From the Head of School & Chairman of BPC's Board

Dear BPC Families,

In keeping with our tradition of updating you on happenings in our community, we wanted to pass along some information about Windrush School.  As many of you have heard, or read last week on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle, Windrush is experiencing severe financial hardship.   At present, Windrush is in the midst of an emergency fundraising drive in hopes of keeping the school open until the end of the school year. Windrush families and faculty have met frequently this week, and the Windrush community is feeling understandably vulnerable.

As we became aware of this unfortunate situation, the BPC community immediately reached out to our friends at Windrush.  We continue to be in contact with their administration and have been offering our support and assistance.

Ms Ronquillo in Chicago, 1/2 price Mini-Maker Faire Tix

Last chance!


BPC's K teacher Romina Ronquillo is performing at El Cerrito's CCCT.


This sizzling musical of murder & seduction is ready to “razzle dazzle” CCCT audiences with its pulse-racing story of a pair of sexy murderesses craving the celebrity spotlight in 1920s Chicago. With a wildly entertaining cast of characters, heart-stopping dance numbers, and a dazzling Kander and Ebb score, Chicago is a sure-fire hit! 


Tickets & More Info
It's PG-13, not for the little kids!

Crafty kids, robot geeks, and lovers of DIY should start getting excited because the East Bay Mini Maker Faire is less than a month away!


A Maker Faire is about celebrating learning and doing – not the finished and perfect end product.  It’s a place to share what we’re learning with others, and celebrate the fun and freedom of being an amateur.

Located at the Park Day School in Oakland, this not-so-mini meet up of Makers will take place on October 16 from 10 AM to 5 PM.  Half-price tickets available until Sept 30th

1st Parents' Circle Meeting of the New Year

Overview:

• Head of Realm School - Victor Diaz
• new Head of BPC's Upper School - Bill Webb
• new Development Director - John Ormsby
• News from the Heads of School
• New Hardware & Infrastructure - Randi Lee
• Volunteering at BPC gets refreshed- with fewer tasks and some new service opportunities
• Changes to the Room Parent Role
• Planning for the Picnic

Realm
The air was a bit charged as Victor Diaz, the head of BPC's new neighbor, Realm Charter School, began to address the 25 room parents and admin team gathered in the library, but Victor is very charming and it's rather inspiring what they're trying to do over there- cutting edge educational approaches for a traditionally underserved population.  He apologized for not reaching out sooner, and expressed a sincere desire to be a good neighbor. <more about Realm>

New Senior Staff
We heard from Bill Webb and John Ormsby.  We heard about BPC through Bill's fresh eyes and it reminded many of why we chose BPC... he said BPC is known for involved parents and kids who are kind to each other... that this was an attraction for him, and he was already seeing it. John Carlstroem added that the committee of faculty, parents and staff were unanimous in selecting Bill.


We met John Ormsby (formerly Bay Area representative to Barbara Boxer for 10 yrs).   He's a competitive cyclist with a 4 yr old, a taste for Mexican Coca-cola, and an easygoing demeanor that belies a keen intellect.  He sees his role as raising awareness and resources, human and financial, to benefit the school. He also had this to say about volunteering:


Volunteerism is the heartbeat of many worthwhile endeavors.  Reminds me of parenting itself.   Your work is absolutely essentially to the functioning and character of BPC.  It conserves resources, it fosters community, it sets a proper example, and it makes a difference.  And darn it, if done with spirit of "Explore More" it can even be fun.   Who doesn't enjoy a good lice check?

So thank you again for investing your time, talents, energy and patience.  If you don't consider yourself leaders, you should, because you are.  So here's to working together with on behalf of your school, your children and your fellow families.  - john


Other Admin highlights

• The new 1st grade assistant is a credentialed teacher in her own right.  
• Last year's small kindergarten is now at 18, and the whole school enrollment is at 242, which is "full" and a few more than last year.  It's also a boon considering the troubles experienced by many of our peer schools.  
• The physical plant improvements, on both sides of the street, were spent to have the campus "better reflect the quality of our school".  Check out the bleachers, hardscaping, cabinetry and new fixtures at the upper school and new flooring at the lower school, which were designed and built by BPC parents (Erin Gilett, Scott Bretall, Vit Salvo, Robert Bell,  Bruce, Ben, and Camille Carter).  Another example of BPC community coming together with a barn-raising spirit!

Back to School Picnic
Sunday Oct 2nd, 12-3pm in Tilden (Padre site)
We did some super efficient event planning...  this year's theme is farm-to-table, back-to-the-land, DIY food... we're looking into butter-churning, making ice cream with liquid nitrogen, and more.  A Donkey & Goat Winery is bringing the vino.  Laura Wolff's husband Steve is bringing suds from Pacific Brewing Company in Oakland.  Got an idea of some way you could add to the good times?  Reach out.

