Si tiene alguna duda sobre esta nota debido a la traduccion,
por favor comuniquese con Rafael Friedmann via email: rfriedmann@aol.com

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Emerson Families,

As we welcome the Year of the Rabbit with Lunar New Year 2023, it is with a heavy heart because of yet another senseless gun violence tragedy. Here in the Berkeley Unified School District and at Emerson Elementary, we denounce racism and racial profiling. What should have been a time of joy was turned into a day of horror in Monterey Park (and then two days later in Half Moon Bay). In our school community, we will double down on our commitment to being allies, standing with all groups who are marginalized and discriminated against. We will also continue to be a safe campus, with locked doors and procedures for identifying who is on our campus at any time. All campus visitors must enter the school through the front doors, sign in the front office and receive a sticker to identify themselves. We remain vigilant to keep our students and staff safe in our tumultuous world.

The School Site Council approved our plan for 2022-23 Restorative Restart Covid funding. This is the last year that we can expect to receive these funds from the state and federal governments. Now that we have approval, we will use the funds to increase our Counseling Support services for students by hiring a therapist to offer social skills groups to select students this spring. We are also ordering a class set of Chromebooks, which can be used in the younger grade classrooms to introduce them to technology and help prepare for assessments they will take in the upper grades. We support student literacy by refreshing and updating our “leveled reader” library. In addition, teachers will receive compensation for extra planning time outside of the work day. Finally, we will set up a fund to pay for additional campus supervision for special events and/or rainy days. We are grateful for the guidance of the Emerson Teachers and the School Site Council, who created and approved this plan for the use of our site's one-time funds.

The second trimester ends on Friday, February 10. Teachers and students will work on in-class writing projects, which will be reflected on the next report card. Second-trimester report cards will come home in backpacks on Friday, February 17. The school year is moving along - let’s continue to enjoy it- and we thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Jana Holmes

UPCOMING EVENTS AND KEY DATES

Thursday, January 26: Berkeley High School Open House

January 30 - February 3: No PTA After-school Classes

Friday, February 3: February All School Meeting, 8:30am

Monday, February 6: Spring 2023 After-school Classes Begin

Wednesday, February 15: PTA Association Meeting via Zoom, 8:00pm

Thursday, February 16: School Site Council Meeting, 7:00pm - via Zoom

Friday, February 17: No School (Lincoln’s Birthday)

Monday, February 20: No School (Presidents’ Day)

Add the Emerson Google Calendar to yours!

Note to Readers: BearFacts articles and calendar items are based on submissions from the community and reviewed and edited under the PTA communication policy. Inclusion of an item in BearFacts by itself does not indicate sponsorship or endorsement by the PTA, Emerson school staff, or BUSD.

Spring 2023 PTA After-school Classes

How to Sign Up, Class Descriptions, FAQs

The PTA volunteer team is proud to announce the Spring 2023 session of after-school classes. Registration is now open to everyone including LEARNS/Kids World families, and YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE!

Note that the number of classes is limited by the size of our school, both the potential participating families and the physical space available on campus. Also, please keep an eye out, as we might add a new class or two after this Spring session has begun.

Thank you for your patience while we prioritized enrollment for families who have no afterschool care options available, specifically for those whose needs are part-time.

For scholarship requests, questions, and suggestions, please reach out to enrichment@emersonelementary.org.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS aka "cat herders" for the first two weeks of Afterschool Classes! Please sign up here for a 15-minute shift (or two!) - we are ALL volunteering to make this program work!

Art Corner

Happy Lunar new Year - the Year of the Rabbit

Students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades created art inspired by the Chinese New Year. We looked at examples of art to celebrate CNY and noticed many designs and symbols. We saw gold coins and plum blossoms, fireworks and lanterns. To create these pieces, students first painted gold symbols or designs on a red piece of paper. Next, we drew a rabbit together on yellow paper. After getting inspiration from a slideshow of rabbit art for the new year, students chose their own way of decorating their rabbits to add visual interest. They tried to add light and dark sections, and bigger and smaller elements. Finally, they cut out the rabbits and glued them to the red and gold background. The examples below are from 3rd grade.

Lucy Ames, Art Teacher (she/her)

EMERSON BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT

The 2022-23 Heart of Emerson school-wide beautification project is completed and on display! You can find it on the wall near the steps to the Kindergarten classrooms. Thank you to the many people in our community who helped with the creation of this special project. Shoutout to our beloved Art Teacher Ms. Ames and dedicated Parent Michelle Falise, whose vision led to this unique and unifying display. This art project demonstrates the power of collaboration, while emphasizing the inclusive spirit of our school community. Loving care was taken to cut each individual piece of wood, which is specially designed to be durable enough to withstand weather challenges. This winter, each student in the school had an opportunity to paint a piece of wood with their own creative design and / or message. The bright acrylic colors represent each grade level, while coming together to show our school pride and unity. We look forward to enjoying this art display for many years to come.

Special thanks to: Brad Sanford, Lindsay Stern, Gavin Ross, Amber St. John, Eleanor Hollander, Charlie Tripp, Cielo Rios, Gretchen Ross, Gagan Thind, Rose Lynn Abesamis-Bell, Carol Wang, Amy Fire, Karla Schlags, Jane Stalhut, Jenny Wang, Emma Cott, Meg Kunchai, Michael Paraiso, Adriana Mendoza, Karla Fornall, Jenny Nelson, Veronica Kaiser, Lauren Zeller, Ariel Clute, Sara Shnider, Krysten Curtis, Cindy Schafer and Annie Natchway!

Find Emerson Online

Website: https://emersonelementary.org/

Remind: Text @7f6hb to 81010; or go to www.remind.com/join/7f6hb

Facebook: www.facebook.com/emersonpta (or follow @emersonPTA)

About BearFacts News:
BearFacts News is a weekly publication created by parent volunteers and posted online at emersonelementary.org.

BearFacts articles and calendar items are based on submissions from the community and reviewed and edited under the PTA communication policy. Inclusion of an item in BearFacts by itself does not indicate sponsorship or endorsement by the PTA, Emerson school staff, or BUSD.

If you have a news item or announcement to include in the BearFacts News, please send an email to bearfacts@emersonelementary.org. Please keep your message brief and include all the pertinent details including dates, times, locations and contact information. Send images as an e-mail attachment and include alt-text. The deadline is each Monday at 6 p.m.