Crocker Highlands Weekly BulletinEcometro
525 Midcrest Road, Oakland, CA 94610
Phone: 510-451-5900
crockerschool.org
facebook.com/crockerschool
@crockerschool 
 
Beth Rhine, Principal

Jessica Tagami/Louise Bedsworth,
PTA Co-Presidents
   
October 1st, 2012
Calendar
In October, Crocker Community Celebrates Cooperation!
In This Issue
Principals Message
East Bay Children's Book
Resilient Girls
Edna Brewer
Word of the Month
CLPC
Spanish Program
          Message from your Principal

Dear Crocker Families,

Last week I ran into a neighbor who is a previous parent of mine when I was teaching here at Crocker Highlands.  When I told her there were 419 students at Crocker, she was shocked.  When her children were here, there were between 350-360 students at Crocker.  I hear that at one time, there were over 500 students here.  There are certainly trends in Crocker's enrollment, and now the situation has become even more challenging.

With the recently enlarged boundaries for some of the elementary schools in OUSD, and specifically Crocker Highlands, there has been a lot of discussion.  A group of parents formed the Crocker Long-range Planning Committee (CLPC).  They are gathering information to help the district do long-range planning regarding predicting enrollment in the future.  The vision of this committee is about providing information for the principal and the district to plan regarding enrollment trends. It's not an easy task, but if we are able to better predict enrollment, it will help us in staffing plans and possible budgetary demands.

In saying all that, I am asking that everyone, that is someone from every household, answer a few short questions so that OUSD (Oakland Unified School District) can better perform capacity forecasting for Crocker Highlands Elementary School.

Please click on the URL to begin the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D5HFCMB
You can also cut and paste the link into your browser to begin the survey.

This survey is intended for ALL residents, regardless of age, household status, or schooling needs. The objective is to better understand the changing trends within our community as they relate to our local neighborhood school, such as the number of new and existing empty nesters, single persons, families with children, and other resident configurations in our neighborhood. This data will be kept private and only used for future planning purposes. If you know empty-nesters etc. in our community who may not be receiving this Newsletter, please forward them the link for the survey.

The more people who respond, the more accurate the information.  This is a pilot data collection effort and may be used to help forecast capacity for other schools within OUSD and promote sustainable growth.  I want anyone who wants to come to Crocker to be able to do so.  We have to make sure we have the room and spots for all of our children. 

Beth Rhine
East Bay Children's Book Project

The East Bay Children's Book Project was founded to help build literacy by putting books into the hands of children who have little or no access to them. Working through individuals and organizations who help children in need, the East Bay Children's Book Project has given out over 800,000 free books since opening its doors in May 2005.

You might have noticed the purple EBCBP book depository at Crocker in the office. We welcome everyone (parents, students, teachers and staff) to donate new or gently used books. Volunteers from EBCBP will come by on a regular basis to pick up books and distribute them to teachers, social workers, health care providers, homeless shelters and many others who work with low-income kids. Please do not donate religious books, textbooks or adult books. Our biggest need is for beginning readers and picture books, but we welcome anything from baby board books to middle and high school literature.

Check out our web site,  East Bay Children's Book Project - Bringing Books to Children Who Need Them for more information about us.
RAISING RESILIENT GIRLS


Please mark your calendars for a Parent Ed Night Simon Marean from the Girls Leadership Institute. Thursday Oct 11th 7pm. Simone will share how to help girls practice assertive self-expression, emotional intelligence and healthy relationships.  Your friends outside Crocker school are welcome to attend as well.  There will be babysitting available for Crocker Families.  This is an excellent presentation.  We hope to see you there.
Simone will cover:


�         How and why girls are aggressive with one another
�         The "Good Girl" phenomenon
�         What girls need to avoid victimization
�         The power of emotional intelligence
�         The importance of mistakes
�         The limitations of blame
�         Seeing conflict as an opportunity for change
 

The Edna Brewer Middle School Tours and Outreach Committee welcomes all interested families and guardians to come and learn about our middle school.

 

This year we will host four Prospective Parent Tours.  These tours allow interested parents the opportunity to learn about our high performing Oakland public middle school.  After a welcome from Principal Sam Pasarow and key staff, parents will visit our 6th grade classrooms and tour our campus.  Tours will be led by Brewer parents who will share their first hand knowledge about our school.  We will conclude our morning with the opportunity for parents to ask any remaining questions that they may have.

 

Edna Brewer will also host an Evening Informational so that prospective parents or guardians and their students can learn about Edna Brewer.  This event will take place in the evening to accommodate those who could not make a daytime tour, or who would like another opportunity to find out what makes our school a top choice for Oakland families.  We will begin our evening with a series of short presentations from Principal Pasarow, key faculty, and our innovative program directors and staff.   Prospective parents will have the opportunity to enjoy a short arrangement from our award-winning musicians and meet a panel of 6th grade students.  We will conclude the evening with a question and answer session.  
The Crocker Cougar Word of the Month for October is "COOPERATION"

Cooperation is to work together toward a common goal or purpose; teamwork.

Cooperation looks like everyone in a group doing work.

