[BHS Etree] ADMIN: Welcome to Universal 9th Grade!

Wed Aug 29 21:59:43 PDT 2018

PLEASE do not reply to this email, contact hasmigminassian at berkeley.net<mailto:hasmigminassian at berkeley.net>

August 27, 2018

Dear Universal 9th Grade Families,

We are thrilled to welcome you to the Universal 9th Grade at Berkeley High and provide some helpful information as your students transition into becoming Yellowjackets!

Core Values:

As you know by now, your students are grouped into seven houses, which we are calling HIVES. Each Hive is named after one of the seven core values that the U9 is rooted in. In the first weeks of school, students will be engaging in lessons in their four hive classes, which are specifically related to the core values and how we will integrate them into our daily practice. We welcome your reinforcement at home and look forward to watching the students make their own connections.

Berkeley High School Universal 9th Grade Core Values 2018-2019

Hive 1:  Growth

Commit to personal and academic growth through authentic learning.

Hive 2:  Integrity

Tell the truth and keep your word; Demonstrate the courage to be your most ethical and most authentic self.

Hive 3:  Voice

Present convictions with consideration of your impact; Listen with an open mind and resolve conflict peacefully.

Hive 4:  Justice

Commit to becoming the agents of social change who disrupt and dismantle systems and structures that prevent all of us from reaching our full potential.

Hive 5:  Empathy

Value others, celebrate diversity, understand differing beliefs and behaviors; Reject actions that hurt or offend others, and practice forgiveness.

Hive 6:  Respect

Treat each other with dignity. Exercise self discipline. Honor personal and physical boundaries.

Hive 7:  Leadership

Take responsibility for ourselves and ownership for the success of all members of our community; Lead the way in embodying all of our core values.

Who’s Who in the Universal 9th Grade?

Our staff has been hard at work meeting and planning out the year. We have a strong team who you’ll meet when you come to Back to School Night on Thursday September 27th. Until then, please see below for staff names, roles, and contact information.

Please note that all emails are firstnamelastname at berkeley.net<mailto:firstnamelastname at berkeley.net>

For example: ToniaColeman at berkeley.net<mailto:ToniaColeman at berkeley.net>

*Indicates the Lead Teacher for that Hive

** Indicates the LEAP teacher for that Hive

Vice-Principal, Tonia Coleman

Math Coordinator, Sumeyye Cardakli

Teacher Leader, Hasmig Minassian

Academic Counselor, Linh Le (Hives 1-3)

Academic Counselor, Maribel Quiroz (Hives 4-7)

Intervention Counselors: Jasdeep Malhi, Nashwa Emam, and Jessie Levin

Hive 1: Growth

Math 1, Paul Yen**

Physics 1, Adrian Altawil

English 1, Joseph Omwamba

Freshman Seminar, Hasmig Minassian*

Intervention Counselor:  Jasdeep Malhi

Hive 2: Integrity

Math 1, Nakia Baird*

Physics 1, Chris Strelioff

English 1, Devon Magana

Freshman Seminar, Dana Moran**

Intervention Counselor:  Jasdeep Malhi

Hive 3: Voice

Math 1, Nicole Nagappan

Physics 1, Kate Haber

English 1, Mendel Chernak*

Freshman Seminar, Julian Geaga**

Intervention Counselor:  Nashwa Emam

Hive 4: Justice

Math 1, Leah Alcala*

Physics 1, Jerry Liang

English 1, Maia Wachtel

Freshman Seminar, Alex Day**

Intervention Counselor:  Jasdeep Malhi

Hive 5: Empathy

Math 1, Roald Dejean

Physics 1, Mat Glaser*

English 1, Anne Frost

Freshman Seminar, Courtney Anderson**

Long term sub for Ms. Anderson is Lawrence Williams

Intervention Counselor:  Nashwa Emam

Hive 6: Respect

Math 1, Joe Herbert

Physics 1, Stephen Salser**

English 1, Julie Panebianco*

Freshman Seminar, Alice Bynum

Intervention Counselor:  Jasdeep Malhi

Hive 7: Leadership

Math 1, Laura Gorrin**

Physics 1, Vicki Augustine*

English 1, Sean Stevens

Freshman Seminar, Marisa Castro

Intervention Counselor:  Jessie Levin

Jasmin Mumford is the teacher for all Advanced Math 1 students and has students from every Hive.

