Berkeley Unified School District serves 9,077 (2023-24) students enrolled in grades TK-12 in the Berkeley Unified School District:
- 3,290 high school students
- 1,917 middle school students
- 3,870 elementary students
Here are some statistics that tell you about our students:
- Ethnic diversity: 9% Asian, 12% African American, 41% White, 22% Latino, 16% Multi-ethnic/Other
- Languages spoken: more than 40
- 92.4% Cohort Graduation Rate (as compared to state-wide 86.4%), 2022-23
The Berkeley School District turned 145 years old in 2023; over the years many alums have found world-wide renown. A list of just a few of our more well-recognized alumni includes, alphabetically:
- Chidi Ahanotu, 1988 – NFL defensive end.
- Ambrose Akinmusire, 2000 – jazz trumpet player.
- Peter Apfelbaum, 1978 – multi-instrumentalist/composer
- Anastasia M. Ashman, 1982 – author
- Shooty Babitt, 1977 – Major League Baseball Player Oakland A’s
- Amir Bar-Lev, 1990 – documentary director/producer
- Don Barksdale, 1941 – All-American basketball player at UCLA; first African American on U.S. Olympic basketball team (1948); first African American to play in NBA All-Star Game (1953)
- David-Matthew Barnes, 1988 – novelist, playwright, poet and filmmaker
- Steven Bernstein, 1979 – trumpeter, slide trumpeter, arranger/composer and bandleader
- Elmer Bischoff, Artist
- Stephen Bishop, 1958 – classical pianist
- Audie Bock, 1963/64, California politician and film scholar
- Richard Bolt, 1928 – MIT physics professor; Created BBN (“Modem” and “e-mail”)
- John Brillhart, 1948 – mathematician, author of books on large-number factorization
- David Brower, Founder, Friends of the Earth
- Glenn Burke, 1970 – MLB baseball player
- Phil Chenier, 3-time NBA All-Star
- Je’Rod Cherry – NFL Safety, 1996-2004.
- Robert Culp, 1947 – actor
- Belva Davis, KPIX news
- Shirley Dean, Berkeley City Council member 1975-1982 and 1986–1994, and Mayor of Berkeley 1994-2002
- Philip K. Dick – author, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (in film as Blade Runner)
- Daveed Diggs, 2000, actor, rapper, singer and Tony Award Winner
- David Ellis, 1985 – jazz musician
- Ron Fimrite, Author, Journalist
- John Froines, 1957 – Chicago Seven defendant, state track title team member, UCLA professor
- Richard Gant, 1961 – television and film actor
- David Gardner, former UC President
- Joe and Eddie (Joe Gilbert and Eddie Brown), folk singers
- David Gordon – editor of Harvard Crimson, economist, syndicated columnist
- Benny Green, 1980 – jazz pianist
- Sandra Gulland, novelist
- Elihu Harris, 1965 – Mayor of Oakland, California, 1991–99, State Legislator
- Nina Hartley, 1977 – actress
- Tremaine Hawkins, Gospel Singer
- Gregory Hoblit, 1962 – television and film director, Director: Primal Fear, Fallen, Frequency
- Charlie Hunter, 1985 – guitarist
- Timothy Hutton, 1978 – film and television actor
- Ian Inaba, 1989 – music video/film director.
- Shelley Jackson – author of Patchwork Girl.
- Ruppert Jones – 1973 – MLB player, 2-time All Star
- Greg ‘Curly’ Keranen, 1973 – bassist, The Rubinoos, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
- Josh Kornbluth, 1975 – Monologist, writer, actor,host of the “The Josh Kornbluth Show”
- Jack LaLanne, 1935 – fitness educator
- John Lambert – basketball player at USC and in NBA for multiple teams
- Ursula K. LeGuin, Prolific Author, Poet, The Earthsea Trilogy
- Ronald A. Lesea, 1958 (d. 2004), inventor of Sylvania’s low-wattage light bulbs, dimmable fluorescent lamps
- Phil Lesh, 1957 – Grateful Dead bass player
- Laurie Lewis, Bluegrass Musician
- Mark London Williams, 1977 – author
- Eli Marienthal, 2004 – actor
- Billy Martin, 1946 – MLB Yankee second baseman, and manager of four playoff teams, (Twins, Yankees, Detroit, A’s) including one championship
- Lawrence McGrew, 1975 NFL Linebacker 1980 – 1991
- Leah Meyerhoff, 1997 – Student Academy Award nominated filmmaker.
- Dave Meyers, 1990 – music video/film director.
- Jesse Michaels – singer for Operation Ivy, Common Rider
- Dawn Monique Williams, 1996 – director
- Alison Muscatine, Rhodes Scholar, Speech Writer
- Hannibal Navies, 1995 – NFL
- Steve Odom, NFL Wide Receiver 1974 – 1977
- Johnny Otis, Musician
- Aaron Peskin, 1982 – President, Board of San Francisco City Supervisors
- Lenny Pickett – Saturday Night Live Saxophone player
- R. Kent Rasmussen, 1961 – prolific author
- Joshua Redman, 1986 – jazz musician
- Michael Ritchie, 1956 – film director
- Rebecca Romijn, 1990 – actress
- Galen Rowell, 1958 – wilderness photographer and climber
- Sam Ruben, 1931, Co-discoverer of C14, a radioactive isotope of carbon in 1940.
- Andy Samberg, 1996 – Actor, comedian
- Akiva Schaffer, 1996 – comedy writer and director, Saturday Night Live writer and director
- Ariel Schrag, 1998 – Cartoonist/graphic novelist
- Bobby Seale, 1954 – co-founder of Black Panther Party
- David A. Smith, 1976, co-discoverer of a large number of gamma-ray pulsars.
- Lloyd M. Smith, 1972, inventor of fluorescence-based automated DNA sequencing
- Elizabeth Treadwell, 1985 – poet
- Morrie Turner, Wee Pals Cartoonist
- Geoff Tyson – Acclaimed guitarist and record producer.
- Claudell Washington – MLB outfielder
- Pei-Yuan Wei, 1986 – created ViolaWWW, one of the first graphical web browsers.
- Thornton Wilder, c. 1915 – novelist and playwright, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author/Playwright, Our Town
- Charlotte Wilder, c. 1915 -poet and sister of Thornton Wilder
- Helen Wills-Moody, 8-time Wimbledon tennis champion