Feb Admissions Update

The tour season is winding down.  Applications for the upper school are once again strong. Kindergarten applications are similar to last year (a bit light), so these next 3 weeks are key for re-connecting with folks we know who are making their decisions. 

A New Co-ed Berkeley Baseball team (9-12 yr olds)!

A Berkwood Hedge parent sent us this invitation:

BERKELEY BEARS BASEBALL!

Looking for your daughter or son join a team where he/she will have fun learning to play baseball?

Understanding Lice

Lice happens. In every school, in every socioeconomic bracket, in every town. We do our best at BPC to keep lice exposure at a minimum and, when an exposure occurs, that it disrupts classroom life, students, and families as little as possible.

The school administration is grateful to the parent body for educating yourselves about lice (See the Lice Tips below) and being both proactive and responsible about this annoyance.

Parents' Circle Lice Tips

No parent or school welcomes an outbreak of lice – but unfortunately, outbreaks are inevitable. Our goal is to minimize (as best as possible) the impact on families, staff, and most important of all, the educational process.  

How do I know if my child has lice? 

1. It won’t be obvious.  This is why weekly screening is strongly recommended. Combing your child's hair with a fine toothed metal lice combs is the best way.  It's a 5-10 minute chore.

2. There are very few symptoms. 

3. In some cases (not all), the head may be itchy. 

4. In some cases (not all), there may be red marks behind the ears and neck. 

What should I do if my child has lice? 

1. Notify BPC immediately (Contact Lucy Morris or Sonam Gonsar).  Please also tell us who else may have been exposed at a sleep-over, play-date, carpool, etc. 

2. Contact the other families of children who may have been exposed.  

3. While BPC does not have a rigid "no lice & no nits" policy, we urge responsible action. (See bottom and please note that while many over-the-counter products may claim to kill live lice, there is no treatment that can substitute for hand-removal of nits. Family, friends, or professionals must do this.) 

4. A number of parents at the school may be available guidance, questions, & support. Would you like to learn more?  Or would you be available to help others with this?  Contact lowerschooloffice@blackpinecircle.org or parentscircle@gmail.com

Solutions: 

There are a number of local businesses that offer resources and lice removal services. While Black Pine Circle School does not endorse or stand by any service or product that claims to get rid of head lice, many many parents have relied on these services with positive results. Please add your comments below about positive experiences with these providers of lice/nit control services.

Lice Control in Castro Valley: www.lice-control.com, 510-727-1280.  They come to your home and employ the latest technology, a glorified hair dryer that kills lice and nits very handily.  They come back if it didn't work 100%.

Montclair’s NitPixies: www.nitpixies.com, 510-530-4247. a favorite of many BPC families

Nit-Wits:  www.nit-wits.com, 925-787-6020.  

Other Resources:

HeadLice.org

Soiree is April 9th, Featuring The Tear Jerkers

 

Listen

We're counting on your help to make the Auction a success.


I know!  I know!  I'm paying independent school tuition and ALSO being expected to take some volunteer slots and NOW you're asking me to create an auction item?     


umm... yes!  The new expectation this year is that each class will produce 2 parties or events, and a class project of some kind.  Maybe this will be your year.

1. Share a resource, skill or service 
Maybe you can call in a favor from your restauranteur pal or hot air balloon hobbyist brother... just maybe there's something in your life or in your network that the Auction Team can turn into a fundraiser.  Think about it for a moment...  View last year’s successful offerings, like figure skating lessons, home organization, scrapbooking, a photo book of the Headlands trip...

2. Collar some friends and host a party or adventure
Two-thirds of the money raised last year came from BPC-generated events and items.
It could be an event for adults (like the Disco and Tapas parties), for families (like the Geo-Caching Scavenger Hunt or the Tamale Making Party) or a drop-off event for kids alone (Amtrak to the Tech Museum, or a movie night at your house)
View more of last year’s successful offerings


3. Coordinate a class art project 
Here's a novel idea: The school has high quality footage of all of your class' assemblies.  Whip up a video retrospective and your whole class will buy it in a hot minute!  More traditional art projects like mosaic tables and such, especially if involving all the kids, are often very successful.  Please make this a discussion topic with other parents when you bump into them.

