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,
I don’t know about you, but the pandemic has really taught me to “count my blessings.” Each day that we go without a positive campus COVID case and that the sky above is blue, I am thankful. It is a privilege and an honor to be an educator during these extraordinary times. It makes it all worthwhile to witness the joy the students are experiencing to be back on campus. They are able to learn in person, play with their peers at recess, and go home tired and satisfied at the end of the day. After all we have been through, I believe we can all agree on the importance of school in a child’s life.
Thank you for continuing to do your part to keep our community safe. We now have over 90% of the student body signed up for weekly COVID testing. We realize that there are a few parents who do not receive their child’s test results immediately. This has been a concern at every school site, and we are working with Primary Health to remedy this delay. However, please know that the medical technicians do not leave our campus after Friday testing until they have reported whether any positive COVID cases were found. If we do have a positive case, contact tracing will begin immediately, and parents will be contacted. The student with the positive test will also be isolated, and the parent/ guardian will be notified and required to pick up their student as soon as possible. In all cases, we will maintain confidentiality.
Students will begin to take beginning-of-the-year academic assessments during September and October. Teachers will administer the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) test in grades Kindergarten through 2nd. The STAR (Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading) will be administered in the areas of Reading and Math to grades 3- 5. The results will be used for teachers to determine how to best work with students. You will be able to learn more about your child’s progress during Parent and Teacher Conferences which will take place the last week of October.
You may begin to learn, see or hear about more visitors on the Emerson campus. The School Board and Superintendent have approved limited access to campus for visitors through the Berkeley Schools Volunteers program. Each school site volunteer will need to provide proof of vaccination, be trained, vetted, and cleared by the BSV Program. If you’d like to learn more about how you can volunteer, visit Berkeley Public Schools Fund Org website here.
Thank you for your support,
Jana Holmes
On-Campus COVID-19 Testing
Every Friday
Scan this QR code with your device to complete the Primary Health Registration form one time for weekly COVID-19 testing.
Upcoming Events and Key Dates
Saturday, September 18: Cal Football Parking by 4th Graders (to volunteer, reach out to Steve Wilson: soccerfan311@gmail.com)
Tuesday, September 21: PTA Association Meeting, 7 pm, Zoom
Thursday, September 23: Group Parent Orientation, 4:30 pm, Zoom
Find more dates/details: emerson.berkeleypta.org/calendar
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.
FREE AIR FILTERS FOR FAMILIES IN NEED
Do you need an air filter at home for smokey days?
There’s a new program from RAMP (Regional Asthma Management and Prevention) that provides portable air units to protect vulnerable families from harmful air quality in Alameda county. To see if your family qualifies, please contact AirFilters@baaqmd.gov or click this link to learn more: https://bit.ly/3htuDfR
EQUITY CORNER
Beginning September 15, we celebrate Latina/o/x* and Hispanic Heritage month. Did you know the United States didn’t account for racial or cultural identity for Latinos (North and South America) or Hispanic (Spain) people in the Census until this law was passed in 1976 and even then, the label “Hispanic" encompassed every Spanish speaking person but did not account for people from Portugal or Brazil (Portuguese speakers)?
It wasn’t until 1997, when the OMB began to revise the Standards of Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity and clarified cultural identity by distinguishing between Latina/Latino/Latinx and Hispanic— so accounting for these different cultural identities didn’t actually begin until very recently.
*In Spanish, ALL nouns are classified by either a masculine (el/-o) or feminine (la/-a), though these classifications do not imply a male or female identity. For example: el libro means “the book” and la ciudad means “the city”. The introduction of Latinx began by a group of people who shared a common cultural identity but did not want to have their cultural identity gendered. Latinx is pronounced “Latin-EX” or “La-teen-yeh”, depending on the speaker’s preference.
for more information about this specific history, please check out: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/15/who-is-hispanic/ or email me to talk more about this!
-cielo@magicspoon.net, PTA equity vp
On behalf of the Emerson teachers and staff, congrats to all of our September shout-out students listed below!
TEACHER’s corner
5th graders created the works of art below using the letters of their names. This was a very open-ended project so students could decide if they wanted their names to be obvious or hard to find. The one main requirement was that they needed to make sure their letters were different from the background. In art this is called CONTRAST. Strategies used were warm colors next to cool, light next to dark, solid next to patterned.
-Lucy Ames, Art Teacher (she/her)
COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic
Saturdays: 9/18, 9/25/, 10/2
9 am - 1 pm
1255 First Ave, Oakland 94606
No appointment, no ID, no insurance required.
Walk-ins welcome! All vaccine types, and if you need a ride, get a $10 Lyft credit when you register online. https://home.color.com/vaccine/register/alamedavax
Click here for multilingual downloadable flyers.
City of Berkeley Testing Sites
Note: BUSD on-campus testing registration is found at https://my.primary.health/l/berkeley_usd
The City of Berkeley coordinates several COVID-19 testing sites, which are available to all, whether you have insurance or not. Please click this link to learn about locations and appointments. Translation is provided directly on the site along the left-hand side.
Nota: El registro de exámenes BUSD en el campus se encuentra en https://my.primary.health/l/berkeley_usd
La ciudad de Berkeley coordina varios sitios de prueba COVID-19, que están disponibles para todos, si tenga seguro médico o no. Haga clic en este enlace para obtener información sobre ubicaciones y citas. La traducción se proporciona directamente en el sitio a lo largo del lado izquierdo.
PTA UPDATE
Please join our first PTA meeting on Tuesday September 21 from 7p - 8p. We will introduce our Board, Grade Parents, and Committees, and our guest speaker Vice Mayor (and Emerson parent!) Lori Droste will present on the Willard Park Clubhouse.
Sign up for volunteering to be a Grade Parent, and for PTA activities and events:
PTA Sign-up Form
Join the PTA today to help Emerson! Each year your membership must be renewed, and, if needed, we will gladly cover your $10 fee: https://emerson.berkeleypta.org/pta-membership
Find Emerson Online
Website: emerson.berkeleypta.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 emerson.berkeleypta.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 emersonschoolnews@gmail.com. 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. The deadline is each Monday at 6 p.m.
Copyright © 2021. Emerson Elementary PTA. All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
2800 Forest Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94705