We have only four weeks left of school! So many wonderful things still lie ahead, including field trips, 5th grade graduation, the 4th grade Mosiac Camp, the Solar Fair, our open house and the carnival, to name a few. We are also busy with all kinds of exciting educational opportunities.

As of today, we are completely full for next year, even a little over-enrolled. This is a first for our school in two areas: 1. Our total enrollment is 461, making us the largest elementary in the district at this point. (Malcolm X may pass us up we will have to see.) 2. This is the first time we are full on the first round of the enrollment process. This tells me that Rosa Parks is in high demand and that our community feels excited about the work that we are doing and wants to be a part of it.

Our PTA has raised over $114,000 so far this year, another record for us! This money will bring more supervision to the yard, more enrichment to students and needed materials into teacher’s classrooms. The community support for our school is amazing, and we will work together to do great things for kids.

Our statewide testing is now done and I am so proud of our students. It was one of the calmest weeks here at Rosa Parks and everyone was focused on doing their best work. We celebrate their hard work this year and all of the learning that has taken place. We also look forward to the last month of learning to come.

On the 4th of June the school board will be holding a town hall meeting at 6 pm here at Rosa Parks to discuss the possibility of moving all TWI programs to Le Conte. This will be a great of opportunity for parents to express their opinions to the board and give them feedback on the board’s proposal. The board is interested in hearing from you, so please attend.

See you at one or more of the many upcoming events!

Best wishes,

Paco Furlan

For more information (and to register) visit: http://www.rosaparkscampout.blogspot.com

The Book Drive: From May 14 – May 25, bring in all the books your kids have outgrown to the Rosa Parks office. We will distribute them to teachers who will add them to their class libraries and, if needed, provide them to students who don’t have enough books at home.

The Leveling Party: On Tuesday, May 29, from 4:30 to 7:00pm, teachers and parents will gather in the Library to look up each book’s “level” so the teachers can make sure our kids are reading books that are just right for them. Dinner provided. RSVP to Alice Kaswan.

READ-A-THON RESULTS!!!

• 4,000 hours read
• 1,300 people donated money
• $36,500 raised

Congratulations everyone!!!

As you are reading this letter we are in the middle of state testing. All of our students from 2nd-5th grade are taking standardized tests in reading and math. Our 5th grade students are also taking a science test. This is one important measure for us as a school and a good way to see where we have improved and where we need to work.

We just finished our Read-a-thon and crushed a number of records. Over 4,000 hours were read, over 1,300 people donated and over $36,500 was raised! It was incredible to see the staff, student, parent, and community participation. This money will help fund a Play Works-like program next year, field trips, science supplies and Tours of the World. All of your efforts make a difference in the lives of our kids and we appreciate your support.

We celebrated biking to school with the “bike mobile,” hosting the mayors of Union City and Berkeley who interacted with parents and kids to promote cycling. Students were able to have their bikes fixed for free and to participate in fun bike trivia games. Our Bike to School/ Work celebration happened May 9th. We gave out stickers to students that rode to school and kids performed a riding song. Biking is a great way to get to school, stay healthy and save the Earth.

Our staff is completing their Mill’s collaborative Inquiry projects. Each staff member chose a question in their practice that they were interested in researching and focused the entire year on answering that question. We met for 1 ½ hours each month to look at each other’s research and gain from this learning community. Many of our staff will be presenting at Mills on June 5th about our collaborative work and learning.

As the Rosa Parks pledge says we continue to appreciate your support for us “to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.” This is truly a spectacular community and I get excited everyday as I see our new kindergarten parents coming in to enroll their children.

Best wishes,

Paco Furlan

On Friday, May 18 from 6:00- 7:30pm, we’ll have pizza in the gym and dance to some great tunes. Donations are accepted at the door, and pizza & salad sells for $2 per plate. Always super fun – come join us!

15 Minutes Evaluation

Coming soon… you’ll receive an evaluation form for the “15 Minutes Campaign” this year. Your feedback is vital for shaping our programs and receiving funding in the future, so please take a moment to fill out the eval and return it (whether or not you participated in 15 Minutes this year).

Thank you!

The weather is getting nicer and statewide testing is just around the corner. We will be testing May 7th–12th this year. Second through fifth-grade students will be tested in reading and math. Our fifth-grade students will be tested in science. Our students and our staff have been working hard and we look forward to seeing the results. These tests are only one measure of how we are doing as a school, but they are an important measure on which we will focus our best efforts.

We are now in the process of counting the funds collected in our read-a-thon. Once again we had a huge number of students participate in a variety of ways. It looks to be another great fundraiser for the school, and a terrific way to encourage our students to read, read, read!

A number of parents and community members from Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Washington have been working diligently to find solutions to our lack of funds for our garden and cooking programs. The Berkeley School Board recently voted to find some way to fund our programs for next year as we transition off of our grant. This is great news and we hope that these programs will be able to continue as a result. I would like to give a special thanks to all of the parents who advocated for these important programs and served on committees to try to find creative solutions. I will keep you posted as we move forward with plans for next year.

We continue to have so many amazing programs here at Rosa Parks. Just this past week we had a Tour of the World celebration, an ELAC/PTA family soccer day and a bike education mobile. On Thursday, April 26, we will have our next PTA meeting. I hope
that you are able to come out with your family to enjoy these free events, build community,
and educate us all on a wide variety of topics.

Best wishes,

Paco Furlan

MOTION: Maya Karpinski motioned for the PTA to approve all minutes from PTA meetings this school year.

Adopted

ANNOUNCEMENT
On Sunday, 5/20, 10-2PM, the PTA closet will be cleaned out, and people are being recruited to help with this.