May Soiree.     Spring Fling.    Cirque du Soiree.    Spring Soiree.

The name may change, but it's always been true to its roots as a true let-down-your-hair dance party.

K-5 Mid-year Curriculum Overview Jan 14th

Connect the dots at this new offering for lower school parents!

Admissions Update, New Board members, Accreditation Update and more

December Admissions Update
Tours of the school are running 4 days/week.  Inquiries and attendance at admissions events are up 15% from last year.  A surprising number of applications for the current school year have been received, and a few have been accepted, bringing enrollment numbers up to the same total as last year.  A few more will be joining the school after the holiday break.

Black Pine Circle's Board of Directors
Two current lower school parents, Adrienne La Pierre (2nd) and Marc Deweretsky(5th), have joined the Board.  <read full Board bios>  Work on next year's budget continues in earnest, including examination of tuition as well as salaries at peer schools.

Accreditation Update
This multi-year process of "shining a friendly mirror" continues, with broad participation across the faculty and staff.  BPC had not previously sought accreditation but embraced the process last year as an opportunity to do a 'stem to stern' review.

Standardized Testing at BPC
It begins in 6th Grade, with little hoopla, as an opportunity for the students to experience standardized tests (bubbles! #2 pencils!), as well as providing the administration with "an interesting bit of data" about how BPC compares locally and nationally (we excel).  Important to know:  an un-timed option is available by request, without penalty or stigma.  Several parents chimed in that the un-timed option had been the right choice for their child.

School Technology, & BPC's Culture & Community

Halloween at the Lower School (click for more)

Update on BPC’s Instructional Technology and School IT

• Adminstrators attended a recent EBISA symposium, where there was discussion about what classrooms will look like in 2020.  While new technology was viewed as integral, there was just as much emphasis on collaboration and project-based learning, and on the need for play, varying intensity, and the cultivation of happiness. That said, BPC is thoughtfully piloting some implementations of new-ish instructional technology.

• Maureen Ray is thrilled with her new “document camera and projection device” (elmo).

• A digital wall display (a mimeo smartboard) is a popular addition to one upper school classroom.

• An enhanced Web Portal for families is coming, as well as some upgrades to backend systems.

Discussion about School Culture and Community 

a parent opened the discussion with these remarks:

Being a strong and resilient community is a key element of BPC’s sustainability as an institution. 

We are already a compassionate and mutually supportive community, evidenced not only by the 100+ parents who recently stepped up to support a member of our community in need, but by the countless ways we watch out for each other’s kids and each other.


Let's take a moment to reflect on obstacles and opportunities in our own ‘network of support’.

Why is this important?  

Admissions: BPC has to replace the 40+ families that graduate or move on each year.  Prospective parents indicate that they consider BPC’s laid-back sociability and inclusiveness as a strong positive.  And we compete with schools like Berkwood Hedge and Windrush that also consider their community to be a valuable asset. 

So what can we do to nurture and build on what is already happening?

What can we do as a “Circle of Parents” to promote a civil, civic, kind and mutually supportive community, among the kids, but also within our parent body and within the school community as a whole?

6th Grade Headlands Trip

Parents chimed in with suggestions:

The new monthly coffees hosted by Families Make a Difference (starting Nov 19^th)

A physical and/or virtual bulletin board, where folks can communicate that they're looking for something, or have something they don't need (size 9 cleats, carseats, 30 lemons from their tree, tickets they can't use)

The class potlucks and camping trips

A pavillion at the Picnic displaying what groups like Families Make a Difference and the Diversity Committee do.  Or maybe some of those folks would wear big buttons: "Ask me about FMD!"

4^th grade has a tradition of inviting the class ice skating

The 1^st grade held a triple birthday party in late August, and seven 1^st graders joined a soccer league this Fall

That time before class assemblies:  A proposal to invite parents to bring coffee and snacks to share for that 8:30-9am time on the yard

Proposal to start a book club reading some of the literature the Upper School is grappling with (Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men).  Indicate interest in the comments

What do you think?  Leave a comment!