Welcome Breakfast – Mon 8/24

Hope everyone had a great summer and is ready for school to start next Monday 8/24!

All families are invited to join the PTA & JPPB PTCC for a Welcome Breakfast from 8:00am to 9:30am in the cafeteria on the first day of school. Please come by to say hello to old friends, and welcome our new Rosa Parks families.

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi is planning on stopping by to say a few words, as is Captain Al Casciato, the head of SFPD Northern Station (just a few blocks away from school).

Feel free to bring a breakfast item to share (but it’s not necessary), or just stop by for coffee or tea and some nibbles.

Rajio Taiso starts on the Intake yard at 7:50am — the Welcome Breakfast will start as the children file into their classrooms. See you there!

Rosa Parks JBBP Online Auction – Shop and/or Donate Now!

Our First Ever ONLINE Auction has launched… Shop now because the site is only live until Friday, June 5th, 2009!

http://auctions.readysetauction.com/jbbp

You can also donate to the auction through this site… just follow the user-friendly instructions.

And THANKS for being a part of the amazing Rosa Parks JBBP Auction!

Informational Booklet on Rosa Parks JBBP (PDF)

SFUSD has mailed out Round II placements for Kindergarten 2009-2010. We hope those assigned to Rosa Parks will come join our dynamic group of families! If you would like more information on Rosa Parks JBBP, please download this PDF, which includes:

• Key Facts
• Academic Programs
• Academic Enrichment
• Support Services & Staff
• Family Involvement
• Grants & Finances
• Morning Bus Routes & Map
• Afternoon Bus Routes & Map
• After School Options
• Kindergarten Readiness Assessment
• JBBP Kids Get a Workout at Undokai
• A Hidden Gem: Rosa Parks JBBP
• Rosa Parks Elementary School Wins Green School Makeover

One parent has also set us a “Yahoo! Group” for parents of incoming kindergarteners at Rosa Parks JBBP:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RosaParksK2009JBBP

Rosa Parks JBBP – Cherry Blossom Parade Video

One of the moms at Rosa Parks Elementary filmed the families marching in the 2009 Cherry Blossom Parade! (Thanks Lora!)

Here is the amazing video she edited together, set to the soundtrack of the Rosa Parks JBBP kids/families singing their customized, Japanese-ized version of “We Are Family.” Enjoy!

Cherry Blossom Parade – Sunday 4/19 @ 1pm

Ohayo-gozaimasu!

Just in case you are heading to J-town for the Cherry Blossom Festival and Parade this weekend…

On Sunday @ 1pm, we will be marching in the parade down Post Street! Look for the kids/families of Rosa Parks JBBP (Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program) singing along to a customized, Japanese-ized version of  ”We Are Family.”

Our group is #14, sort of near the front of the parade (just a few back after the amazing drumming of San Francisco Taiko Dojo), and most of the younger kids enter at Laguna, since they can’t make the full trek all the way from City Hall.

Here is a video from last year’s parade:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/initial_tai/2429953007/

Also, the JBBP has a fundraising booth selling super yummy Sakura Popcorn — JBBP’s own addictive, savory-sweet popcorn with Japanese “furikake” and rice crackers (think Japanese kettle corn). You don’t want to miss the tasty goodness…

Here is a link to the Cherry Blossom informational website for more info on the festival and parade:
http://nccbf.org/home/

Hope to see you there, and arigato gozaimasu!

Cherry Blossom Festival Parade Rehearsal

Put on your boogie shoes and come to the JBBP-PTCC General Meeting (in the Rosa Parks cafeteria) to learn the dance moves and “We are Family” song for the Cherry Blossom Parade this weekend.

You don’t want to miss marching with your young one(s) in the parade to show off your school pride!

TUESDAY, APRIL 14
6:00pm: Potluck Dinner
6:30pm: Parade Rehearsal Time!

Here’s a great video of the students marching in last year’s parade.

You are welcome to bring a dish to share, but it’s not necessary… the more the merrier! Hope to see you there!

ALL MEETING ATTENDEES GET A COUPON FOR A FREE BAG OF SAKURA POPCORN!

Trees for Rosa Parks

We are raising money to plant trees at and around Rosa Parks Elementary. The schoolyard is all blacktop and chain link right now, and we’re working hard to change that. The city of San Francisco has put together this fantastic “buy a tree” program… the trees will be donated, installed, and cared for for 3 years by the city!

