BearFacts News - 09.03.2020

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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,

Feedback from the parent-teacher conferences was positive. The Staff enjoyed connecting with families to learn more about your hopes, expectations, and desires for the school year.  With distance learning, all of our school structures are new and the conference time was important to connect and build our community.  This week, we move into our full distance learning schedule. 

We appreciate your patience as we work out the kinks with the Zoom links, times for Enrichment classes, and the transitions to A/B and small groups.  We encourage you to reach out to the teachers directly with your questions and concerns.  The staff email addresses can be found at: https://emerson.berkeleypta.org/teachers-staff.  Starting next week, PE teacher Coach Robinson will offer a Morning Wake-Up Stretch/Exercise session for K- 2 students on Mondays from 8- 8:45 am., and one for grades 3-5 on Fridays from 8- 8:45 am.  We hope students will take advantage of these additional PE opportunities.  Ms. Jeannette will begin the Gardening program for grades 3- 5 this week. For the first half of the year, gardening will be offered to students in grades 3-5.  During the Spring, we will rotate the program to Kinder- 2nd graders.   Your homeroom teacher will provide the schedule and links to the Enrichment classes.  Attendance is taken during the morning meetings. If your student will be absent please notify your homeroom teacher and Ms. Lopez, Office Assistant at Leahlopez@berkeley.net

In order for us to gain an understanding of our student’s academic starting point, teaching staff will work with parents to administer fall assessments.  Kindergarten students are assessed this week, and this information will help teachers create final groupings.  Between September 14 and 25, Grades 1- 5 will take Reading, Literacy, and Math assessments.  Students will need headphones, speakers, or audio on their device because test questions are read out loud by the computer. Parents may help students get online and log into the assessments, but once they begin, students should not receive assistance from family members, devices, or any other resources during the test. It is important that teachers have an accurate understanding of student’s knowledge as we begin the school year.  

Next week will be a busy one- please plan to come to the school to pick up your students’ school materials afterschool.  We invite you to attend our Virtual Back to School Night on Thursday, September 10 at 7 pm. This will be an opportunity for you to hear more about the curriculum and expectations from the homeroom teachers. 

We look forward to our first All School Meeting of the school year on Friday, September 4 at 9:00 am. We will celebrate the Emerson Way and learn more about why our school community is so amazing. Be sure to join us through this link: http://bit.ly/AllSchoolMtg, Passcode: 232525.

Sincerely,
Jana Holmes


Upcoming Events & Key Dates

Friday, September 4, 9:00AM - All School Mtg - http://bit.ly/AllSchoolMtg (Passcode: 232525)

Monday, September 7 - SCHOOL CLOSED for Labor Day

Thursday, September 10, 7:00PM - Back-to-School Night (zoom link to follow)

Find more dates/details: emerson.berkeleypta.org/calendar


Student School Materials Distribution

Tuesday, Sept 8- Kinder and 1st Grade- 2-4 pm
Wednesday, Sept 9- 2nd and 3rd Grade- 2- 4 pm
Thursday, Sept 10- 4th and 5th Grade- 2-4 pm
Friday, Sept 11- Make Up & Sibling Day- 3- 5 pm

Please drive or walk down Piedmont, turn up Forest, and pick up your bag in front of the school. Bring a piece of paper with your student's name and grade level to hold up to your window, if you are in a car, so we know which bag to give you. See you soon!


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).


Art Supply Kits coming soon!

On behalf of all of our students, thank you so much for all of the art supply donations.  We are all so lucky to get to be a part of this wonderful school community! The generosity of so many of the families (grandparents and former Emerson teachers, as well!) has meant that each student will get a nicely stocked pizza box of papers and supplies. I am busy, busy sorting through all of the packages of supplies that have come through the mail.  Ms. Gaby and Mrs. Holmes have been ordering supplies for your art kits as well.  And, if I still need more to make the kits complete, I will raid the supplies in the art room.  It has already been so fun to do art online with you, but I am really looking forward to you having some new (or slightly used) art materials so that we can do some more exciting projects!

Ms. Ames


Teachers’ Corner

Hello Emerson families and students! It has been such a wild ride beginning our year virtually but we are SO proud of you all! We have an amazing community at Emerson and each month some of the Emerson staff will be checking in with you through video messages in the Bear Facts. We hope you are staying safe, mindful, and healthy!
https://flipgrid.com/+week3bearfacts


How to Stay Connected
This year we will be relying more than ever on Remind messaging. If you are not receiving Remind messages - or would like to adjust your settings - please see this Remind Cheat Sheet: http://bit.ly/EmersonRemind

Each Thursday, BearFacts will be posted to the Emerson website here: https://emerson.berkeleypta.org/news.

We will send out a Remind notice when the newsletter is up on the website.


Seeking Room Parent Volunteers
Would you like to be part of a Room Parent team for your child’s classroom?
Room Parents play an important role in shaping the experience of students and families at Emerson. Support the classroom teacher, build community, and foster equity and inclusion. Room parents get to know classroom families and reach out to them on behalf of the classroom teacher (e.g., coordinating class parties, identifying field trip chaperones) and the PTA (e.g., inviting families to attend community events or helping find volunteers). We are currently asking for multiple volunteers per grade level, so that once classroom assignments are posted, we can mobilize quickly to share the work among many families in each classroom. We encourage families of color and those who speak other languages to join teams to make sure that everyone's voices are represented.
If interested in joining a room parent team, email Crystal Goldsmith (cluetters09@gmail.com) or sign up here.


Parent Group

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


Find Emerson Online

Websiteemerson.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

Facebookwww.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