Dr. Splane, Principal

Mr. Garner, Assistant Principal

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

Dear 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 under way. Mr. Medina and Mr. Beaulieu have the 7th and 8th grade girls hustling and playing hard. I love the energy that the student and parent fans bring to the games. Be sure to remember that no food or drinks are allowed in the gym during games.

Speaking of awesome, we are well underway in our lunchtime and after school clubs! Please see the list below of this year's student clubs.

Bernal’s Home and School Association (HSA) just finished our October book fair and, what a success! We had solid book sales and a strong showing of students and parents. HSA reached their sales goal and will get 55% of the sale back in scholastic dollars that were used to purchase SEVENTY books for our school! Speaking of parents, shout out to ALL parents who volunteered at the book fair. We hope you enjoyed spending time at Bernal. Email HSA President Candace Warner if you’d like to volunteer at future parent events at Bernal at bernalhsapres@gmail.com.

I’d like also send a very special thank you to Bernal’s Home School Association Board Members: Candace Warner, Yolanda Coleman, Ligia Rosser and Jenny Rios. Through all of the parent donations from the HSA Donation Drive, the HSA Board was able to provide so many wonderful items to support our teaching and learning goals at Bernal: Science test tube racks, wireless scanners for HERO points, alternative seating for the library, cameras for journalism/yearbook class, welcome gift packets for counselors to give new students to Bernal, Saturday Academy food and supplies, printers, specialized portable health/first aide kit for Ms. Heather in the Health Office, and much more. Our teachers and staff love you, HSA!

Be sure to check your school loop accounts for your student’s grades. If you have questions, first ask your student. Next, additional questions should be taken (by email or in person) to the teacher by your student. Last, if the matter or question is still not resolved, email the teacher directly. The end of the second grading period is November 16. Don’t wait until the last minute to check school loop and reach out to the teacher with questions about your student’s grades!

Traffic: Parents, please, please, slow down before and after school around Bernal when dropping off and picking students up. We have been getting complaints from neighbors about speeding cars and general unsafe driving behavior. Also, please remember to drop your student off on the school side of the street. Crossing the street in the middle of traffic is not only not allowed, but not safe. Let’s set a good example for our students.

That’s it for now. As always, take care of yourselves and each other.

Jamal Splane, Principal

Hello Bernal Community:

I would like to bring awareness to the way we are driving before and after school and how that influences our community. I want to remind our community that the parking lot is NOT a place for picking up or dropping off students. This area becomes very congested and makes exiting onto San Ignacio even worse. Parents, absolutely NO U-TURNS are allowed before/after school. This is a friendly reminder to be polite, patient, and respectful to others while picking up your children.

Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook have revolutionized the way our students are practicing their communication skills. Unfortunately, social media has become the root cause of certain teenage problems. Parents, please be sure to monitor your child’s use of social media. Note that all images and language must be age appropriate.

Miles Garner

Assistant Principal

Bernal Intermediate

The 2018 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) data has been released. Please take a moment to read the attached letter (also linked here: Bernal's 2018 CAASPP Data) to find out how Bernal's students performed on the 2018 CAASPP.

Term 2 grades end on Friday, November 16th.

Grades will be mailed home on Friday, November 30th (after Thanksgiving Break).

11/2 - No spirit day

11/9 - Flannel Day

11/16 - Rally Day! Wear your rally color (based on your Advisory teacher) to show your school spirit!

11/23 - No school the week of Thanksgiving

11/30 - Socks and Sandals Day

Season Dates: 10/1 - 12/6

Upcoming 'A' Team Games:

11/1 Solorsano at Bernal 7th 3:30/8th 4:45

11/6 Davis at Bernal 7th 3:30/8th 4:45

11/8 Bernal at Herman 7th 3:30/8th 4:45

11/13 South Valley at Bernal 7th 3:30/8th 4:45

11/14 Bernal at Britton 7th 3:45/8th 5:00

11/15 Bernal at Murphy 7th 3:45/8th 5:00

12/4-12/6 Playoffs TBD

Upcoming 'B' Team Games:

11/1 Bernal @ Davis 3:30

11/8 Herman @ Bernal 3:30

11/13 Bernal @ Herman 3:30

11/15 Davis @ Bernal 3:30

Bernal will host a Super Saturday Academy Session on Saturday, November 10th from 8:15am - 12:30pm! Attending the Super Saturday will allow students to make up one absence from this school year. Permission slips were sent home on Tuesday, October 30th.

