Debbie Dean has been an educator for over twenty years. She began her teaching career at Bishop O'Dowd High School, continued as a social worker in Oakland schools, and then as an administrator in Oakland and Napa. Ms. Dean was the Principal at Willard Middle School for seven years before moving to her new role as Director of TK-8 Schools this year.

 

The commitment to the whole child and social justice. I also LOVE that teachers will partner with administrators and continually work on strategies to improve the learning for all students. 

 

I read the New York Times daily. I'm currently reading the newly released book by Jon Meacham, His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope. I have likely read every book written by people who worked for Barack Obama. I watch one thing on TV: SF Giants games!

I am very quiet on the weekends! 

I love going to San Francisco. I have a favorite hike: Tennessee Valley to Muir Beach and back. I am struggling with not traveling, as I love to go to new places and explore.

 

Monday, September 21, is Zero Emissions Day, a one-day opportunity to take a break from fossil fuels and raise awareness about the harm caused by carbon emissions. Berkeley High School Senior and Commissioner of Environmental Sustainability, Zoe Creane, shared some tips for Zero Emissions Day. "Don't use or burn oil, gas, or coal, and minimize or eliminate your use of electricity generated by fossil fuels," Ms. Creane advised in a video message.

Ms. Creane, who is a member of the BHS Green Team, a climate activist, and a member of BUSD’s Sustainability Committee, has been doing environmental work throughout high school. “Right now, the environment is my focus because this feels like the biggest issue facing humanity,” Ms. Creane stated.

BHS students are organizing a Bike Berkeley event for September 21 with suggested routes to encourage everyone to explore the city on a bike.

In 1885, a small public elementary school in North Berkeley began life as the Rose Street School. Two decades later, a larger school building was constructed and before it opened in 1907, the school board debated a new name for the school. Suggestions included Hawthorne, Garfield, and Bryant, until in what was called a compromise solution, the name "Jefferson" was selected.

In 2003-2005, a group of staff and parents advocated for a school name change in order to no longer honor a slaveholder, and brought a proposal to the Board to rename the school “Sequoia”, only to have the Board vote 3-2 against the change. In 2017-18, a new generation of name change advocates asked to initiate a name change process under a newly revised board policy, but had to wait until the name change of Le Conte Elementary (now Sylvia Mendez School) was completed.

This year the School Board approved a Black Lives Matter resolution, with many components intended to address systemic racism, and to support and honor the achievements of Black students and families. As part of the resolution, the Board committed to supporting a process for renaming both Jefferson and Washington Schools, following the policy used successfully for Sylvia Mendez Elementary.

Current hours (through September) are: Monday and Friday 12:00-2:00 pm and Wednesday from 3:30-5:30 pm.

Starting on October 5, the Ed Hub hours are changing to Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3:30-5:30 pm.

The Ed Hub is located at the Curtis Street entrance of the Berkeley Adult School. 

The Ed Hub is still accepting gently used book donations, for TK-8th grade.

Berkeley Schools Volunteers (BSV) Tech Team spent the summer producing a series of 15 'how to' videos to help families navigate Google Classroom. The videos are now available here in English and in Spanish.

Help the Schools Fund meet the urgent needs of students and families. Donate here to the Berkeley Public Schools Fund to support their campaign Emerging Stronger. Together.

Berkeley Public Library patrons now have access to free, live virtual tutoring assistance from 1:00-10:00 pm daily with Brainfuse HelpNow. Students can receive support for a range of needs including:

Brainfuse also offers Spanish-language lessons, online study groups, virtual flashcards, and support for English Language Learners.

More information can be found here:

Candidates are being sought for appointment to the BUSD Personnel Commission to fill one of three seats as the board appointed representative.

The Personnel Commission is an independent body composed of three members, and is an entity separate from the BUSD Human Resources Department.

The Deadline to complete the 2020 Census has been moved up to September 30. When children are counted, their schools get their fair share of funding and resources.Here are three important facts:

View the September 16 School Board Meeting on BUSD's YouTube Channel.

All Board meetings are now held via Zoom. Details can be found on our webpage.

School board meeting agendas/materials are posted at least 72 hours before meetings on the School Board Meeting Information page of our website.