| Get
in the Malcolm X spirit!
Spirit Week this year will be June 2 - 6. The themes will
be:
Tuesday, June 3: Pajama Day
Wednesday, June 4: Twin Day
Thursday, June 5: School Colors Day (also
Spring Fair day). Wear your MX T-shirts, performance shirts,
or school colors (yellow and purple).
Friday, June 6: Crazy Hat/Hair Day
March
for public education
On
Saturday, April 19, 2008, California Assembly Majority
Whip Fiona Ma will be marching to celebrate and commemorate
the life and work of labor and civil rights leader –
Cesar Chavez. You are invited to join our contingent.
Our theme for this year's March will be "Public Education
is Social Justice." Fiona Ma's group will assemble
on 24th and Harrison streets at 11 a.m. Wear a red top
and bring signs expressing support for public education.
To RSVP, please contact Ma's San Francisco Office by e-mailing
Bob Twomey or calling
415-557-2312.
Sign
a petition to stop the cuts
The Governor's proposal is to cut $4 billion in K-14 education
funding -- more than $700 per student! Our local schools
here in the 14th Assembly District and elsewhere are going
to get hit hard.
Take 30 seconds to sign the list and forward this on to
everyone you know who is angry that the budget is being
balanced on the backs of our kids!
Sign
here!
Budget
events
Rally,
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 5 p.m. at the BUSD
Administration Building (2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way)
Join our community in protesting the governor's proposed
budget. Join Berkeley Federation of Teachers members,
other BUSD Union members, parents, students, and community
members in demanding that our state legislators raise
revenues and avert the devastating cuts to public education
included in the Governor's proposed budget. Come support
our teachers with layoff notices as they head into layoff
hearings April 15th through April 17th.
For more go to: BFT
Note from the BUSD Public Information Officer: The superintendent,
board members, principals, and other administrators will
be out there in support of the BFT in the struggle we
all have to make together in order to insist on a responsible
budget from a state government elected by the people.
Responsible planning includes revenue enhancement.
This is not a spending crisis; it is a revenue crisis.
March
on Sacramento, Thursday, April 24. Get on the
bus! For more info: contact Solange.
New
MX Library website
The Malcolm X Library website is up and running! Check
out the amazing amount of information available!
http://libraries.berkeley.k12.ca.us/malcolmx
—Thanks, Betty Seaton!
KALW
News story on Mal X
www.publicbroadcasting.net/kalw/
Middle
school forum
Monday, Jan. 14, 7 - 8 p.m.
Malcolm X Library -- parents/guardians discussion with
Longfellow and Willard principals and parent/guardian
representatives from these two schools. Spanish Translation
available.
MX Cafeteria -- 4th & 5th grade students question
& answer with current middle school students at these
two schools. A parent moderator will be present.
Room 110 -- childcare for children over 3.
Any questions: Contact Cheryl Eccles (MX PTA president)
at cleccles2@comcast.net or 922-1838
The
play is the thing!
From
the backstage chaos to the on-stage brilliance, the show
must go on!
Apt time for a little nail biting:
Teacher and students make last-minute adjustments to their
acting assignments when some of the play's actors didn't
make it to the evening performace of Ms. Gold's second
grade rendition of "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble"
on Dec. 13, 2007. The show went on (as it must) with some
young actors taking on extra, unexpected roles. (I'm sure
the audience couldn't tell.) It's all part of the rich
experience Malcolm X offers. See
more.
Family
Heritage Night was great fun!
Attendees
to the Family Heritage Night on Dec. 12, were treated
to a performance by Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble. (See
some photos by Eugene Chan.) Although the performaance
was delayed by an unscheduled fire alarm, it was a great
evening!
Help
beautify Malcolm X's grounds
Malcolm
X Collaborative is organizing a "grounds planting
day" on Saturday, Nov. 17, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Join
MX children and families, neighborhood residents, and
some 150 Cal students on a number of improvement projects.
Funded by a grant from the Northern California Grassroots
Environmental Fund to buy plants, and the City of Berkeley
with tools, food, and on-site landscapers.
Volunteers are needed to lead/organize other volunteers
on specific projects, such as gardening, painting, and
weeding. This would involve showing up at the event 30
minutes early for training.
Donations
of baked goods, paper napkins, or sticky nametags would
be much appreciated. We would love to borrow plastic tableclothes
if you have any. Please let me know if you can participate
in any way!
Thanks!
Ariana
Milman, Malcolm X Collaborative, Coordinator
644-6314
Get involved! Malcolm X Work Day
Saturday, Nov. 17, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Meet at the front of the school.
Snacks provided.
'Seussical,
the Musical' fundraiser announced -- get your tickets
now!
