Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley

Thank you to our EB en Fête sponsor, Dr. Vivian Lopez, EB alumni parent, and partner of Berkeley Children's Dentistry! Dr. Lopez and her colleagues have been providing pediatric dental care to the children of Berkeley, Oakland, Piedmont, Albany, El Cerrito and beyond for over 30 years. The doctors and staff are experienced professionals and caring individuals who genuinely enjoy working with children and teenagers! https://www.berkeleychildrensdentistry.com/ https://www.auctria.com/auction/www.EBENFETE

Our lovely SEL teacher, Christopher Colebourn, has created a fun and dynamic treasure hunt for G1 to G4 students this week The Chouette d'Or (The Golden Owl) Treasure Hunt! This is a fun way to recommit to SEL values together as a school. Through this game, teachers are reinforcing the importance of maintaining good values, like kindness and compassion of others. Each class has to work together to figure out all of their clues, and once they have found the golden owl they w...ill receive a "treasure". Merci Christopher for bringing passion inside and outside the classroom! And good luck to our Lower School students! #SEL

Thank to our EB en Fête sponsor and EB alumni parent, Anne Brandon from Highland Partner. Anne comes to Highland Partners after six successful years as a realtor with another firm, also in Montclair Village. She has represented both buyers and sellers and has very many very happy former clients. She is a long-time resident of, and homeowner in Lower Rockridge, with a seven-year hiatus in Piedmont. https://www.thehighlandpartners.com/agents/anne-d-brandon-2/ https://www.auctria.com/auction/www.EBENFETE

Thank you to our sponsor and EB parent, Dr. Lauren Rainey, for supporting EB en Fête, our first virtual benefit. Dr. Rainey strongly believes in the importance of oral health as a component of overall health. Our team promises to provide the best quality dental care in a welcoming environment. https://www.berkeleydentaloffice.com/ https://app.auctria.com/auction/www.EBENFETE

The EB en Fête Silent Auction is open! Whether you're trying to find a unique experience, a gift for a friend, or want to support EB, we invite you to peruse and bid on our items! The bidding process is very easy, and registration is simple. Just click on the link below and place your bids! https://www.auctria.com/auction/www.EBENFETE

We invite you to join us TONIGHT at 5pm for our second Parent Workshop with Dr. Gay, "Courageous Conversations About Race". During this workshop, Dr. Derrick Gay will provide participants with insights to deepen understanding of race from both French and American perspectives, in addition to providing strategies to foster racially inclusive French schools here in the United States. Dr. Gay is an insightful and talented diversity educatorwe hope you will take advantage of th...is opportunity! As part of our commitment to antiracist education, EB has partnered with Dr Derrick Gay, a renowned DEI consultant and passionate educator with a huge expertise in diversity and inclusion matters. Dr. Gay has collaborated with numerous international schools and institutions across the US and the globe and we are very pleased and excited to work together with him. Some words from Dr. Gay on the workshop below. The murder of George Floyd has served as a watershed moment in the United States and around the world regarding racial injustice in our society. This increased awareness has also manifested in independent schools, where students have shared their sobering in-school experiences of racism on Instagram. As schools grapple with engaging constituents in these critical conversations around race and committing to fostering racially inclusive learning environments, French schools situated in the United States encounter additional obstacles. These challenges are informed by conflicting understandings of race, divergent perspectives around the French notion of laïcité, and universalism/assimilation vs integration mindsets around inclusion. This will be the second of several workshops offered to parents; other workshops are also being conducted with all school constituents: the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, leadership, and students. (No need to have attended the first session in order to attend the second one.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKtALHe3Y9Q

