Oakland Zoo Field Trip
On Monday, May 21, both kindergarten classes went on a field trip to the Oakland Zoo. The first grade classes will be doing their own special field trip to the California Academy of Sciences on May 29. Following is a report of the Oakland Zoo field trip… The kids could “bearly” contain their excitement as they traveled by bus to the Oakland Zoo. Upon arrival they were...
Read MoreField Trip: Día de los Niños
Día de los Niños, or Children’s Day, is a holiday honoring children that is celebrated in many parts of the world (though on different days depending on the country). In Mexico, Día de los Niños is celebrated on April 30, and the Oakland Public Library organized on a week-long series of events to celebrate the holiday. On Wednesday, May 2, our entire school walked to the Asian Branch...
Read MoreNew Counselor & Curriculum Consultant
We are delighted to welcome Jessica Oei, our new school counselor, and Tracy Wang, our new curriculum consultant. Jessica Oei, School Counselor Jessica has worked in both the San Francisco Unified School District and the Los Angeles School District, and she is now completing her Master’s degree in Counselor Education from San Jose State University. Jessica speaks both Mandarin and English,...
Read MoreThank You to Our Amazing Teachers!
A Special Message from Principal Ross Study after study shows that the single most important factor determining the quality of a child’s education is the quality of his or her teacher. In fact, a recent study from Harvard suggests that a good elementary teacher can boost college attendance rates, reduce teenage pregnancy rates, and increase future earning potential...
Read MoreNext Year’s School Calendar
Message from Principal Laura about next year’s school calendar…. I know there have been a lot of questions circulating about next year’s calendar. Hopefully after reading this all of your questions will be answered. If not please feel free to send me an email, lross@yumingschool.org. Are the Yu Ming Holidays Aligned with OUSD? We have made several small changes to the...
Read MoreTigers at the Asian Art Museum
On Thursday, April 19, the intrepid Tiger class trekked via BART to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco to participate in a special storytelling tour of the museum. In a gallery filled with animal sculptures carved from stone, the children heard the story of the origin of the Chinese Zodiac, in which the emperor decrees that there will be a river race to determine which animal will lead the...
Read MoreEarth Day at Yu Ming
“I will ride my bike more!” “I will plant a tree!” “I will recycle and not throw everything in my garbage!” These are some of the pledges students made during Earth Week. Beginning on April 16, students spent a week building their environmental awareness and brainstorming ways to care for the Earth. During class, the students explored and discussed the history of Earth Day, the...
Read MoreIntroducing Our Interim Principal
A Note from Principal Ross I am delighted to announce that Alan Frishman has been hired as interim principal during my maternity leave. Alan has a B.A. and Master’s degree from Yale University and is an extremely seasoned retired principal. Alan has also served as a leadership coach for New Leaders, a well-regarded national principal training organization (during which time he coached an...
Read MoreBoard of Directors Update – April 2012
The board of directors met on Tuesday, April 17th. Official minutes will be posted after they are approved at next month’s meeting; the board packet is available in hard copy at the Yu Ming office. Here is a report on the decisions and actions: 2012-13 Facility Location On Tuesday, the Yu Ming Board of Directors decided to authorize Board Chair Gloria Lee to start lease renewal...
Read MoreMusic Education at Yu Ming
In line with Yu Ming’s progressive and exceptional teaching standards, the school’s new weekly music class goes far beyond the simple teaching of children’s songs. Instead, veteran teacher Lee Na Chang merges the Orff methodology of teaching music – which encourages children’s absorption of music and theory through multiple learning experiences – with her knowledge of traditional...
Read MoreMandarin Assessments – Spring 2012
Principal Ross hosted Coffee Chat for current parents last Tuesday to discuss the topic of Mandarin assessments and answer questions. We will conduct two formal year-end assessments during this spring trimester to evaluate our students’ level of Mandarin. The primary intention of using a formal assessment is so that we can use the data to track how students are progressing from one year to the...
Read MoreHiring Update – April 2012
The hiring committee is working hard to recruit the best staff possible for next year. We have had a number of teacher and TA candidates visit school over the past few weeks to interview and perform in-class lesson demonstrations. We are delighted to welcome Trisha Ma to our team as one of our two new TAs for next year. We still need to fill the other TA position as well as the 2nd grade teacher...
Read MoreWelcome Lina, Our New Office Manager
Lina Huang spent her early childhood in Tokyo and completed her elementary school education in Taipei. After elementary school she moved to El Cerrito with her family, and later on she graduated from UC Davis majoring in pre-veterinary medicine and Chinese. She grew up in a multilingual environment — and so is very excited to now join a Mandarin immersion school. She is fluent in both...
Read MoreBe There or Be Square: Attendance Policy
(Excerpted from Yu Ming Charter School Family Handbook, pp. 7-8, with updated times) Attendance Policies Yu Ming Charter School wants students to fulfill their potential. Students will do this best if they attend school every day. Absences also reduce the school’s funding from the state, and California State Law requires attendance at school. Please make every effort to ensure that your child...
Read MorePlugged In: Communications at Yu Ming
Keeping our current parents informed and up-to-date is something we believe is essential for parent involvement and a strong school. Here are the different ways parents receive information from the school: EMAIL: Email is our primary way for communicating with parents. All parents receive the following emails from Yu Ming Charter School: This Week at Yu Ming: A bilingual weekly newsletter...
Read MoreHelp Support Yu Ming Charter School
