Berkner High School

1600 East Spring Valley Road

School District

Richardson Independent
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

School Map for Richardson Independent School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by other on August 29, 2024

get rid of yonder pouches. absolutely terrible, students bypass by putting a burner phone in the pouch, and have the real phone in their hand. School buys yonder pouches but cant afford a decent meal for lunch. GET RID OF YONDR. last year without yondr, so many students had the freedom to use their phones during lunch, and now it is just a anxiety jail. GET RID OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by parent on February 26, 2024

My daughter graduated 3 years ago and she was lucky. She is smart and driven but just the other day she lamented how poorly Berkner prepared her for college. She was blessed to get a 95% fully covered tuition to an East Coast Baby Ivy and she will tell you she had to learn to study because Berkner was insanely easy, teachers gave out As like candy and this kid took 14 AP classes. The sports teams are underfunded and under coached. The school is diverse and so diverse it is actually tribal. Those that attend know that the school is very segregated by ethnic groups. My daughter at first thought the diversity was fun but later she realized it was actually felt like a very small school because how the students separate into clans. She knows this because she transferred from Marcus High School also diverse but a school with a high level of spirit and identity with being a part of the campus at a level that Berkner kids and parents could not understand if Berkner is all they know. Of the 4 RISD HS, Berkner is the bottom of the barrel in academics and sports. Sadly, Berkner 20 years ago was highly rated and had a proud history of academics and sport and other extracurricular activities but all that is gone. Drive to the school mid-day and see students wandering the campus grounds like zombies. My daughter said the school knows kids wander around but about 1/3rd of the students are ignored and forgotten. If your kids is a top 5% kid, taking all AP, the best teachers are teaching the few that take the AP classes so you can do make do. Worst part is the entire RISD system is losing ground quickly to their ISD peers across the state. An ISD that not long ago was A rated is falling very fast so Berkner is at the bottom of an ISD falling from Exceptional to Below average compared to all public schools in Texas.
Submitted by parent on February 17, 2024

My son attends this school, and he has had an excellent experience. It is a "very" diverse school, which is a benefit for everyone who works at and attends it. The students and staff get the opportunity to engage with a wide variety of cultures, which provides them an opportunity to learn about and respect people who are different than them. He is friends with many people of different races and cultures, and he appreciates each of his relationships. My son is receiving a good education. He takes AP classes and participates in extracurricular activities. His teachers require him to put in the work to achieve his good grades. He hasn't had any issues with bullying and overall is enjoying his time at this school. Not everyone values diversity, which may be the reason for the negative reviews. If you like a solid education and appreciate your child learning around all types of people, you will think this is a great school. Also, we enjoy living in this area. We feel safe, we have the best relationship with our neighbors, and we appreciate the diversity of cultures. We also love hearing the band practice in the morning during prime band season.
Submitted by other on January 06, 2020

Excellent, anyone coming is sure to have fun while learning great things!
Submitted by student on March 23, 2018

Amazing!!!It was the best!Everyone was nice and I got into Yale
Submitted by student on March 20, 2018

I would give anything to get a decent education. Going here took away years of education. I have learned nothing from this place. I loved my other schools, but this one is pretty bad.
Submitted by student on August 11, 2017

Berkner doesn't instill good character, students should and could be doing better academically, the class sizes are too big unlike what great schools has written and school events are chaotic. Overall the school's administration is poorly organized. You can see the strain on RISD as a whole as it struggles to deal with the growing population, families moving here because they were told it is a good school district. RISD is not what it was 5 years ago, I would not recommend this school as it's Stem courses are all hype and over exaggerated. Nor would I recommend moving here for the school District.
Submitted by parent on May 26, 2016

This is a fantastic school. Do not let people influence you toward Richardson HS or Pearce HS. Berkner has a better music program by far, similar or better teachers and curriculum, and the neighborhood is slightly less expensive and less crowded. I like diversity and if you look at the pie chart, every race is represented equally and there is every country on earth represented at Berkner.