Berkeley Adult School

They have gone through 2 principals in 2 years and the faculty, though well intentioned, are largely retirees who are tenured from their time teaching kids and since they are tenured, they are not required to updatwe or even show continuing proof of competency in their fields of expertise. The lack of technology skill on the part of the entire school staff and faculty is pretty shocking. There are other better just as cheap venues for adult learners. Why and how this school survives is either because Berkeley Unified School System is too messed up for the same reasons to step in and do something about this mess or the city of Berkeley itself is too stupid, weak, or both. Berkeley tax payers, what is wrong with you guys!

A great place to pick up new software skills.
They don’t have a huge selection of classes but they do have Adobe Dreamweaver, InDesign and Photoshop CS available in a one-​day introductory workshop ($ 55) or in 10-​week courses ($ 120) in Levels I and II. Day and night classes available.
I have really come to enjoy my twice-​a-​week Photoshop class and I’m learning real-​world skills.

I thought $ 100 for an 8 week Spanish course was a pretty good deal. Turns out it was too good to be true. The instructor is a fluent Spanish speaker of Mexican heritage, born and raised in the country. What luck! I had taken Spanish classes in high school, just the basics without any significant cultural emphasis. Turns out the instructor was a total dud, wasting the first two of our precious classes on personal introductions only. Keep in mind that each class is 2.5 hours long. The instructor asked each student to tell a little bit about ourselves using as much Spanish as we know. Each «introduction» felt more like an interrogation and if course, it’s a beginners class everyone was speaking English. I raised my hand during one if our instructors long-​winded, off-​topic tangents asking when we would be learning some vocabulary and I was accused of being impatient. Well maybe I am, because halfway through class number 3, I walked out the door and will never again take a Spanish class at BAS. If you are looking for a good language class, I recommend Piedmont Adult School. I have since taken a Spanish class there which was wonderful. Prices are slightly elevated but if I remember correctly the course runs longer than 8 weeks.

I paid $ 60 for a language class and it was pretty much what I expected. Very chill, friendly students and friendly, interesting professor. However, because the cost is only $ 60 and because most people are learning just for fun, you get people in the class who are not very committed. This impacts you because in order to keep everyone engaged the professor has to backtrack to keep everyone on the same page. It was a good refresher class, but I’m not sure you could learn from scratch unless you were very dedicated and did a lot of work outside of class — I think this would be true of any language class that meets just once a week, however. For $ 60, well worth it.

I took my CNA exam here and the facility was very large and quite nice. School was in session, and it seemed very full!

I took a year of ESL there, it was pretty good. You can choose between morning, afternoon or evening class and it’s super cheap. My teachers were good but i heard that some of them are not so good.
I also took a spanish class, it was okay but low. Still cheap !
Now i am taking a latin dance class and i love it !!

I too find the Photoshop class amazing. There is always something new to learn and I just keep coming back. Yeah for Berkeley offering this very affordable education useful for amateurs and professionals alike.

B.A.S.: Such a deal. I’m taking a 10-​week, 3 hour per class, Intermediate PhotoShop class. Price tag: 50 bucks. Where can you touch that? Take a two day intensive somewhere and it’ll set you back $ 700. And the teacher is excellent – knowledgeable, pleasant, and well-​prepared. I like the vibe in B.A.S. too. A lot of ESL classes and the like. I like looking into the classrooms and seeing people who are trying to better their lives.

I was terribly disappointed with my experience here.
I signed up for a 10-​week screenwriting course. The pricetag: $ 140. Too good to be true? You bet.
First off: Since only three people were enrolled, the school cut the number of sessions from 10 to six. There was no option for a refund. We were given an option to take the class next semester, but the whole class had to have a consensus … so you couldn’t just decide on your own that you would rather not pay the full price for fewer classes.
Our teacher, while well-​intentioned, was below par. I had to ASK him to talk about structure, which is only the backbone of screenwriting, after listening to hours of him pounding on about his career and his beefs with the industry. Eventually I just stopped going.
Next time I’ll spend a little more and hopefully get a lot better.