December 2021
BUSD elementary school students (above) show off their COVID-19 vaccination band-aids at school-based clinics in November.
Thank you to the City of Berkeley and Carbon Health for hosting vaccination clinics at three BUSD elementary schools in November and again in December. Hundreds of BUSD families brought their students ages 5+ to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at familiar and welcoming locations. Special thanks to the Berkeley Public Schools Fund for staffing clinics with volunteers who provided music, stickers, entertainment, and guidance to families.
BUSD’s All-Student Vaccinate or Test Policy goes into effect on January 3, 2022 for all students who are age 12 and older. This policy, passed in October by the Board of Education, will now require that students 12 and older are either (1) fully vaccinated or (2) take a free on-campus COVID-19 test once per week, unless they have documented a medical exemption for testing.

Read the Policy in Spanish and in Arabic. Learn about activities for students ages 12+ that will require full vaccination for participation.

Bay Area Health Officers are urging everyone to receive a COVID-19 booster vaccine, if they are eligible to do so. Get a booster if you are at least 16 years old and:

  • 6 months have passed since your second dose of Pfizer (for 16+)
  • 6 months have passed since your second dose of Moderna (for 18+)
  • 2 months have passed since your Johnson & Johnson Dose (for 18+)

Visit the City of Berkeley vaccine information webpage to learn about local vaccination opportunities.
Reminder: Take iHealth At-Home Rapid Tests December 31 and January 2
iHealth Rapid Tests for Students and Staff: Test December 31 and January 2
BUSD students and staff should take their iHealth at-home COVID test on Friday, December 31 and Sunday, January 2. Parents/guardians should help students take their tests.

Instructions for reporting results:

Anyone testing positive on either December 31 or January 2 should not attend school/work at BUSD on January 3. Please remember to upload your test results (positive, negative, or inconclusive) to Primary Health if you have registered for testing there. Please also email covidcase@berkeley.net to report only positive results.

Thanks to Oakland Unified School District for sharing these video iHealth test instructions in multiple languages.

Sustainability News
Breaking Ground for BUSD's Miyawaki Forests
Malcolm X students prepare to plant a sapling in the school's new Miyawaki Forest. (Photo: Ian Bates for SUGi)
The first three Miyawaki School Forests in the United States were planted at BUSD schools in November. These ultra-dense, biodiverse forests include a total of 3,300 saplings on 13,000 square feet between three school sites: Cragmont Elementary School, Malcolm X Elementary School, and Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. 

BUSD Climate Literacy Teacher Leader Neelam Patil sparked this effort after a spirited discussion with Cragmont Elementary school fifth-graders about the alarming rates of deforestation we are experiencing and how trees serve as vacuums for greenhouse gases. The three Miyawaki Forests came to BUSD through efforts led by Ms. Patil and Stephen Collins, BUSD’s Facilities Maintenance Manager, in partnership with Natural Urban Forests, SUGi, and BUSD Grounds staff and parent volunteers who worked tirelessly to prepare the land for planting.
Students at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School work together to plant a Miyawaki Forest on the school's front yard. (Photo: Ian Bates for SUGi)
The Miyawaki method, pioneered by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, combines the layers of a naturally occurring forest—shrubs, trees, and canopy—onto small plots of land. These forests grow 10 times faster, store 40 times more carbon than conventional forests, and encourage 100 times more biodiversity. They can fit into a small pocket of a school playground or a roadside and serve as wildlife corridors for native fauna, which are in danger of extinction. 

“We’re thrilled to plant Miyawaki Forests at three of our schools, as this aligns with our eco-literacy and nature-based education goals in the BUSD sustainability plan while also benefiting school community well-being and improving our school environments,” said Superintendent Brent Stephens. “Thanks to the rapid growth cycle of these Miyawaki Forests, in ten years our students can enjoy100-year-old forests at their schools.”
Climate Literacy Teacher Leader Neelam Patil speaks to Cragmont Elementary School students while standing on the land cleared for the school's Miyawaki Forest. (Photo: Ian Bates for SUGi)
Oxford Elementary School Student Environmental Activists Featured on KQED
Congratulations to Oxford Elementary School students and teacher Jacqueline Omania for their important environmental work and their zero-waste classroom. They are featured in a KQED Newsroom Special.
Oxford Elementary School students presented their zero-waste strategies to KQED.
BUSD's New Sixth-Grade STEM Wheel Curriculum
Through the development and implementation of a sixth-grade STEM/Maker curriculum wheel, all BUSD sicth-grade students now have the opportunity to become producers as they are introduced to coding, robotics, engineering design, digital media, electronics and design thinking. Watch the video for a peek into the STEM classes held in our Maker Space classrooms.

Special thanks to the Berkeley Public Schools Fund, Wareham Development, and Bayer for their ongoing support and partnership for middle school STEM programming.
Computer Science Education Week:
December 6-12, 2021
The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. Computer Science Education Week is held annually in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906).The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify coding, demonstrate that anybody can learn to code, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort.


HERE is a list of Hour of Code games/activities you can try with your students. We recommend these favorites:
K-2: Kodable
For Middle School and High School:
Advisory: Space Solo
Art: Animoji
English: Dialogue
History: Security Siege

Pictured below, students at Longfellow and Willard Middle Schools participate in coding projects.
Coming in January
Listening Circle for Parents & Caregivers of Latinx Children in BUSD
Caregivers and parents of Latinx/e heritage children are invited to join an Ethnic Studies listening session co-hosted by Latinos Unidos de Berkeley via Zoom on Sunday, January 9th at 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm.

