Welcome to Jefferson School!

If you are new to Jefferson and would like to learn more about our school—its climate and culture, click here.

Upcoming Events

A great way to get to know the community and get your child more involved with school is to not just attend school events, but volunteer at them.

Don't miss these upcoming events:

• Mar 19 Cultural Potluck and Family Dance
• Mar 26 Cesar Chavez Day of Service and Learning

To find out what's coming up and to find the date, time, and location of an event, check out the PTA Events Page and the Calendar.

Proposed BUSD Expansion

Thank you to everyone who sent in letters to the school board! Things are moving in a positive direction. BUSD staff has provided a revised document to the Board, and they note that the community feedback influenced these recommendations. This will be discussed at the school board meeting on 10/28, but there won't be a decision until mid-November.

You can view the whole memo at http://www.berkeley.net/uploads/school_board/2009fall/10-28-09_packet.pdf. The facility report is at the very end.

The 10/23 document is here: BERKELEY_UNIFIED_SCHOOL_DISTRICT_memo_10_23.doc.

Below are highlights from the 10/23 document.

Highlights of 10/23 Document

Community Forum Comments: Lew Jones captured a lot of the points made in the community forums, and presents a summary of these, including:

• idea of adding portables to BAM and Jefferson was considered to be undesirable (particularly the number shown on the plans 4 - 6)
• concerns that the proposals did not cover added reserouces that should be budgeted when students are added to a campus
• traffic safety
• concerns about making the larger schools even larger
• renovating the old kitchen at Jefferson was preferable to adding portables
• concerns about how quickly a decision was occurring

Recommendation for Next School Year: that Malcom X be shared between the South and Central Zones and BAM be shared between the Central and Northwest Zones. Also, that the issues of a formula to distinguish administrative resources between small and large elementary schools and use of flex space be further studied.

Recommendation for 2011 - 2012: Use the Washington Annex (provided high school vacates this) and/or renovate the former kitchen space at Jefferson. Use of kitchen space is first option recommended.

Long Term Recommendation: Add permanent space at Jefferson (first choice) or at Washington. Either of these required new resources and there will be a plan for community input.

Opportunities at Jefferson School

To find out more about PTA activities:

• Look in the Jefferson Independent
• Check out the PTA Bulletin Board by the school office
• Explore volunteer opportunities on this site, especially the volunteer page and the coordinator's list.
• Contact the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinators

In the meantime, here are a couple of things you can do now:

• Join the PTA! The PTA is a membership organization. By joining you are not committing to any particular task, but rather just saying you want to have a voice in your child’s school and support advocating for children. Membership must be renewed each year so previous members, please sign on again! Get the membership form.
• Join the PTA e-tree. If you use email, join the PTA e-tree. This is a great way to get announcements about events and what’s happening – to join, sign up at http://transpacific.net/mailman/listinfo/jefferson.

Lost and Found

Has your child lost a coat or sweatshirt? How about a glove, hat or lunchbox? Chances are, it's probably in the Jefferson Lost & Found!

Where to Find It

The Lost & Found items can be located just behind the stairs at the central ground floor entrance (by the girls’ bathroom).

At the Lost & Found, you can find:

• coats hanging on the rack
• sweaters and shirts in the cubed shelving
• hats, gloves, and lunchboxes on the shelves
• the sweatshirts in the big cart

In the main office, look for:

• glasses and other valuables

Note: At the end of every month, any unclaimed items will be donated to a charitable organization.

Check the Lost & Found for your student's items whenever you visit the school, and strongly encourage your child to look there too.

Jefferson is not responsible for any lost & found items, especially those that may have already been claimed.

Label Your Child's Clothing & Lunch Boxes

Prevent clothes from ending up in the Lost & Found in the first place. Label everything with your child’s name and room number.

Join the PTA

You must renew your membership every year!

The activities of the PTA are too numerous to list. A partial list of what the PTA does for Jefferson school includes:

• puts on community events every month
• spnonsors after-school classes
• offers scholarships for after-school classes
• raises funds for classroom supplies and field trips
• helps organize volunteers and room partners

The PTA could not do all the things we take for granted without the parents and guardians. The PTA wants you to join.

Membership in the PTA is $5.00 - $10.00 (sliding scale) this year. However, no family should hesitate to join for financial reasons. Contribute what you can.

To join:

1. Download the membership form in English or
   download the membership form in Spanish.
2. Turn it in to the green box in the main office or your child's teacher.

Questions? Contact the membership coordinators.