Berkeley
Playhouse invites the MX community to a witty production
of "Seussical, the Musical" in our neighborhood
theater, The Ashby Stage (Ashby and MLK streets). This
musical fantasy weaves together characters from more than
fourteen Dr. Seuss stories into a fable about being an
independent thinker, keeping promises, and believing in
yourself. Come join your MX friends on 2 p.m. Saturday,
Nov. 24, or 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25, to help raise money
for our school too.
Berkeley
Playhouse has generously offered MX families discounted
tickets and will donate half of each ticket price to the
MX PTA. Tickest are purchased through the PTA for $18
adults, $12 children (16 and under). Order forms were
sent home but are also available in the MX main office.
Return the form to a box in the main office with your
check made out to the MX PTA.
This
is sure to be a fun afternoon for the entire family. Order
early as we expect this to be a popular event!
Members
of the Malcolm X School Governance Council (SGC) announced
Matt
Eccles -- Chair
YaVette O'Shea
Concepcion Ramirez
Catherine Lazio
Michael
Mascuch
Darretta Smith
Alternates:
Solange Gould, Dan Sawislak
Vote
now for members of the Malcolm X School Governance Council
(SGC)
The
SGC will oversee the Single Plan for Student Achievement
(SPSA); the spending of federal, state, and local funds
to support the SPSA; and participate in a district-wide
SGC committee.
Download
the ballot (PDF). Vote for up to six members and turn
in to your child's teacher or the office by Wednesday,
Sept. 26.
MX
gains significantly in "Star" state testing
Malcolm
X reported significant gains in both math and English
scores on the annual state-wide tests, which were recently
distributed to all families and reported in the news.
As the Berkeley Voice reported earlier this summer,
"some of the best news" in Berkeley was OUR
school, which imporved by six percentage points in English
and eight percentage points in math over the last year.
This is better than statewide average performance and
reflects the dedication of our staff and kids. Some of
the gains may also be attributed to our implementing Project
Connect which gives extra instruction to targeted students
according to our strategic plan. See
the results. For questions, see Curriculum Coordinator
Jai Waggoner.
Rivka
honored with "Jefferson Award" from local TV
station
Malcolm X Elementary's own gardening instructor
Rivka Mason was honored on Thursday, May 23, with local
KPIX
Channel 5's "Jefferson Award" recognizing
the positive effects of her outdoor "life labortory"
classroom on the children.
http://cbs5.com/jeffersonawards/local_story_143124343.html
Measure
A passes!
To all of the Malcolm X supporters of
Measure A:
We did it! We won by 79% of the vote and we only needed
67%. Thanks so much for all of your help. It was because
we all pitched in (and families from other schools did
as well) that we got such a high vote. It restores my
faith in Berkeley!
It was a great experience working with everyone. So nice
to work hard for a good cause and then actually WIN and
win big!
Until next time -- Holly
MEASURE A WINS BIG! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
As of 1:40am today, with 90% of the precincts reporting,
Measure A has exceeded our wildest expectations ... we
have captured 78.76% of the vote!
I wanted to say a few words of thanks to all of the people
who have been so instrumental in making such an historical
impact for our schools. The more I thought of it, however,
the more I realized my message would be close to the length
of a book if I did so. This campaign has truly been a
community-wide effort, with so many people from 2 year
olds in strollers with Measure A signs to grandmothers
pitching in to lend a hand.
I hope that it will suffice to say how much I personally
have appreciated working with all of you -- it is a rare
treat and a genuine blessing to have had the opportunity
to work alongside so many passionate, dedicated and giving
people. Our children are indeed fortunate to live in a
town where they are valued as much as your involvement
indicated, and as much as our voters affirmed!
We all have so much to be proud of ... our campaign was
one of integrity, truth, passion for our kids, commitment
to public education, and a willingness to go the extra
mile. We had a true community feeling to our efforts,
and the campaign felt very much to me like a family gathering.
Many is the time when I knew that another e-mail announcemnt
or phone call from me or the campaign office was going
to be met with groans...but I also counted on the fact
that the groans would soon be followed with some incredible
energy to keep the ball rolling. So many of you created
campaign opportunities with original and innovative ideas
from mini-rallies across the city to PTA fundraising drives,
and we were especially fortunate to have a REALLY strong
youth presence to our campaign as well, with over 50 students
from BHS involved, and countless elementary and middle
school kids.
Again, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! And may each of
us take a degree of satisfaction in knowing that we helped
to shape a strong future for our kids and our schools
for the next 10 years!
Together in Service,
David W. Manson, Jr.
Campaign Coordinator
Berkeley Measure A
Renewing Support for our Public Schools
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