At EB we take our responsibility to prepare young people for civic life seriously, and strive to be models of peaceful participation in a democratic society that serves all people. What we witnessed yesterday was contrary to our EB values of Unity, Reflection and Integrity and as a school, we stand firmly behind the results of this election and all the voices that were heard throughout the democratic process. Today, we are encouraging teachers, starting in elementary grades, ...to modify their instructional plans in order to prioritize social-emotional wellbeing for themselves and for our students. We also encourage them to help students make sense of what they might have seen and heard, correct misinformation, and fill in knowledge gaps while creating safe spaces for conversation. We also know that we are at a time when it is more important than ever to keep discourse civil and respectful, and engage in conversations with compassion and empathy. This can be challenging when discussing highly polarizing topics, but we believe that learning to do so is a skill that will serve students well into their adult lives, both individually and as they shape the future of our world. Finally, we encourage you to be intentional about the spaces you create at home to make sense of yesterday’s events and to care for the wellbeing of your families. https://www.commonsensemedia.org//how-to-talk-to-kids-abou

SEL teacher, Christopher Colebourn, encourages his students to explore topics of anger, emotional regulation and self empowerment. This month, students are delving into themes of social justice, the Black Lives Matter movement, and anti-racism. This week, Christopher is reading "Say Something" by Peter H. Reynolds, as an introduction to anti-racism and BLM, followed by a discussion: 1. What can you say or do if you witness an injustice? (Someone being treated unfairly or bein...g hurt) 2. What is social justice and why is it important? 3. What does equity mean? 4. Have you ever been in a situation where you wished someone would say something? 5. Have you ever spoken up for someone else? 6. Have you ever been treated unfairly? What did you do? 7. What would happen if more people said something, like in the book? Thank you Christopher for continuing these conversations at EB with students! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeOCzk817Uk #BLM #antiracism #education #elementaryschool #emotionalregulation #anger

https://www.cntraveler.com//riding-through-russia-on-the-t One of our alums, Julian Walter ('99), traveled across Russia on the infamous Trans-Siberian Railway last January, and shared his beautiful insights in this month's edition of Condé Nast Traveler and reveled about fellow travelers and the tantalizing landscape just outside his window. Thank you Julian for bringing us to a remote yet breath-taking part of the world. Merci Julian !

It's the holiday season and if you need any last minute gifts, why not support the EB community? La Crêpe à Moi is a French/American family run business, owned by EB parents, Rebecca and Djamel Dahmani, that has been serving authentic French Crepes around the Bay Area since 2010. It is regularly at the Kensington Farmer's and San Leandro markets at the Bay Fair center. It offers a selection of prepared sweet and savory crepes, packaged. La Crêpe à moi is now open at 1854 Eucl...id Avenue, Berkeley! Whether it's jewelry, crêpes, coffee, handmade masks, make-up, furniture, yogathere's something for everyone! Thank you for supporting the EB community. Merci ! https://www.eb.org/eb-community-business-support-page

It's Election Daywe hope you go out and vote! At EB, we know this can be a stressful time, and that the results will have a big effect on our country. We hope to use this as a teachable moment for our students, to have conversations about the democratic process, how we can resolve differences and conflicts, and how we can address diverse and sometimes conflicting ideologies. You can read our Head of School's full message, including some tips on how to talk to your kids about the election, here: https://mailchi.mp//end-of-year-message-from-the-head-of-s

The Mexican tradition, known as El Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is the time where we honor our loved ones who have passed. Our SEL teacher, Christopher Colebourn, posted some beautifully-printed material at the Lower School, including some Spanish vocabulary that helps define important features of this awe-inspiring celebration. Did you know that copal ("El Copal") is a resin that is used to make incense which is burned on the Day of the Dead? Some people believe ...that copal will help guide returning souls who visit loved ones on the Day of the Dead. A big shout out and thank you to the G5 class for creating paper flowers for this wonderful occasion! We wish you a very Happy Day of the Dead.¡Feliz Dia de los Muertos! #DíaDeLosMuertos #dayofthedead

2020 Halloween Parade @ EB

Check out our Halloween Parade on Facebook Live this morning right here on EB's Facebook page! Just because Halloween might look different this year, doesn't mean we can't still celebrate together. Tune in between 9am to 11am to watch some of our costumed kiddoes parade around! For our EB students at home, we wish you a very Happy Halloween!