Attendance Matters

Attend today and achieve tomorrow. Daily on-time attendance at Berkeley High is critical to your child’s success in school and in life. In fact, 9th grade attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.

As we embark on our first year in Universal 9th grade, attendance will be one of our priorities, as we believe it is an essential component in educating the whole child. At this stage in your child’s education they are strengthening their analytical skills and continue to develop their higher-level critical thinking skills which is key to future academic success and/or job readiness.

Students who miss class and/or are late to class often experience difficulty catching up and have few opportunities to learn the material they missed. Whether these absences are excused or unexcused, it can significantly affect a child’s achievement and puts them academically at-risk.

With that said, our focus on attendance will be positive and will support the positive culture and climate of the Universal 9th grade. We will celebrate our successes with attendance and provide necessary supports for students that are unable to meet expectations.

For more information about Attendance, please visit: https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/parents/attendance/

Communication

Parents can communicate directly with teachers via email and/ or by phone.   Parents must have a pre-arranged meeting scheduled in order to meet with a teacher. Once the meeting time is set, a parent/guardian must sign in at the front office and you will be given a visitor’s pass. Email is the best way to contact our teachers and you can expect a response from teachers, barring unusual circumstances, within 2-3 business days.  If you don’t have email, you can call the front office at 510) 644-6121 and leave a message for one of the teachers to call you back.

The Berkeley High E-Tree is the best way to get up to date information from the school at large. It’s also where you can find a variety of opportunities, should you be interested in joining our strong fleet of parent volunteers. To subscribe to the e-tree, send an email message to bhs-request at lmi.net<mailto:bhs-request at lmi.net> with “subscribe” as the first and only word in the subject line.  If that doesn’t work for some reason, please email bhs-owner at lmi.net<mailto:bhs-owner at lmi.net>. To volunteer at BHS, please email LisaSibony at berkeley.net<mailto:LisaSibony at berkeley.net>.

Illuminate

Illuminate is the best way to check your child’s attendance, homework completion and grades. Teachers will update grades at least twice a month. To create an account, you must first look up your access code at: <http://goo.gl/rMJVJb> <https://script.google.com/macros/s/AKfycbx1t4jBdrtB7Wgtu5wThY32XAhACdVkgHmnevrk5dicW_ENlW4/exec> goo.gl/rMJVJb<https://script.google.com/macros/s/AKfycbx1t4jBdrtB7Wgtu5wThY32XAhACdVkgHmnevrk5dicW_ENlW4/exec> <http://goo.gl/rMJVJb> <https://script.google.com/macros/s/AKfycbx1t4jBdrtB7Wgtu5wThY32XAhACdVkgHmnevrk5dicW_ENlW4/exec>  and then go to berkeley.illuminatehc.com<http://berkeley.illuminatehc.com/> to create your account. If you are having difficulty getting your code, contact the Parent Resource Center at (510) 644-4814. The Berkeley High website also has up to date links for getting on Illuminate.

New Math Coordinator and Math Support

Sumeyye Cardakli joins the Berkeley High Administrative Team as the U9 Math Coordinator having most recently served as a curriculum leader and AP Calculus teacher at Dougherty Valley High School. Born and raised in Turkey, she has lived with her family in California for the last 18 years. She attended Uludag University in Turkey and studied math, and earned her teaching credential from Saint Mary’s College and a Master’s Degree from UC Berkeley Principal Leadership Institute. Sumeyye is an experienced instructional leader who began her teaching career as a secondary school math/science teacher in Turkey and has taught math at both the middle and high school levels in California. Sumeyye is committed to collaborating with all stakeholders to improve education for vulnerable and historically underserved students in support of social justice.

