, but we would need another training with some time to get set up
that way to be able to fully transition.  We are now trying to set that training up.


Annie Johnston, Coordinator
Community Partnerships Academy
Berkeley High School
(510) 644-4587
AJohnston@berkeley.k12.ca.us

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Our mission is to nurture and develop individual strengths to ensure that every student achieves at their highest level and is prepared for college and careers in fields serving community needs. We create teams that foster a climate of integrity and respect as we work together to develop both the capacity and the commitment to participate in building and leading healthy communities.

What We Do

The Community Partnerships Academy (CPA) offers its students a full college preparatory curriculum that meets the requirements of all major colleges and universities, including the a-g academic requirements of the University of California. College prep core classes include English, history, math, science, world language and the arts. The CPA teaching philosophy stresses a hands-on, project based curriculum that helps students see the relevance of academic subjects to real life and future career options. 

The CPA provides students with opportunities to learn and be active in their communities by providing internships with local non-profit organizations, engineering, biotech, computer, government and health institutions. CPA students can elect to take college level, advanced placement (AP) English and math classes in CPA. All AP science, world language and art classes may be taken through a partnership with the larger school.

Check Out the Berkeley High - CPA Group on FaceBook

A Message From Our Director, Annie Johnston

The Community Partnerships Academy prepares students to take the lead in their own lives and to contribute to the life of their communities. We provide students with the skills, knowledge and resources to develop their strengths and pursue their college and career goals, including academic preparation that meets the a-g requirements for college admission into the UC/CSU system. Core classes include english and history each semester of all four years, with other Academy classes to choose from: math, science, foreign language, art and electives. Students take some classes in the main school and individual scheduling needs can often be accommodated. Academy teachers integrate the curriculum around themes related to community through project-based service and experiential learning. Throughout the students' experience in the Academy, they are directly involved with community organizations that are focused on but not limited to human services, such as law, health and government. We are committed to creating a school community in which all students are welcome, every student counts and every student achieves.

 Contact Annie Johnston:
(510) 644-4500
cell (510) 612-0404