WANT TO DONATE? http://snipurl.com/trees4rosaparks
(Please be sure to enter “Rosa Parks Elementary” for the “name of SFUSD school”)

WE ACHIEVED OUR TREE GOAL, but you can still donate!

Dear Amazing Rosa Parks Green Team-

You have really outdone yourselves this time. In the last week, you have been able to raise $4800 towards your goal of 20 trees. That means you more than covered the cost of the initial batch. And the donations keep coming in; just in the past few hours someone from Redmond, WA donated another tree.

This has been an unparalleled success and has shown the organizers of the 2012 by 2012 Campaign (SFUSD, FUF, the Mayor’s Office, and the SF Green Schoolyard Alliance) what can be done at a school with an incredible parent base. I’m glad that the 2012 website and my offer to augment your efforts with District funding have helped to spur such an immense flurry of activity.

Now that you’ve reached 20 trees, Suzanne at FUF will be contacting you to schedule a planting date. As more donations come in, those will go toward your bigger goal of planting 30 trees. She can also talk to you about reaching out to the community and finding homeowners who would like to plant trees in front of their house.

Either way, come this fall, RP will have a new batch of trees to beautify the school and make kids feel well. Cheers to a job well done!

-Nik

Nik Kaestner
Director of Sustainability
San Francisco Unified School District

MORE INFO About the Tree Program can be found here: http://www.fuf.net/2012by2012/index.html

Creating a greener San Francisco, tree by tree! Tax deductible contributions to help plant 2012 new trees in and around SF schools by 2012. A program of SFUSD, in collaboration with Friends of the Urban Forest, SF Green Schoolyard Alliance, and the Mayor’s Office of Greening.

Our Other Website URL is Temporarily Down

If you are trying to access http://www.jbbpsf.org, it is temporarily down. This WordPress website has the same information, and more! Thanks for your patience while we work out the domain glitch.

Rosa Parks Wins “Green My School” Contest

Rosa Parks Elementary, won a huge contest for a “green makeover” estimated at about a quarter of a million dollars! Please watch the video our students made, along with the help of Barb Fujimoto, Lora Hirschberg, Mr. T (that would be T for Thompson!), Mr. Nagle, Ms. Jefferson, Ms. McPherson and of course many others. The video is priceless, and it makes me laugh and cry at the same time. I can’t wait to see what wonderful changes this brings to the school over the coming months and years.

From the SFGate.com post:

Rosa Parks beat out 13 other San Francisco schools vying for the environmentally friendly upgrade in the Green Schools Initiative contest sponsored by EcoMedia and CBS Corp. The students created a cute-as-a-button video entry in the format of a television news program. It won over the judges.

I can’t embed the video here (the video only resides on the Ecozone website), so you have to go to the Green My School contest website to view the video. Here is a screenshot of what you will see when you go to the page. You have to scroll down to the Rosa Parks Elementary video entry; it is not a direct link to the video.

Watch the Winning Video Entry!

A snippet from the EcoMedia press release:

EcoMedia, a leading environmental media company, and CBS Corporation today announced the winner of their Green Schools Initiative. In a ceremony hosted by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, it was announced that Rosa Parks Elementary School will be awarded the grand prize “green makeover” that will be overseen by a green schools professional and approved by the San Francisco Unified School District.

Potential projects could include energy efficient lighting, solar and wind projects, a green roof and internal and external green upgrades. San Francisco Unified School District will receive the grand prize green makeover for Rosa Parks and a sustainable environmental program valued at approximately $250,000 in products and services.

Read the full EcoMedia press release.

Watch the CBS 5 KPIX video on the announcement of winning the contest.

Read an article on SFGate.com about Rosa Parks Elementary winning the “Green My School” contest.

Read the Examiner.com’s take on the story.

If you haven’t already, watch the winning video entry here. Be sure to scroll down to the entry for Rosa Parks Elementary.

Review of Rosa Parks on SF K Files Blog

Rosa Parks Elementary was reviewed by Wendy on the blog “SF K Files.”

Highlights:  This school may be the next Miraloma. There are many great things about it – a spectacular facility, great teachers, the Japanese exposure, many extra resources and services… 

Read the full review on the SF K Files website.