<div dir="ltr">
<p class="gmail-p1" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(255,37,0)"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">PLEASE do not reply to this email, contact <a href="mailto:superintendent@berkeley.net?subject="><span class="gmail-s2" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(71,135,255)">superintendent@berkeley.net</span></a>. </span></p>
<p class="gmail-p2" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;min-height:17px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p3" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">Dear Berkeley High School and Berkeley Technology Academy Families, Students, and Staff,</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p2" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;min-height:17px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p3" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">As we head toward the winter holiday, with the 2020 year right around the corner, we know that after January, time seems to accelerate. Before you know it, June 13, 2020, the date of high school graduation, will be upon us!</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p2" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;min-height:17px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p3" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">I know that many families make their plans far in advance for this special occasion, so I wanted to be sure that everyone knows the <b>graduation date and time, </b>which is <b>Saturday, June 13, at 1:00 pm</b>. I am also pleased to announce that we will again be able to hold the ceremony at the Haas Pavilion on the UC Berkeley campus.</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p2" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;min-height:17px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p3" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">Last year’s graduation ceremonies went very well, from what I’ve heard. Families and staff have told me that this venue offered excellent comfort, capacity, accessibility, audio/video quality and other amenities that provided a positive experience for all participants. In particular, parking, accessibility, security, and seating for patrons, especially those with disabilities, were greatly improved over the prior location at the Greek Theatre. </span></p>
<p class="gmail-p2" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;min-height:17px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p3" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">I do want to note that the graduation ceremony will take place on a Saturday afternoon, as it did last year. I understand that some families have a preference for Friday, either because of weekend travel plans, or because of religious observations on Saturday. BUSD Staff has worked with UC Berkeley staff to determine whether a Friday ceremony would be possible, and we have received a very firm response from UC that for a number of reasons, including the availability of required UC staffing, this was simply not possible. We also explored a number of alternative sites, but could not find a location that was suitable for the size of our Berkeley High graduation event. After several months of work to develop alternatives, I regret that there was no perfect solution that will work for every family.</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p2" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;min-height:17px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p3" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">My goal is to have a graduation ceremony that is as comfortable, accessible, safe and welcoming for our graduates’ family members and friends as possible, and I look forward to joining you on Saturday, June 13th for a meaningful and joyful celebration.</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p2" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;min-height:17px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p2" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;min-height:17px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p3" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">Thank you,</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p3" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">Brent Stephens, Ed.D.</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p3" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">Superintendent</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p4" style="margin:0px;text-align:center;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:15px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(174,25,22);min-height:17px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p5" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">_____________________________</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p6" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173)"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">Nicole Chee, Jenny Fosket, and Chaghig Walker are the parent-volunteer facilitators of the E-tree; please direct any questions about the E-tree to them at <a href="mailto:bhs-owner@lmi.net?subject="><span class="gmail-s3" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(87,124,173)">bhs-owner@lmi.net</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p7" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173);min-height:14px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p6" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173)"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">BHS E-tree archives: <a href="http://lists.lmi.net/pipermail/bhs/"><span class="gmail-s3" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(87,124,173)">http://lists.lmi.net/pipermail/bhs/</span></a></span></p>
<p class="gmail-p6" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173)"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">BHS website: <a href="http://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/"><span class="gmail-s3" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(87,124,173)">http://bhs.berkeleyschools.net/</span></a></span></p>
<p class="gmail-p6" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173)"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">BUSD 2019-2020 Calendar: <a href="https://www.berkeleyschools.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/BerkeleyUSDCalendar-K12-2019-20-v6.pdf"><span class="gmail-s3" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(87,124,173)">http://bit.ly/BUSDCalendar1920</span></a></span></p>
<p class="gmail-p6" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173)"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">BUSD Non-Discrimination Statement / la Política de No Discriminación: <a href="http://bit.ly/BUSDNDPolicy"><span class="gmail-s3" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(87,124,173)">http://bit.ly/BUSDNDPolicy</span></a></span></p>
<p class="gmail-p7" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173);min-height:14px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p6" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173)"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">To post a message, send to:<a href="mailto:bhs@lmi.net?subject="><span class="gmail-s3" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(87,124,173)"> bhs@lmi.net</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p7" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173);min-height:14px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p6" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173)"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">To </span><span class="gmail-s4" style="text-decoration-line:underline;letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(255,38,0)">unsubscribe</span><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px"> from the E-tree, send an email to <a href="mailto:bhs-request@lmi.net?subject="><span class="gmail-s3" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(87,124,173)">bhs-request@lmi.net</span></a> with one word only in the subject line: <b>unsubscribe</b>. The request must be sent from the email address that is subscribed to the list. If that does not work, visit the URL at the bottom of each message, or put your email address at the end of this URL: <a href="http://lists.lmi.net/mailman/options/bhs/"><span class="gmail-s3" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(87,124,173)">http://lists.lmi.net/mailman/options/bhs/</span></a>, or contact the e-tree moderators at <a href="mailto:bhs-owner@lmi.net?subject="><span class="gmail-s3" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(87,124,173)">bhs-owner@lmi.net</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class="gmail-p7" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173);min-height:14px"><br></p>
<p class="gmail-p6" style="margin:0px;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(87,124,173)"><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px">To </span><span class="gmail-s5" style="text-decoration-line:underline;letter-spacing:0px">subscribe</span><span class="gmail-s1" style="letter-spacing:0px"> to the E-tree, send an email to <a href="mailto:bhs-request@lmi.net?subject="><span class="gmail-s3" style="letter-spacing:0px;color:rgb(87,124,173)">bhs-request@lmi.net</span></a> with one word only in the subject line: <b>subscribe</b></span></p></div>