Berkeley Institute kicked off its annual family week with Chairman of the Berkeley Institute Board of Governors, Calvin White Sr., addressing students and parents on the history of the school.

The event is an orientation for incoming senior one(S1) students and their parents. Mr. White spoke about the school's "illustrious history" saying: "The Berkeley Institute had enjoyed more than 100 years of educational excellence and it was amongst the first of Bermuda's schools to offer academic programmes irrespective of gender or race."

He said the alumni of the school are part of Bermuda's academic, business and Government leaders. Mr. White explained teachers are " the key component in the delivery of quality education".

He went on to discuss the controversial graduation rate at the end of last school year. The chairman said: "The Berkeley Institute has always calculated its graduation rate in the same way.

"The administration divides the number of students who meet the requirements by the number of students in S4, in the BSC programme, at the start of the S4 year. This method has been consistently used at the school."

Mr. White added a student will not graduate if he or she hasn't met the required credits. If a student has not met those requirement, he or she will have to attend summer school. He added: "Within the framework of the School's Core Values, The Board of Governors remains steadfast in its mission to provide a standard of excellence in education at our school.

This can only be achieved with the professional and committed efforts of strong teachers who are devoted to the total development of the students at The Berkeley Institute."

For more information, please contact William Spriggs, director of Business Development and Communications on 337 0830 or via email wspriggs@ berkeley.bm.