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 Community,
As we enter near the end of September, it’s a good time to reflect on all we have already accomplished. Teachers conferenced with parents one on one, we hosted a virtual Back To School Night, we enjoyed our first All School Meeting, and students are finishing up their STAR assessments. In addition, we assembled and distributed over 300 bags of learning materials to support distance learning. Shout Out to Dad’s Club Leader, Mr. Rob Kopf, who personally dropped off the final bags of materials to families last weekend. Wow- that’s a lot of activity in one month, and that’s not even all of it!
Thank you to our parents for stepping up to the plate as volunteers. We are getting very close to being fully staffed with Room Parents. On Sunday, PTA hosted an afternoon Bingo Happy Hour, which was a fun way to build community with families. Be sure to mark your calendar for the Oct. 8 PTA Association meeting at 6 pm, which will feature guest speaker Ms. Marlies Rosmark, School-Based Therapist. She will share tips for managing student and parent stress during Distance Learning (Zoom link to follow). We encourage you to take advantage of the events our PTA is planning to support parents and strengthen our community.
This week marks the official beginning of Fall. Your student’s academic and social and emotional health continues to be our top priority. We hope you are taking advantage of the Special Classes, such as Art, Music, Science, PE, Gardening, and Library. However, I will remind you that these classes are optional and are not graded. Attendance will continue to be taken during the Synchronous Teacher Lessons (Large and Small Group Zooms) and student’s classwork for the Homeroom teacher is graded. If your student will miss their Homeroom teacher’s class, please inform us of the reason for the absence and the date missed by emailing your Homeroom Teacher and Ms. Leah Lopez, Office Assistant at leahlopez@berkeley.net.
This week we are holding elections for the parent and community positions for the School Site Council Leadership Committee This is the governing body for Emerson, which works with staff and the School Principal to create, oversee, and approve the School Site Plan. If you have not voted yet, please do so by completing this form prior to noon tomorrow, Friday, September 25. After the votes are tallied by the Principal and District Leadership, the results will be posted by September 30.
If you have not done so yet, please participate in the US Census. The Census only happens once every ten years and is an important tool used to determine funding allocations for state and local programs. The Census has an effect on money provided for school programs such as nutrition, special education, technology, and health programs. You can participate electronically here: https://2020census.gov/en.html.
Thank you for your support of Emerson.
Sincerely,
Jana Holmes
Upcoming Events & Key Dates
Thursday, October 8, 2020 @ 6:00PM - PTA Assoc Mtg + Presentation by School-Based Therapist
Monday, October 12, 2020 - No School - Staff Development Day
Find more dates/details: emerson.berkeleypta.org/calendar
Teachers’ Corner - Rainbow Fridays - 🌈
Hello Emerson Community! Starting this Friday, September 25th, we are going to continue last year's tradition of Rainbow Fridays! 🌈 Emerson is a community where we celebrate our freedom to express who we are and who we love, and Rainbow Fridays help us to promote inclusivity and allyship for our LGBTQ community members! 🌈 Here are some messages from Emerson staff about why Rainbow Fridays are important to us. 🌈 We can't wait to see your Rainbow shirts, accessories and more! 🌈
Next week, we will begin the "Student Corner" in our Bear Facts Newsletter. On this Padlet, we are asking students to share their answer to the question: "What do Rainbow Fridays mean to you?" Students can be as creative as they want and showcase their answer with a song, a dance, a picture, a speech, a story or any other way that inspires them! This Padlet will then be shared in next week's Bear Facts Newsletter!
If you have any questions about Rainbow Fridays, please feel free to reach out to any Emerson staff member. Also, here are some resources from our Welcoming Schools curriculum to help open up space and dialogue with your family around the Emerson values of inclusivity and allyship:
Gender & Children: A Place to Begin
Six Key Points on Bullying, Bias, and Schools
Actions LGBTQ Families Can Take to Support Their Students in Elementary School
Teachers’ Corner from Ms. Stuppi and Ms. Barnes (3rd Grade)
Gratitude is part of our mindfulness strategies in third grade. Last week the 3rd grade students put gratitude into practice by writing thank you letters to CalFire Firefighters. It was heartwarming to see how sincere and thoughtful the kids were. They also loved being able to take concrete action and send off a true act of kindness.
Here are just a couple of examples of their wonderful work.
3rd Grade ‘Thank You’ Letter Assignment
Art Kits are making art time so much fun!
It has been so great to have access to so many supplies for the art classes I am teaching. I realize that there is so much to manage, so I truly appreciate you helping your kids have their art kits ready. If your child is not at home for their art time, please try to remember to send those kits with them wherever they are going. There are a few items that are not in the kits, but would be great to have if you can help out: scissors, a "messy mat" (a grocery bag cut open works well to protect your table surface) and some kind of container for water (like a yogurt or cottage cheese cup). Thanks so much.
Quick reference for days of the week each grade has art:
Kindergarten: Thursday mornings
1st grade: Monday mornings
2nd grade: Wednesday afternoons
3rd grade: Thursday afternoons
4th grade: Wednesday mornings
5th grade: Monday afternoons
Thanks again, Ms. Ames
Special Presentation at the October 8th PTA Association Meeting
Marlies Rosmark, the school-based therapist, will be presenting at the PTA Association meeting on October 8 at 6:00PM. She will be talking about how to manage stress for Students and Parents during Distance Learning. All are welcome to come to learn tools to manage this difficult time. Zoom link to follow.
Parent Group
In addition to her presentation at the October 8th PTA Association Meeting, Marlies Rosmark, the school-based therapist, is offering a free virtual parent group. The group will be about managing anxiety, both your own and your child's.
If interested please contact: mrosmark@bacr.org
Where's Waldo moves online!
In an effort to expedite our Where's Waldo PTA School Directory this year, we have moved to an online version. We know how important communication is for this school year and this should allow us to compile a complete directory as quickly as possible.
By now you should have received an email with a link to our new directory (if not, please visit this site to create an account: https://emersonberkeleypta.membershiptoolkit.com/). Please log in using the email at which you received the email and create a free account. Once you're in, you can update or verify your contact details and find contact details for other Emerson families. There is also an option to opt out, or to choose what information you'd like to appear.
You will only be able to view this year's directory if you log in to this site, so please take a few minutes to set up your account now.
Any questions, please let us know. For specific directory inquiries, email Elizabeth Harvey (ejaharvey@gmail.com) and for general communication inquiries, email Jen Petrucelli (jenpetrucelli@gmail.com).
Find Emerson Online
Website: emerson.berkeleypta.org
Remind: Text @7f6hb to 81010; or go to www.remind.com/join/7f6hb
Email: Someone in your family not getting BearFacts via email? Email us to subscribe: emersonschoolnews@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/emersonpta (or follow @emersonPTA)
About BearFacts News:
BearFacts News is a weekly publication created by parent volunteers. It is distributed each Thursday in students' Look Folders and via email.
If you have a news item or announcement to include in the BearFacts News, please send an email to emersonschoolnews@gmail.com. Please keep your message brief and include all the pertinent details including dates, times, locations and contact information. The deadline is each Monday at 6 p.m.
Copyright © 2020. Emerson Elementary PTA. All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
2800 Forest Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94705