Students and families are welcome to email her at sumeyyecardakli at berkeley.net<mailto:sumeyyecardakli at berkeley.net> .

Math Department Support and Website:

Every year at Berkeley High, a math tutorial schedule is created so that students have somewhere to get help every day after school. Please be on the lookout for this schedule within the first few weeks of school. We will also be regularly updating the Math Department website at the link below. In addition to these available supports, students will have math support in their LEAP classes as well as push-in math support within their math classes.

https://sites.google.com/berkeley.net/mathematicsdepartment

Additional Information:

<https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/><https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/>The Berkeley High website<https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/> is a valuable resource with up to date information on most of your inquiries. Get started at https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/ or click on the above link if you’re reading this electronically.

 A few quick resources which might be helpful (for the electronic version) include:

<https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Calendar-K12-1819.pdf><https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Calendar-K12-1819.pdf><https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Calendar-K12-1819.pdf>The BUSD Academic Calendar<https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Calendar-K12-1819.pdf>

<https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/information/bell-schedule/>Berkeley High Bell Schedule<https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/information/bell-schedule/>

<https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/information/bell-schedule/><https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/information/bell-schedule/><https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/information/bell-schedule/>

Berkeley High Athletics<https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/athletics/><https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/athletics/>

If you are reading this on the paper version, you can search each of those topics to reach the links on the Berkeley High School Website:  https://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/

Donating to the Universal 9th Grade:

The Berkeley High School Development Group manages donations throughout the year for a wide variety of student and staff needs. The Universal 9th Grade will have its own fund held by the Berkeley High School Development Group. As a service to our school, BHSDG acts as the “bank” for restricted grants to our learning communities and departments free of charge. Teachers and parent leaders of each SLC/department determine how to spend these “restricted” funds. If you’d like, you may donate to the BHSDG’s specific fund called “Universal 9th Grade”.

We also encourage you to donate to the BHSDG General Fund. Donations to the BHSDG general fund are vital to the overall success of our school; unrestricted donations to BHSDG are granted back to the school by our Board based on needs identified by BHS administration, teachers and students through a grant request process. Grants pay for numerous large programs which benefit all Berkeley High students, with a strong focus on equity.

HOW TO DONATE:

  1.  Write a check—payable to BHS Development Group—then write on the memo line  how to divide your donation or add a note, and send to the BHSDG at:

BHSDG

P.O. Box 519

Berkeley CA 94701

  1.  Donate via credit card—Go to the BHSDG web site http://bhsdg.org/wp/give/<http://bhsdg.org/wp/give/>

Under the PayPal™ logo, click “Donate”

(Please note there will be a 3% service charge for online donations)

  *   Type in the dollar amount and then “Universal 9th Grade” in the box titled “Designation”
  *   Then proceed to enter your payment information, billing address, and at the end clock “Donate Now”.

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Thank you for reading through our lengthy introductions! Most of all, we want to express how delighted we are to be starting this year with your young people and how much we’re looking forward to our work with them, in partnership with you!

Please feel free to reach out to us for feedback or questions.

Best Regards,

Erin Schweng, Principal

Tonia Coleman, Vice-Principal, U9

Sumeyye Cardakli, Math Coordinator, U9

Hasmig Minassian, Teacher Leader, U9

_____________________________

Marguerite Fa-Kaji, Jenny Fosket, and Dylan Kaufman are the parent-volunteer facilitators of the Etree; please direct any questions about the Etree to them at bhs-owner at lmi.net<mailto:bhs-owner at lmi.net>.

BHS etree archives: http://lists.lmi.net/pipermail/bhs/

BHS website: http://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/

BUSD 2017-2018 Calendar: http://bit.ly/BUSDCalendar

BUSD Non-Discrimination Statement / la Política de No Discriminación: http://bit.ly/BUSDNDPolicy

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