Dear Cerrito Creek Families,

Happy summer! We hope that you have found calm and rest in your months away from TBS and are as excited as we are about another year of deep learning and exploration.

For those of you new to the class this year, my name is Mike Sinclaire, and this will be my eighth year at The Berkeley School as lead teacher of Cerrito. I have two children at TBS named Milo, in Sweet Briar Creek, and Ruby, in Cedar. We split our summer between the beaches of San Diego and the deep, cold lakes and craggy mountains of the Catskills in New York. I am excited about teaching California history–you will learn what life was like for native Californians before and after Spanish missionaries arrived and do an incredible overnight at Fort Ross on the Sonoma coast. I will be working with a new assistant this year, and she will introduce herself below.

Hello, and welcome to Cerrito Creek! My name is Julia Poock and I am honored and excited to work with Mike Sinclaire and you, the students and families of TBS. This will be my first year as a teaching assistant at The Berkeley School and I can’t wait to get started. I was born and raised in Albany, California and I received my undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz. I enjoy adventuring to new countries and meeting new people whenever I get the time.  I have spent my summer weaving naturally dyed fiber on a new loom, eating my fill of stone fruit, and soaking up the sun on hot California granite at the Yuba River. I look forward to getting to know you and diving in to the exciting new school year!

Classroom Supply List
Please be sure your child has the following items for the first day of school. Teachers will guide students to implement organizational systems in fourth and fifth grade that will support them throughout their academic careers and personal lives. The tools below will help them begin to establish sound organizational habits.

Item: One 2-inch, 3-ring binder with zipper closure. Mead makes a good one. If you bought one last year that is still in good shape, please reuse it. They range from 8 to 20 dollars. The zipper is important so papers do not fall out.

Item: Five folders that come 3-hole punched and snap into the binder. 1 red, 1 blue, 1 yellow, 1 orange, and 1 green. These can be tricky to find but will help your binder stay organized. Students: if you can’t find all the colors, don’t sweat it, just have five folders that clip into your binder and we will label them.  Make sure you have a backpack big enough for the binder.

Nutrition
Students are responsible for bringing their own snacks and lunches each day. Those who sign up for hot lunch should still bring their own snacks, as one is not provided. Water cups will be provided by teachers.

Upcoming Important Dates