Dr. Splane, Principal

Mrs. Berg, Assistant Principal

Email: rvelasquez@ogsd.net
Website: bernalis.schoolloop.com
Location: 6610 San Ignacio Avenue, San Jose, CA, United States
Phone: 4085785731

Greetings Bernal Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to November! With the week of vacation this month for the Thanksgiving Holiday, it will be a short month. A lot is going on this month at Bernal. In athletics, girls’ basketball is wrapping up and boys’ basketball will begin their tryouts. On November 8th, Ms. Fennern and the Jazz Band will be showcased at the Silicon Valley Education Foundation’s Annual Pioneers and Purpose dinner at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. Pioneers & Purpose (P&P) brings together the best and brightest of Silicon Valley in celebration of education. Since 2005, P&P has been the signature event of SVEF. Honoring business and education leaders in the region, Pioneers & Purpose has raised over $11 million for STEM education, making a tremendous impact for public school children and teachers across Silicon Valley.

Also in November is History Day: Presented by the History/Social Studies Department. History Day will take place on November 29th. Seventh and eighth-grade students have been working very hard on their history day projects. This event is a special and successful event every year. We expect nothing less this year. Please be sure to ask your student about their involvement in History Day and be sure to visit Bernal to see the presentations that day.

November is also the month that we partner with the City of San Jose to bring anti-bullying presentations to every 7th grade student at Bernal in their PE classes. 8th grade students took part in the presentations last year as 7th graders. If your 8th grade student is new to Bernal this year or did not participate last year, please contact the front office to make the request to have your student participate. We look forward to this partnership with the City of San Jose continue for many years to come.

District Cultural Arts Expo

We are happy to announce that the annual Oak Grove School District Cultural Arts Expo is just around the corner. Be sure to mark Friday, February 2nd, 4:00-7:00pm on your calendar. It will take place at the Edenvale Community Center, 330 Branham Lane East, San Jose CA 95111. We are excited to see what our talented artists from Oak Grove School District have created this year. There will be a display of visual and performing arts including singing, dancing, and musical performances by Oak Grove students. Food trucks will be present for you to enjoy! The event is free, but a $5 donation per family to support the arts will be greatly appreciated. Please be sure to attend!

We would like the parent community to support the district in putting together this fantastic show. Please give us 2 hours of your time between 10am and 4pm on Thursday, February 1st. We need help with mounting artwork onto the display boards before the show and take down after the show on Friday, Feb. 2nd. Please contact Raji Musinipally at rmusinipally@ogsd.net or call 408-227-8300, ext. 100263 to help.

11/3 - Socks & Sandals Day

11/10 - No School

11/17 - Flannel Day

Friday, November 10th - Veterans Day - NO SCHOOL

November 19th-25th - Thanksgiving Break - NO SCHOOL

Grade reports for Term 2 will be mailed home on Monday, November 13th.

Girls Basketball Games (A Team):

11/2 @ Solorsano

11/7 @ Davis

11/9 @ South Valley 3:45/5:00 start times

11/14 @ Bernal 3:45/5:00 start times

11/16 @ Bernal

11/28 @ Bernal

Girls B Basketball Games:

11/2- Bernal at Herman

11/7 - Herman at Bernal
11/9- Davis at Bernal
11/16- Bernal at Davis

11/7 - Christopher at Bernal

11/27: Boys Basketball Start Date

Congratulations to the following students for being the top 10 earners of Bronco Bucks during October! Keep showing RISE behavior to earn your Bronco Bucks! :-)

Valeria S. - 100 points

Sandra A. - 86 points

Jenny L. - 70 points

Christopher G. - 61 points

David C. - 53 points

Ulysses B. - 53 points

Lynn B. - 48 points

Rogan S. - 47 points

Harshaan S. - 46 points

Dayanara M. - 45 points

To register as a Parent or Student, follow these easy steps:

1) Go to https://access.heropowered.com

2) Select the parent or student button

3) Click “Create An Account”

4) Enter name, your email address, choose a password, click “Create user”

5) Click “Add Student”

6) A pop up with ask “Did your school provide you with a secure key to access Hero?” - Select “NO”

7) Enter student ID#, birth date, and last name (ID # is located on your student’s schedule of classes)

Download the Hero App ("Hero-Students")

Once you register online, you may download the HERO app from the itunes or Google Play stores to keep track of HERO behavior history and Hero point balances.

Please see the PDF attached below with step-by-step instructions (with pictures) of how to create your parent account.

Please read our previous newsletters or posts on School Loop for more information about how Bernal is using Hero.

This year all Bernal students and staff are required to wear their school ID card daily.

Here positive reasons why students are expected to wear their ID card:

• Teachers anywhere in the school can scan your ID to give you digital Bronco Bucks for following RISE behavior- even outside at break and lunch!

• The attendance clerk can scan your ID and get you back to class faster when tardy.

• Teachers & students will know your name in order to initiate conversation and invite you to play sports, etc.

Expectations for lanyards and student ID cards:

• Lanyards MUST be worn daily by all students
  

• Lanyards may be worn around neck, or as a belt clip, as long as it is fully VISIBLE

• Lanyards MAY be tucked into shirts when playing sports at break/lunch, for safety

• You may buy your own lanyard/belt clip to express individuality, as long as it is appropriate for school

• Red/blue lanyards count as your ONLY red/blue accessory.

• PE clothing is already labeled with student name, so lanyards will NOT be worn in PE classes. Please keep them in your locker or backpack during PE class.
  