New Computers and other Technology
As part of the school's strategic plan, the Board has allocated funds to address the deferred maintenance in the area of school technology.  The school now has a totally upgraded network, to serve a set of new laptops for faculty and chromebooks (netbooks) for student use, which means that the computer lab can now come to the kids instead of vice versa.  The faculty are particularly jazzed about new document projectors, which eliminate transparencies (a waste of time and $) and make it instantaneous to project anything on the wall and large: great for kids who respond more to visuals.  The money came from an advantageous refinancing of the modest debt BPC incurred when building the library some years ago.  Kudos to parent & board member Randi Lee and IT guru Menna Stern for conducting a thoughtful review.  There will be more about this in coming months.


Volunteering Changes
Most of our peer schools have made volunteer service mandatory (is that an oxymoron?) at 20+ hours, and offered a financial opt-out, but BPC's Parents Circle is skipping the bureaucratic hassle and maintaining BPC's tradition of modest but meaningful parent participation. A team of parents met over the summer and managed to reduce what's expected of every family.  The new sign up list also highlights some tasks that require a greater commitment of time, or not so much time but more responsibility.  Sign Up Today!


Room Parenting
In previous years, it was one of the main responsibilities of a room parent to send reminders to volunteer prior to each event involving parent volunteers.  That's a thankless task we are happy to change.  After a limited experiment last year, room parents are now each taking on ONE event as the volunteer coordinator.  That means that you will be receiving volunteering reminders from a variety of parents you may not know.  Room parents also took on coordinator roles related to the Back-to-School Picnic, which will have a Farm-to-Table, Slow Food, DIY theme.  Got an idea to make it awesome?  Reach out.


If you're new to the school & wondering what's involved in being a room parent, here's a thumbnail sketch
Aside from the reminders and helping run the Back-to-School Picnic (Oct 2), room parents also coordinate teacher appreciation also act as information clearinghouses for their classes- receiving more information about what's going on, through monthly meetings and messages from the Chairs, and then passing on some distilled version to their classes.  One of the purposes of this blog is to relieve the burden of trying to summarize everything that is communicated in those meetings.  But it's no substitute for the monthly meetings, where room parents & other interested parents get a better sense of the administration, get the inside scoop on what's happening in the school on an institutional level, and get the chance to voice their opinions about matters of import.  Room parenting is a role that counts for most of a family's volunteering, too.

Two delicious invitations from talented BPC Parents

Check out their "Maybe I'm amazed" on YouTube.

Saturday Sept 3rd, stop by the Cheeseboard Collective on Shattuck between 5 & 8pm and hear Hank Maninger's band The Tear Jerkers play while you enjoy the great pizza. (Sat's pizza: Roma tomatoes, Red onions, Bulgarian feta, Mozzarella, Lemon zest and juice, Cilantro, Garlic olive oil.)

New Tasting Room FRIDAYS 4-7pm & SATURDAYS 12-4pm

Saturday, Sept 10th, 12:30 - 4:30, BPC-family owned winery A Donkey & Goat is having their annual Fall Fête. Great food from Zut (4th Street eatery) and 6 new wines! Not far from school, on 1340 5th Street. $20 in advance, $30 at the door. Kids under 12 are free and there's a huge enclosed area for them to run around, including a bocce court.

Grilled Brentwood Corn + Anzol Farms Heirloom Tomatoes Salad + Martin Bournhonesque’s Roasted Beets + Blossom Bluff Grilled Stone Fruit + Rotisserie Don Watson Lamb + Grilled Bill Niman Ranch Beef Kabobs While enjoying the bounty you can groove to live sounds of the winery favorite Michael LaMacchia. For more information contact Tracey or call the winery at 510-868-9174, or visit their website.

Nourish You hot lunch program

Got Lunch? 

Join the 160+ families and beaucoup de faculty

www.NourishYou.net

Shop at Target, much?

Here's a thought:  get the Redcard from Target:
5% discount for you, and 1% for our school.
This program has already raised almost $1,000 for BPC.
Click here for more info & to apply.

You have to go back later to Target.com/tcoe to add BPC as the beneficiary.
Do it now, if you have a Red Card and haven't done so!   I just signed up  - Evan

Realm Charter School Timeline & Updates

Realm Charter School opened this Fall a half block from BPC

Nov 6th: Realm has a great Facebook page with active participation by the parent body.  It'll give you a window into what they're about...


Sept 29th: Realm has posted a traffic coordinator on 8th street (the gentleman in the white hat). Some of the neighbors are still very agitated about how the traffic is impacting them.

Sept 7th: Realm Director Victor Diaz came to the Parents' Circle Mtg to address concerns and pledge a cooperative relationship.  They are looking to us for ideas of how to be a good neighbor and practice safe drop-offs... One big plus to come out of their arrival is a 4-way stop at Addison and 8th- that finally addresses the high-speed traffic coming down Addison.  Meanwhile, he and the neighbors are preparing to meet with a mediator.

Sept 2nd: Black Pine Circle Admin and Realm are talking about ways to smooth the morning traffic.  Do your part and drive safely, skip the U-turns on 8th, etc...