We warmly and safely welcomed the new Consul General of the French Consulate General, San Francisco, Mr. Frederic Jung, and the Educational Affairs Program Officer/ Chargée de Coopération Éducative, Ms. Alice Le Freche, for an on-site visit at EB this morning. We thank you both for coming and we hope you thoroughly enjoyed your visit. Merci !

Muriel Johnson was able to share her passion and warmth with our families on Sunday Trained as a folk storyteller and anti-bias mentor, she was able to captivate all of her EB families with her interactive and dynamic style as she recounted a folk story! Merci Muriel !

Over Fall Break, some EB Fall "campers" made some heartwarming postcards for essential workers at Berkeley Bowl, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, & City of Berkeley Public Health Cinic! Thank you to our community members for keeping us all safe!

Are you returning to school but unsure how our new protocols work? Watch our Return to School video to learn about how to check-in at drop-off, how our classrooms have changed and what we are doing to keep everyone safe on campus. https://www.youtube.com/watch

In honor of Indigenous People's Day, EB students explored the significance of this day, and why it is important to celebrate Native Americans and First Nations people, instead of celebrating Columbus Day. Pauline Tajchman, Lower School teacher, read the heartwarming and informative book Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard with amazing illustrations by Juana Martinez-Neal. The book gives background not only on the origins of fry bread and aspects ...of Native American culture, but also focuses on the ability of shared meals to bring people together and create extended family through community. The language of the book itself is easy to follow and the back contains more in depth information as well as the author's personal family recipe. In English 6, Middle School teacher Sue Campbell has already started their Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change, a 3-class unit in which students will learn about and then represent the concerns and needs of various indigenous people for future food and resource security as climate change impacts their homes, lands, traditions and cultures. For the last week, in English 7, Middle School teacher Gabrielle Hedlund and Sue Campbell have been discussing Native American culture and the impacts of racism in the story by Sherman Alexie entitled "Indian Education." Finally, Head of the Middle School, Richard Lyon, and Gabrielle Hedlund held an assembly about the importance of recognizing Indigenous People's Day: "It’s a start, if only a small one, to set a day aside a day to acknowledge that this land we live on and play on, and call ours, used to belong to someone else and that those people didn’t decide on their own to go someplace else but were forced off." #HappyIndigenousPeoplesDay

Did you miss our World Celebrations this weekend? Did you miss our marbling event? Pas de problème! As part of our virtual Fall camp, our fantastic art teacher, Heather Ware, will be leading various art activities, including the art of marbling! It's not too late to sign up for our virtual Fall camp for next week: https://www.eb.org/bilingual-ac/enrichment-camp/summer-camp

Thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated with us yesterday for World Celebrations! It was so nice to have seen the community join together virtually where we ate, danced, wined, and created some beautiful art! A big thank you to our chairs, Amy Glaze and Golriz Ardebili, for navigating meaningful ways to bring the community together!

World Celebrations is here, so let's celebrate our diverse and international community! Starting at noon, we'll kick off our virtual series with a Banana Pudding demo, then a traditional Paper Marbling activity, then a Persian Dance class, Wine tasting, and finally a dance party hosted by DJ Aykut! We hope to see you there! Check your email for the Zoom link!

First proposed in 1977, Indigenous Peoples’ Day has grown rapidly in the last few years, with more and more cities recognizing the importance of a day to acknowledge the resilience and historical abuse of Native Americans. Indigenous People's Day is on Monday! There are many ways to celebrate and honor the Indigenous people of the Bay Area, of our state, and our country. Learn how you and your kids can do to honor the local Native American tribes this week and every week. https://www.rebekahgienapp.com/indigenous-peoples-day/