• The Student Store is also selling colored lanyards for you to purchase with your Hero Points/Bronco Bucks

• Not wearing your ID will count as a Minor violation. Advisory teachers will be documenting students not wearing lanyards daily. After 5 minors for not wearing your lanyard, you will receive a major referral which results in a school consequence (after school detention, Friday school, etc.)

Please check the OGSD School Consolidation website for more information, meeting notes, etc. Click this link to access the site.

Below you will also find a letter sent by OGSD's superintendent on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 clarifying any misunderstandings about the current status of the school consolidation process.

Any student or parent that would like to volunteer at St. Julie’s Catholic Church on November 11, from 9 to 11 AM please contact Mr. Judnick, Mr. Guevarra, Mr. Medina, or Mr. Mancias for more details. Volunteers are needed to help fill up food baskets for needy families in our community. A continental breakfast will be provided for all volunteers.

Need extra support with Math?

Math tutoring is held on Mondays thru Thursdays from 2:30 – 3:30pm in room 212 by Mr. Mancias. It is open to ALL students!

Bernal History Day is officially underway! Last Friday, Oct. 6, our History Department introduced our History Day theme this year: Conflict and Compromise. Bernal students participated in activities discussing and then analyzing controversial topics today, to get a better perspective on controversial topics of the past.

Parents and families are welcome to attend our Annual Bernal History Day! It will be on Wednesday, Nov. 29th...Periods 1-6, on the 2nd floor around the Bernal Library. Stop by the front office to sign in and get a visitors badge and then come upstairs to view the amazing History Day projects!

In the 2017 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), Bernal Intermediate scored well above the state average in both the 7th and 8th grade test results for mathematics. However, the math teachers at Bernal feel that they can do much better on improving CAASPP test results. To that end, the Bernal math department recently attended a math symposium sponsored by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. The symposium centered on math teaching strategies based on the extensive research conducted by John Hattie. In his book "Visible Learning for Mathematics: What Works Best to Optimize Student Learning," Hattie offers several researched based math teaching strategies to help math teachers increase math teaching effectiveness. The math department also attended a math teaching collaborative meeting with other middle school and high school math teachers sponsored by the East Side Alliance. As a result of this, the 7th and 8th grade teachers have committed to grade level collaboration on teaching strategies and planning.

The math department has also started an after school math intervention program. The program is open to all Bernal students. The intervention is geared to help struggling math students get after school tutoring in order to help them improve their math skills. The tutoring is on Mondays through Thursdays from 2:30-3:30pm in room 212.

Finally, one of our 7th grade math teachers has volunteered to start a Bernal School Math Club. The math club will hopefully increase student interest in mathematics. The math club meets on Tuesdays at lunch in room 208.

Each day middle school students may worry about their grades, doing their homework, maintaining relationships with their friends or their appearance. As the holidays and school breaks approach, many students can have increased stress and may act out more, talk back, become more irritable, or withdraw. Some sources beyond school could include separation/divorce, family issues, having little or nothing to do. Kathy Cumming, School Adjustment Counselor & Mikaela Kita, School Psychologist from Medway Public School list the following as warning signs of stress:

• Headaches and stomach aches
• Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
• Excessive Sleeping
• Anger
• Increased irritability
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Crying
• Avoiding people
• Worrying/Anxiousness

To combat students increased stressed during the holiday, it is important to be proactive and plan ahead of time. The following are some de-stress strategies recommended by Stacey Ward, School Psychologist to help you plan:

• Play or do something active/exercise
• Listen to music/create a holiday playlist
• Watch TV or play video games
• Talk to a friend, relative or counselor
• Keep lines of communication open
• Acknowledge that stress exists
• Writing in journal/poetry
• Breath techniques
• Get enough sleep
• Plan fun activities

Additional Resources

• Websites: yourtreen.org, kidshealth.org
• Books for Parents: Get out of My Life, But first could drive me and Cheryl to the mall? A parents guide to the new teenager by Anthony E. Wolf, Ph. D.
• Book for Teens: Fighting Invisible Tigers: A stress management guide for teenagers by Earl Hipp

The Hispanic Parents Meeting was held on Thursday, October 19th. There were 27 parents that attended the event. Students who brought an adult to the meeting received 30 Bronco Bucks! The meeting was hosted by Dr. Splane, Ms. Bejar, Ms. Chita-Williams, and Mr. Mancias. Parents were given instructions on Bernal’s policies and procedures, which included signing onto school loop, grading procedures, parent resources, and counseling services for students and parents. The meeting was in both English and Spanish. You will find the powerpoint presented at this meeting attached below.

The next Hispanic Parent Meeting will be in December.

Below you will find the presentation from Bernal's African American Koffee Klatch parent meeting held on Monday, October 23rd. Stay tuned for information about our need meeting!

The 7th annual Discovery Day at AT&T Park is Saturday 11/11/17. There will hundreds of hands-on activities, opportunities to meet local scientists and engineers, and plenty of fun and educational entertainment. The entire ballpark is packed to the rafters with science content: on the field, at every entry/exit, and every level of the ballpark. Get ready to unleash your inner scientist.

When: Due to popular demand, we are extending the hours of this event to 10AM-4PM!

Suggested Age: Families with kids 0-14

Cost: FREE! No tickets/RSVP needed.

Check out more information here!

We need the help of community members to ensure our students are safe during lunch and after school. Please see Mrs. Berg if you would like to learn more and to sign up!

Click here to volunteer!!!!