Families are encouraged to give input on their ideas about Transitional Kindergarten through 12th-grade Ethnic Studies curriculum, ideas about integrated curriculum versus a separate Ethnic Studies class, and more. Parent and caregiver participation will help ensure that the vision for TK-12 Ethnic Studies reflects the needs of our community as much as possible. Stay tuned for future listening sessions as well.


Affinity-Based Resources and January Events
Berkeley Unified School District has a long history of uplifting the many voices of our beautiful, diverse community. We believe that the richness and diversity of our schools are our greatest asset, and that each family’s unique cultural and linguistic identity makes our classrooms more vibrant and compelling. Drawing from this richness to create programs based on affinity is one powerful way that we support all our students. The targeted approaches you’ll find on this new Affinity-Based Resources webpage uplift everyone by creating affinity-based spaces that advance our shared goals for a just and fair school district.

You’ll find resources for African American, Latinx, English Learner, AAPI, Special Education, and Indigenous families and students. Information about the ongoing evolution of BUSD’s Ethnic Studies program can also be found here.

These pages are dynamic; we hope you’ll check back frequently. We also hope that you’ll find support, solidarity, and inspiration in this diverse array of resources and programs. Berkeley Unified School District is your home.
-Brent Stephens
Superintendent
Chromebook Checkout for Students
According to our most recent survey, approximately 2,300 students in Berkeley Schools do not have access to a device of their own to participate in digital learning. The district applied for federal funding to acquire enough high-end Chromebooks to ensure all those students will be able to check out a device from their school library. These devices can be kept at home until the end of the school year to complete digital schoolwork, online research, or participate in remote learning.

The BUSD Technology team is processing all 2,300 devices now, and we expect them to be available in the school libraries by January. Please stay tuned for more information about this exciting program!
Meet Rubén Aurelio
Associate Superintendent Educational Services
Rubén Aurelio joined BUSD as the Associate Superintendent of Educational Services in July of 2021.
Rubén Aurelio comes to BUSD with a distinguished career in education. Most recently, Mr. Aurelio served as the Chief Academic Officer of West Contra Costa Unified School District and also as Executive Director of Schools. In addition to other central office administrative positions, Mr. Aurelio was the principal of a bilingual (Spanish/English) elementary school in San Leandro, and both a principal and assistant principal in Oakland Unified School District.
Prior to his career in educational administration, Mr. Aurelio was a classroom teacher in Oakland, Union City, and East Palo Alto. He draws on these diverse experiences when envisioning excellent, equitable schools, and how best to enact that vision.

Mr. Aurelio grew up near Los Angeles in a monolingual Spanish-speaking home as the youngest of five children. His parents immigrated from Argentina to the United States and worked in food services and manufacturing. Mr. Aurelio is a proud first-generation college graduate, and he is particularly proud that his entire education has been in public schools. He met his wife while at UC Berkeley and they live in the East Bay with the youngest of their three sons and three dogs.

When not working, Mr. Aurelio enjoys camping, bouldering, walks at Pt. Isabel, and listening to podcasts.
Thank You!
Critical Services Provided by the Berkeley Public Schools Fund
Thank you to the Berkeley Public Schools Fund for their ongoing support during the first part of this school year. Thank you also to the many Berkeley Schools Volunteers who worked in our schools, at our vaccination clinics, and helped to make a difference in countless other ways.

Please take a look at the Berkeley Public Schools Fund's Annual Report for the 2020-21 school year, and learn how our community came together in so many powerful ways for students and families during COVID.
Just some of the 1,000 books donated to BUSD from the Berkeley Public Library.
Book Donations from the City of Berkeley
Thank you to the Berkeley Public Library for donating over 1,000 brand new books to our elementary schools! Each school will receive about 100 paperback books - a variety of picture books, readers, novels, and graphic novels. The teachers and students will love these additions to their classrooms!
Winter Recess Reminder
District Events
School Board Meetings
School board meeting agendas/materials are posted at least 72 hours before meetings. All details for upcoming Board Meetings can be found on our webpage.

Cick Here for contact information and office hours for School Board Directors.

Recent 2021-22 School Board Meetings
The next School Board meeting is on January 5 at 7:00 pm. Click here to learn how to join the School Board meeting.
Ethnic Studies in BUSD: Listening Circle for Parents and Caregivers of Latinx Students
(English & Spanish)
January 9 | 4:00 pm | Details >


PAC Meeting
January 10| 6:30 pm | Details >

Planning and Oversight Committee Meeting
January 11 | 6:30 pm | Details >


Personnel Commission Meeting
January 13 | 4:30 pm | Details >

Project 2 Inspire (Spanish with English interpretation)
January 18 | 6:00 pm | Details >

Superintendent's State of the District
January 20 | 6:00 pm | Details >
Session #5: Alternatives to Special Education/Accommodations through 504 Plans
January 24 | 6:00 pm | Details >

PTA Council Meeting
January 24 | 7:30 pm | Details >

Project 2 Inspire (Spanish with English interpretation)
January 25 | 6:00 pm | Details >

Construction Bond Oversight Committee Meeting
January 25 | 6:00 pm | Details >

Planning and Oversight Committee Meeting
January 25 | 6:30 pm | Details >

Board Policy Meeting
January 27 | 6:00 pm | Details >