“I just feel for this school, at this time, we have an almost fateful opportunity to name a school in Berkeley after a woman who came from the community and gave back to the community.”.

Best wishes on the school lottery outcome and deciding on a school! My daughter has seen older kids from LeConte outside of school and has always been greeted warmly by them which I believe reflects the sense of community and respect the students feel towards eachother. GreatSchools is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization To answer your other questions about the school, my child made great friendships with other children that have lasted into middle school (though I suspect that would happen at most elementary schools), lost much of her early fluency in Spanish since the TWI model means that by 5th grade, very little Spanish is used in the classroom, had some favorite teachers and some that weren't as popular with students (though all seemed good or great to me, with the exception of one year in which a teacher was going through personal difficulties and became occasionally hostile towards students, but that experience seemed like an anomaly in what was otherwise an even and reliable educational environment), and seems to look back on the elementary years mostly with fondness.

The last time Berkeley attempted to change a school’s name — from Jefferson to Sequoia, in 2005 — the process was bitter and contentious, and ultimately failed to get sufficient support from the School Board. The principal is very invested in the school and is doing a good job at building a sense of community. I wouldn't draw too many conclusions about a school from their test scores - that has more to do with the demographics of the student body (which does vary at the BUSD elementary schools despite all their best efforts) than with the quality of the teachers or programs. Also, if you have comments regarding recent experiences, how the current principal is (strengths/weaknesses), if you have had any incidents of bullying, academic strengths and challenges of TWI, it would be great to hear.

Maybe our particular class is an aberration and other non-immersion classes at the school are fine.

What’s the most important thing to look for in the staff at a school? Happy LeConte Dad, My child is entering 1st grade at LeConte after completing kindergarten last year. But we have not had a good experience with the classroom environment. Happy LeConte Parent, Our son has been assigned LeConte elementary for kindergarten. www.LeConteonline.org Happy parents of a non-TWI Leconte child, Reviews of LeConte Elementary are quite old (2008) and overwhelmingly speak to the immersion program.

For connection, there is a Facebook page but it's not active for parents. LeConte has been in constant change since I arrived, and though this presents many challenges it has also built a very strong and involved community. If your child is going into the Spanish TK (recently there has been 1 Spanish and 1 English class where the students in the English classes usually end up at other schools for K but the Spanish TK class continues on to K at Sylvia Mendez) he might not be as strong in Spanish as others, but he won't be the weakest either since a few of the kids will be coming from English-only homes (they get in because they have siblings in older grades--I'm almost positive that's how it works). I feared a chaotic environment that I so often read about in reviews, but honestly, I've never seen such a calm environment where the kids arrive to school excited and ready to learn. A nice community, strong emphasis on students supporting each other, active parents. We had considered private school as well as three of the SE schools (we felt like Malcolm X was just too big for our tastes, although lots of folks love it). For more information about our school, please check us out online at: www.leconteonline.org or contact the LeConte PTA (you can find us at LeConte online as well). Thanks! I am happy to talk about specifics of our experience in the LeConte program if that is the school you are looking at. Live music is finally returning with regular, socially distanced performances at The UC Theatre, Bobby G's, and a planned 'tour' of downtown parklets. Laurie. Tonight we honor Sylvia Mendez at the renaming of a school in Berkeley, CA – SYLVIA MENDEZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. I felt like the teacher and school supported this very well. At Le Conte, kids of all ages and background are welcome (which is great) but unfortunately they are very understaffed when it comes to aids and lunch/recess monitoring.

Test scores at this school fall below the state average. It’s important for students to learn that effecting change “involves all of us, and lots of different people,” Appel said. It had a large percentage of low income families, many more kids who knew no English, and many more newcomers.

Sylvia Mendez Library.

I think the family engagement coordinator organizes it (they school might give you her contact info) but COVID changes everything. “She continues to go throughout the nation speaking about this case because it hasn’t gone away.

It is spring break now and my daughter is drawing pictures of animals and people and labeling them in Spanish. **Warning-soapbox moment** The bottom line is this. Thank you in advance!

Commissioners voted to keep prohibition on sales of distilled alcoholic beverages along Adeline and south of Ashby Avenue (hard alcohol.)

And finally, the afterschool program is well-run and our son finds it really engaging. (She joined the faculty in August to fill an unexpected vacancy - kudos again to Principal Wilson for a great last-minute hire). You asked ''what is your impression of it?'' As the parent of a high energy boy in a Berkeley Public School I can say I am deeply disappointed at our school (LeConte). An example of this is be a teacher-led proposal which resulted in a class-size reduction for the upper grades. The effort to rename the school ramped up this school year, in a complex process involving many community committees, surveys and meetings, and assemblies and lessons at the school on the final suggested names.

LeConte is clearly a community that has parents and faculty working for our kids. ELECTION: What you need to know | CENSUS: Get counted now | COVID-19: The numbers | PLUS: The Oaklandside.

Our son has friends in all three kindergarten classes, English and Spanish. That said, during the first month of school we had a very hard transition.

Personal experience: Begining of the school year my boys are picked up at BAM at 8:42am, we then lost bus service due to inactive use. The Spanish-English program and full-inclusion program which serves kids with special needs. Leyva-Cutler said she’d spoken with Mendez about the proposal.

How is the transition going? We provide school information and parenting resources to help millions of American families choose the right school, support learning at home, and guide their children to great futures. Comm. Matt, I am going through the task of evaluating public (and some private) elementary schools for kindergarten admission next fall.

I could go on and on.

She and I have been impressed with all her teachers. Hi, We are looking at the TWI program at Le Conte and wanted to know of recent experiences specifically for English speakers. We enjoy the small learning community of LeConte, its ethnic and socio-economic diversity, the active PTA, and its dedicated teachers and staff.

I am a mother of a dual immersion first grader and a Co-President of the PTA. Our daughter is in the dual immersion program which she loves and attends the after-school program which is run by a new Director with a degree in multicultural studies from Mills College. https://www.berkeleyschools.net/schools/elementary-schools/sylviamendez-elementa... https://sylviamendezschool.squarespace.com/. The transitional-kindergarten yard could be named “Arco Iris,” the Spanish word for rainbow, for example, since it was the young students’ favorite option, and there could be a mural painted to match it. Board member Ty Alper said it’s important to remember how long it took to arrive at that decision, and how much resistance it faced from the Berkeley community at the time. The feeling I get about it is very positive and it seems to have lots of great energy being poured into it.

arden, As a parent of two at LeConte Elementary I want to share some of its attractions: Environmental Science: the farm/garden/cooking program very motivating and educational for the kids. I am very pleased with the quality of the academics and the immersion program at LeConte (and perhaps more important the warm and thriving community feeling at LeConte.). Check it out!

So we talked about how he responded (my child usually hits back in these situations) and what other options there might be in responding to someone hitting. Feel free to reach out if you have more questions.

My child was Spanish-naieve and speaks, reads, and writes well in both languages after 3 years (English spelling is rough, though!). But that may not be true. “I do feel very strongly we need to have our schools in Berkeley be named after the kind of change we want to see in the world,” she said. Therefore, the non-immersion classes are more likely than other BUSD schools to be populated by kids whose parents either didn't make a request at all, or who, like us, requested other schools but were assigned to Le Conte. In our opinion, LeConte delivers in those areas.

The District refuses to accept that to have a TWI school with only 1 English track is NOT a good model. Jose. Funds have also been secured for facility improvements. Would love to connect with families who are at Sylvia Mendez and speak English at home -- how do you organize/help your kid with their Spanish homework? She has excellent rapport with the teachers, which has in turn motivated them to perform at their highest. Everyone else chose to stay.