BAS provides an alternative method of continuing learning in an atmosphere which is sensititve and suited to the development of intellectual, physical, and social capabilities of its students.  to help students overcome barriers to learning, the program provides a supportive environment with specialized curriculum, instruction, guidance and counseling.

The program is designed to be a short-term intervention to ensure that students will succeed when they return to their home school. Students who begin the school year, and are successful, usually return to their home school at the end of the first semester.  Students who have been referred by the hearing officer stay at BAS for the remainder of the school year.

Admission Procedures

Before a student is enrolled at BAS, the school must first receive the students academic record from their home school. Referred students and parents are then scheduled for an intake meeting at BAS. Both the students and parents/guardian are required to attend this meeting to complete the enrollment packet, discuss expectations, school procedures, academic and behavioral goals, and to be scheduled for classes.

Leaving Berkeley Alternative

Berkeley Alternative School provides students who have not achieved success in a regular school setting an opportunity to be promoted to the next grade level or salvage some or all of their high school units. Many students are one or two grade levels behind when they enroll.

The school’s goal is to have students return to their home school and complete graduation requirements. BAS offers all core subjects including special education in middle and high school for grades sixth through 12th. Students receive a full day of instruction; high school students work on a 4x4 block schedule and middle school students take four core classes and two related arts classes.

Determining factors for students returning to their home school include the length of time they spent at BAS (typically they must spend one successful semester at BAS unless they are required to stay the entire school year), along with their grades, attendance and behavior.

BAS helps prepare its students to return to their home schools through counseling, direct instruction and positive behavior supports. Students need to pass three out of four classes, have five absences or less, and finish the semester with few or no major referrals to be eligible to head back to their home school (the school particularly looks at improvement in behavior throughout the semester).The Alternative School program is designed to serve as an "alternative" for Berkeley County students in the grades 6-12 who have been referred at the beginning of the school year by their home school administrator or have been referred by the school district's hearing officer. The program is designed to serve as a learning opportunity for students who have had difficulty adjusting to the regular classroom setting or who were discipline problems in the classroom or school it self.