For this session, students will get to participate in a hands-on COOKING COMPETITION in the format of the show "Nailed It!"! You won't want to miss out on this fun day!

Students need to turn in their permission slip by Monday, November 5th and attend the full session so they can:

• Earn 10 Bronco Bucks!

• Be entered into a raffle to earn a pizza party for them and 5 friends!

• Earn an In-n-Out certificate!

• Be entered into a raffle to win a mile pass for P.E.!

Please email Allison Crawford at acrawford@ogsd.net if you have any questions!

*Permission slips may be turned in late (11/8), but students will NOT be able to order a lunch if it's turned in late. They will need to bring their own lunch.

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! :-)

1. Tatyana F. - 437 pts

2. Carina J. - 365 pts

3. Kulwant B. - 181 pts

4. David C. - 155 pts

5. Gavriel A. - 141 pts

6. David L. - 135 pts

7. Matthew T. - 96 pts

8. Aaron T. - 90 pts

9. Isaiah A. - 81 pts

10. Justin S. - 80 pts

Do you ever wish that your time at school could benefit you more? Do you wish that your teachers understood you better and knew how to help you achieve more? It may take some courage, some new skills, and maybe some insight into your self, but the results may make a tremendous difference in how comfortable you are in school, your grades, and what you really get out of your education.

You’ve been a student for most of your life, but have you thought about how the teacher presents the material, where you sit, and how you interact with the teachers and others actually effects how well you pay attention and how well you learn the material?

Take an active role and craft your learning more to your style.

How can you do this? Get to know yourself as a student and how you learn best: Listening, reading, hands on, talking about the material out loud, writing it down, drawing a diagram. There are lots of short, easy tools you can use to help you gain more insight into your unique style of learning. Once you know your style you are in a better position to know how to make the class time work better for you. (As an added benefit you may find more effective ways to study at home as well.) Try to think of other times you have experienced successful learning in the past what made those methods work for you.

Now here’s the important, bold step. Share this information with your teacher. It will help him or her know how to help you better understand the material that you are expected to learn! If you learn better by listening and find note taking distracts you, perhaps you can ask the teacher (or a friend) for the notes. Let the teacher know in advance so she/ he understands that just because you aren’t writing, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t paying attention. If visuals help you, ask the teacher if she could present some of the material using some diagrams or charts. Very often teachers are appreciative of your interest and concerns and willing to work with you to help you achieve.

How about where you sit? It’s always nice to sit next to your friends, but if you feel you are distracted during a class you may have trouble with, request that your teacher move your seat to one where you think you will learn better…. they are often more flexible when they see that you are making an effort to learn more effectively. You can speak privately to you teacher so your friends don’t know you are the reason your seat was switched.

Consider going to your teacher’s extra help. This time often allows you to work one-on-one with your teacher and gives you the opportunity to ask questions you weren’t able to ask during class. A bonus is that it shows your teacher you’re making the extra effort to improve.

In many classes, class participation is counted toward your grade. If this is particularly difficult for you, consider talking privately with your teacher and seeing if there is a way perhaps they can make it more comfortable. Sometimes if they are aware of your hesitancy, but recognize that you are trying, they may give you other opportunities to improve that part of your grade. Maybe to help you get started in participating they can work out something in advance where you know what question they will be asking you. Many teachers are open to emailing back and forth. This might be an added way for you to participate as well as get you the help you need more comfortably.

The bottom line: teachers are people, too. They can’t read your mind and don’t always know your concerns or intention. Learning how to speak up for yourself and explain your needs and your rights is known as advocating for yourself. This is a valuable life skill that you will use in many areas of your life. Be prepared to tell your teachers how you learn best and how you work best to deal with your challenges – and how they can help you succeed. Help them to see you as an individual learner who truly cares and is trying his/her best. Take a chance and reach out to your teacher – you just might really benefit from the results.

For further resources on learning styles, visit http://www.ldinfo.com. This is not to be used for diagnostic purposes, rather for discussion and gaining insight.

Cindy Goldrich, Ed.M., ACAC is a certified ADHD Coach specializing in Parenting Children with ADHD, and runs the Calm and Connected: Parenting Children with ADHD workshop series. For more information and to make an appointment, contact Cindy at 212-799-7777, the Hallowell Center of New York.

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