Dear Rosa Parks families,

Best wishes during this wonderful holiday season! We just learned from the Berkeley Public Education Fund that Rosa Parks received over $11,000 in grant funding. These funds will help fund field trips to Angel Island, bring the Mosaic program to our school for an all-school assembly, and purchase needed materials and supplies throughout the school. The PTA and the staff are anxiously awaiting the outcome our annual direct drive and we will report shortly on the monies raised and our plans.

We really appreciate all of the support that we continue to get from our parents and outside organizations like BPEF. This support helps make our school the truly special place that it is. Across the country schools are cutting music programs, field trips and art supplies. Because of the strength of our community Rosa Parks continues to shine bright and support a variety of wonderful programs.

I look forward to our Kindergarten tours that will be starting in early December. One of my favorite things to do is to tell people about our amazing school. In collaboration with PTA volunteers we will give tours to over 100 perspective parents this year. Our school is in high demand because of the excellent staff, the engaged parents and of course our wonderful kids!

Please encourage your friends to tour our school if they have incoming kindergarteners. We look forward to recruiting another great class.

Best wishes, and have a restful break

Paco Furlan

In cooking class at Rosa Parks, students apply their math skills as they combine ingredients for a recipe using a variety of measuring tools.

The ingredients in a recipe have an important relationship to each other that is similar to concepts in math, and as a result, in math, equations are used to express those relationships.

In the recipe, Honey Oat Topping, students learn there are different ways to express the same units of measurements using the concept of cooking equivalents.

Equal But Different

3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon

¼ teaspoon = 1 pinch

Please visit my cooking blog for more news, recipes, pictures and ideas:

www.kidseatingright.wordpress.com

Chinook Books are located in the Rosa Parks office. They cost $20, and $10 of every purchase goes towards the fourth grade Mosaic camping trip.

Chinook books make great gifts, and are available until Dec. 11, 2011. If you can’t make it into the office, contact Maya Karpinski, who can deliver.

Teachers: Your room parents will be in touch soon about how you can contribute to gifts for your
children’s incredible teachers.

Staff: To honor the many other incomparable staff at Rosa Parks, like Alicia, Ms. Ingley, sports, gardening, and cooking teachers, janitorial staff, as well as our Special Ed and Kid’s Village staff, the PTA is collecting donations. $1, $5, $10, $20 – it’s all great.

If by check, make it out to “Rosa Parks PTA.” You can:

• Send to the office, in an envelope marked “PTA staff gift;”
• Give at the PTA Table at the Dec. 7 Tour of the World (until 6:15);
• Give to a PTA rep at drop-off on Monday, Dec. 12th and Tuesday, Dec. 13th.

Donation Deadline: Dec. 13.

Dear Rosa Parks families,

I hope that this newsletter finds you and your family in good health and enjoying this holiday season. Thanksgiving holiday is over and now is a great time to reflect on all that we are thankful for.

I am thankful for the supportive and engaged parent community that we have here at Rosa Parks. Over 80 parents came to the last PTA meeting to discuss that future of the Two Way Spanish Immersion program here at Rosa Parks and in our district.
Overwhelmingly parents expressed their love of our school and our current program and their concerns about the potential proposed changes. The school representatives really appreciate this feedback and we plan to bring your questions, your hopes and your concerns back to the district committee.

I am thankful for such a committed staff. I am amazed daily by the teachers and the classified employees that pour their heart and soul into their work. Almost the entire teaching staff is involved in the Mill’s collaborative inquiry study this year. Each one of our teachers has chosen a question of practice to research. They have also chosen certain students to focus their inquiry on. So far this has been a very enlightening opportunity for staff to work with one another to improve their practice.
And I am thankful for the kids. Every day I get to see children learning and growing. It is amazing to watch our students work with one another learning how to read better, discussing mathematical concepts, or learning a new language. The kids are not only learning more about the subjects that they study, but how to be better friends to one another.This I have to say is one of my
greatest joys, to see students sharing a ball or recess, or teaching one another how to play a new game. I encourage you to take a few moments and think about what you are thankful for at this time of the year. We are lucky to live in such a great place with so many people that are committed to kids.

Finally, I encourage you to contribute to our school direct fund drive. We rely on the funds raised by the PTA to fund things like Play Works, field trips, science supplies, teacher classroom materials, and other extra things that make this school such a great place. You can donate on line at the school website, or bring a check into the front office.

Best wishes,

Paco Furlan