Cooperation sounds like "I'll do that part," or "I'll go along with your idea."

Cooperation feels like "What a team we have!",  having fun, more energy to do the job.

Please take the time to talk about this word with this child and what it means.  One way is to simply ask:   "How did you help out today?"

Here are some things you can do to support the idea that cooperation is an important life skill and that the rewards outweigh the sacrifices.

  •  Have a discussion about cooperation in the family. In what ways do you cooperate with each other, and how does that make things nice? In what ways do you not cooperate enough, and how does that make things difficult or unpleasant? Make a "family cooperation" chart and see if you can do something about improving the cooperation within the family.
  • For one week keep a daily record of all the things you do that require cooperation (at home, at school, and everywhere else). At the end of the week give yourself a grade on how cooperative you have been.
  • Pick one television program and watch it with your family. Afterward, have a family discussion about things people did in the program that were examples of either good or bad cooperation. Make a list of these examples. 
  •  Initiate a fun project that involves all family members (a garden, jigsaw puzzle, homemade pizza, etc.).
  • "Catch" your child cooperating (or attempting to cooperate) and offer your encouragement by verbally showing your appreciation; material rewards are not necessary. 
  • Visit the Bulletin Board near the office and talk with your child about what he or she sees.
But don't forget about September's word of the month:  Respect!   Let's keep that Respect coming:  here at school, at home, in the community, in the environment and especially, within ourselves.

It's NOT TOO LATE!! CLPC DEADLINE EXTENDED!

Crocker Highlands Community:


If you or your neighbors have not yet filled out the following survey, CLPC (Crocker Long-range Planning Committee) and the survey endorsers are asking that you PLEASE take the 5 minutes to do so and urge your neighbors to do the same.   The information gathered through this survey will greatly assist Beth Rhine and OUSD in their capacity forecasting and planning for Crocker Highlands Elementary School.

Please remember that this survey is intended for everyone in our community, not just people with school-age children.  Please help us spread the word!
 

The URL to begin the survey:

 www.crockersurvey.org  You can also cut and paste the link into your browser to begin the survey.

 

 

Thank you for your help and participation,

Crocker Long-range Planning Committee (CLPC)

 

This survey is Endorsed by:
Beth Rhine, Principal, Crocker Highlands Elementary
David Kakishiba, Director, District 2 Board of Education
Patricia Kernighan, District 2 City Councilmember
Crocker Highlands Long-Range Planning Committee

Spanish Program at Crocker Highlands
2012 - 2013

�Bienvenidos a Viva el Español!
Welcome to the Viva el Español Spanish program
at Crocker Highlands!

Dear Crocker Highlands Parents:
Thanks to the tremendous support of the Crocker Highlands PTA, Viva el Español will again be teaching Spanish to all students in grades K - 5 twice per week. Viva el Español is a non-profit organization that teaches Spanish to children from toddlers through Grade 8 at schools all over the Bay Area.

Students will learn Spanish using a full-immersion approach and our curriculum includes songs, storytelling, interactive games, and crafts. We cover themes that are relevant to your child's life and learn words and phrases that are easy to remember and use outside of class.

The Spanish teachers for K - 4th grade are Jose Reynaga, Francisca Acevedo and Robin Riaño. The Spanish teachers for 5th grade are Karen Collin and Wendy Ortiz. They are supported by Carla Brown, Director of Elementary School Programs. Please see the contact information for all teachers below.

We look forward to maintaining communication with you throughout the year regarding Spanish classes via email. This includes vocabulary lists, information about special events and ways to support your child's foreign language learning outside school. We also encourage you to contact us at 925-962-9177 or info@vivaelespanol.org if you have any questions or comments.

Creating a Positive Class Experience -
Important Information to Consider
To ensure a positive experience for all students, please consider the following about our
program:
  • Immersion Approach: Spanish will be used consistently in class to engage students in learning and speaking español! This method can be a bit intimidating for first year students (students don't understand every single word being said), but it has been proven to be beneficial while learning a foreign language. Students get used to hearing the language, understanding based on the context of the conversation, and assimilating the language without translating. If your child is frustrated at first, this is normal and it should improve quickly. 
  • Differentiated Instruction: We recognized and value students' diverse abilities, learning styles, interest, and previous experiences learning a foreign language. Best practices will be used in the classroom to provide different pathways that respond to and encourage the needs of diverse learners. 
  • Themes: A variety of subjects will be covered during the school year. These will vary in length depending on the subject, students' mastery and interest. 
  • Participation: Active participation is key to the learning process. In class, student are encourage to communicate in Spanish as much as possible. 
Los Maestros de Español - Spanish Teachers
K-4th Grade
Jose Reynaga - jose@vivaelespanol.org.
Francisca Acevedo - francisca@vivaelespanol.org.
Robin Riaño - robinson@vivaelespanol.org.
5th Grade
Karen Collin - karen@vivaelespanol.org.
Wendy Ortiz - wendy-ortiz@vivaelespanol.org.
Director, Elementary School Programs
Carla Brown - carla@vivaelespanol.org.

We are excited to share our language and culture
with your children!
The Viva el Español Staff