Dear Berryessa Community, 

As a district, we are committed to promoting health and wellness in our community. We continue to see anxiety and depression being the top two areas of need in Berryessa as well as across the country. During this month of October, we would like to take this moment to remind our BUSD community of the importance of self-care. We hope following our Fall break everyone had a chance to relax and spend some quality time with family and friends.

We also want to highlight the many resources available to our community. If ever you need support for your student, please reach out to our team. Our caring school psychologists and social workers are a valuable resource available to our families throughout the school year. To access them, all you need to do is contact your school principal.  

Our Care Solace program continues to be readily available for those in need of counseling or mental health services. BUSD is also pleased to announce that our district has been awarded a $200,000 Community Schools Planning grant that will allow us to further advance our health and wellness efforts. Lastly, we encourage you to visit our website, to find a number of valuable Health and Wellness resources. 

With BUSD Pride,

Dr. Roxane Fuentes

Superintendent

We are proud to introduce and connect you to our district's team of school social workers who support our students and families, and advocate for their emotional, mental, and physical well-being throughout the school year. Their work includes counseling students (one-on-one or in small groups), connecting with students/families with helpful resources, and supporting teachers by providing class lessons based on their students' social emotional learning needs. 

We appreciate the dedication and commitment of our social workers who every day contribute to the well-being of the Berryessa community! We encourage anyone in need to reach out! 

Brooktree and Majestic Way

Lashonda Eagels

Cherrywood and Laneview

Elaine Schultz 

Morrill Middle School

Mary Morales 

Piedmont 

Leigh Suga

Ruskin and Northwood

Nicole Stiggall 

Sierramont Middle School

Arlene Tinajero 

Toyon and Summerdale

Galib Haswarey 

Vinci Park and Noble

Aleece Nyland 

Once again, please reach out to your school site principal to access support from our BUSD social workers. This caring team of professionals is on standby to serve you.

Care Solace is an online resource with a live 24/7 concierge line meant to assist individuals in finding local mental health related programs and counseling services, available to students, parents and staff members.  



Please visit our Health & Wellness page including Care Solace, by clicking here.

Physical health is just as important as mental health. Walking or biking to school is a wonderful way to start the day! As part of our annual traditions, many of our schools participated in International Walk to School Day on October 5, 2022. This year, Cherrywood Elementary was selected by the City of San Jose as the site for Viva Escuela, a celebration of safety and responsibility for students.

Viva Escuela closed school streets to cars during morning drop-off in order to host a mini-block party filled with City resources and safety tips for our students and families. This was also an opportunity to enjoy fun activities sponsored by our local partners - RAFT, San Jose Library, Valley Water, and Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation! We were pleased to have Councilmember Dr. David Cohen, who is also a former BUSD Trustee, join us as well as Captain Trayer of the San Jose Police Department.

Once again, we encourage all of our families to consider walking or biking as a way to get to school. BUSD is a district partner with the City of San Jose’s Walk n’ Roll Program. We strongly encourage walking to school every Wednesday throughout the year.  

We also remind our community to be mindful of all traffic and safety guidelines to ensure our students have a safe route to school each day. Thank you to our Safety Patrol teams that support these efforts!

See our Awesome Walking to School Celebration!

Learning about the dangers of fentanyl can save lives. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It is a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in California and the United States. 

Recently, the California Department of Public Health shared that brightly-colored fentanyl, referred to as rainbow fentanyl, has been identified as a new trend in the United States by the DEA. Locally, there has been ample news coverage about this issue. Rainbow fentanyl can be found in many forms, including pills, powder, and blocks that can resemble sidewalk chalk or candy. Rainbow fentanyl, like all forms of fentanyl, is extremely potent and dangerous. 

Please take some time to speak to your students about the dangers associated with fentanyl and other drugs. By working together, we can keep our children safe. Here is a link to more information from the CDPH's Alert on Rainbow Fentanyl. 

It was so exciting to have the Berryessa Art Festival (BAF) return this past Spring! We always look forward to the event filled with good food, fun shopping, and excellent student and community entertainment. We appreciate all the organizational efforts of Frank Cancilla, and the BAF volunteer committee, to put on this amazing event on behalf of supporting our teachers and classroom activities. This year, over $10,000 were raised. The teacher grant application window is now open. Teachers, please share your wonderful project ideas for our students and submit your application by Monday, October 31, 2022

Take advantage of this new opportunity to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and more immunizations!

The date is Saturday, November 26, to enjoy a game with San Jose State Spartans versus Hawaii Rainbow Warriors!

Stay connected to BUSD and learn about our latest initiatives, goals and achievements in our fantastic school community. Following us on social media brings you the most updated information and we want to share it with you! In the case of an emergency, social media is a vital tool for disseminating information. We look forward to seeing you there!

For translation assistance, please call one of our District hotlines below:

Mandarin, 408-­923-­1901

Spanish, ­408-­923­-1902

Vietnamese, ­408-­923-­1903

請利用校區熱線電話

408-­923-­1901

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