Lead Teacher: Gabriel Berent
Visual & Perfomring Arts Web Site
Visual & Performing Arts Staff
Take a look inside the art programs offered at Berkeley High School in this 2019 video produced by students in the Advanced Video Production class.
Arts programs are a vital component of a well-rounded education for all students. Berkeley High’s Arts programs provide excellent preparation for the student who plans to focus on the arts in college or career. The BHS community believes that art courses benefit all students because the process of creating and critiquing art engages students in higher order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and flexible, imaginative thinking.
The California Department of Education published data that solidly supports art education for all students. An excerpt: “Research shows that students of the arts continue to outperform their non-arts peers on the SAT. According to the College Board, 1995 SAT scores for students who studied the arts for more than four years were 59 points higher on the verbal and 44 points higher on the math portion than students with no course work or experience in the arts.”
The four art disciplines of the BHS Arts Department: Dance, Music, Drama, and Visual Arts, cover the California State Board of Education Arts Standards for artistic perception, creative expression, historical and cultural context, aesthetic valuing and connections, relations and applications. Almost all classes fulfill the Visual and Performing Arts requirements for BHS and UC/CSU eligibility. Art electives are year-long classes. Offerings may vary yearto-year, dependent on student sign-up. Students should provide first and second choices and may not receive their first choice.