PRESENTATIONS
Susan Silber – The Berkeley School Board has made a decision to allocate money to 3 schools, including Rosa Parks, who had lost funding for their cooking and gardening programs, so that these programs can be fully restored. The source for the funds was a surplus from the Food Services Program.

Carrie Wilson – The Read-a-Thon made a total that exceeded last year’s amount. There will be prizes awarded to both individuals and classes for certain reading hour levels and fundraising levels achieved.

TREASURER’S REPORT
Proposal for the PTA to fund $40,500 to the School Governance Council for various programs on the campus. Some of the major programs to potentially be funded:

• $25,000 for an alternative program for Playworks, which is pulling out of BUSD,
• $10,000 for the Family Resource Center on the RP campus

MOTION: Maya Karpinski motioned for the PTA to allocate $40,500 to the School Governance Council to assist in funding various programs on campus (main allocations mentioned above, the rest contained in the Treasurer’s report).

Adopted

PRESENTATION
Jenn Kagiwada – Rosa Parks Survey results, nearly 350 responses from a total school population of about 450 students. A summary of some comments are listed below:

Academic portion:
Positive comments: strong teachers, good curriculum
Areas to improve: present more challenging curriculum, more project-based instruction

Parent outreach:
Overall communication good (PTA newsletter, Principal’s message within it)
Areas to improve: weekly e-mails a requested item

Overall assessment:
Generally positive and excited about all that is going on at RP, great teachers, administration, Family Resource Center

Other items on the survey:
Afterschool Program
By a wide margin, high number of parents like the quality of the programs offered and the breadth of what is offered (e.g. tutoring services, intervention programs, homework help programs)

School Culture
Once again, a high number (over 90%) say they feel welcomed at Rosa Parks. There were concerns shared about the condition of the yard, bathrooms, and cafeteria at times

Principal
Overall, many are very pleased with his work and commitment to RP. One comment was shared that they hope the Principal can share in public settings the schoolwide goals and keep those in the public’s mind throughout the year.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Need to elect PTA officers for the 2012-2013 school year. There are open positions for President, Membership Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, Signs/Bulletin Board position, Communications Coordinator, Fundraising Coordinator (which can be a shared position). Also, previously unfilled positions of Parliamentarian and Historian are open as well.

PRESENTATION
Brian Dougherty – Rakafuki Friends – a lightbulb sale fundraiser
The sale has begun, both with home envelope and online ordering available.

STAR Testing occurs May 7-14. It is being promoted as a “No Screen Week”

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting was adjourned at 7:58 PM

Jeff Bruno
Secretary

All are welcome to apply, especially Spanish speaking families. No prior experience with the PTA necessary; we welcome new families!

Positions Open for 2012-13:

President: Supervise overall PTA operations.

Co-Vice-President: Work with two continuing Vice-Presidents to help coordinate events, welcome new families, and assist with other initiatives as needed.

Fundraising Coordinator: Supervise and coordinate fundraising activities, including direct donation requests, annual Gala Auction, read-a-thon, Carnival, and other initiatives. Note: the Fundraising Coordinator does not run all of these events; he or she oversees the various people responsible for most of the large events.

Membership Coordinator: Solicit members and maintain the PTA membership list. Coordinate a PTA table at the beginning of the year and at appropriate school events.

Volunteer Coordinator: Help connect available parent volunteers with volunteer opportunities.

Signs/Bulletin Board: Calling all artists! Maintain the bulletin board outside the office and make signs for PTA meetings and other events.

Communications/Newsletter: Produce and distribute bi-weekly newsletter; other initiatives possible.

E-Communications Coordinator: Maintain PTA WordPress site and moderate e-tree.

The following Board members and project leaders will continue to serve 2012-13:

Alice Kaswan (current VP; will run for President or another open position as needed)
Deb Christy-Damon (VP for new families and events)
Maureen Ellenhorn (VP for special projects – focusing on cooking and gardening)
Jenn Kagiwada (Room-Parent Coordinator)
Jeff Bruno (Secretary)
Kelly Besman (Treasurer)
Mike Scribner (Financial Secretary)
William Abernathy (Web Guy – NOTE: He is willing to be replaced if anyone is interested)
Sharon Danks (Green Schoolyard)

Elections: Thursday, May 17 PTA Meeting. For more information: contact Maya Karpinski, PTA President, at or 904-7346, or Alice Kaswan, PTA Vice-President, at or 717-0530.

I hope that you have enjoyed your Spring break and that you are looking forward to the rest of the school year. It was wonderful to head off to break enjoying our very first Rosa Parks musical “Character Matters” that Mrs. Gatts 4th grade language lab group produced. One of the great aspects of our language lab program is that it gives students the opportunity to do a variety of projects in the language arts and to get assistance at their level.

We are almost finished with our budgeting process for our school. Did you know that our PTA gave the school $77,000 of support last year? These funds helped us hire a Playworks coach, pay for counselors through our family resource center, hire after school tutors, purchase planners for students and provided the funds for over 20 field trips. This extra support from our PTA really makes our school a special place and we appreciate the efforts of this group. We will again be asking the PTA to support these programs that have become a key part of Rosa Parks.

Our staff and school governance council are working through the over 165 pages of comments from parents about our school. Over 90% of our parents feel welcome at the school, and feel that they are valued as partners in their child’s education. We work hard to foster strong positive relationships with parents and it is great to see that parents feel welcome here. There were a number of questions about language lab and we will work as a staff to better educate you about what we are doing during this time. Further we will continue to work to provide more academic rigor, especially for students who are above grade level.

A number of people have asked me about the potential changes in the TWI program and what my plans are for the future. As I said two years ago, my commitment to Rosa Parks Elementary is at least six years, if not longer. I really enjoy being the principal here and working with such a diverse and supportive community. I look forward to the rest of this year, and many happy years of learning and growing together in the future.

Best wishes

–Paco Furlan