Field 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 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 MoreVolunteers Needed!
Yu Ming starts with you! Parent and volunteer involvement in any school can make the difference between a good school and a great school. At Yu Ming, there are many ways that family and community members can participate and contribute, with opportunities available for a range of schedules, skills or interests. Volunteers are the heart of our school … come be a part of it!
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 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 MoreAnnouncing: Volunteer of the Month
Yu Ming wants to recognize all of the amazing efforts put in by our many hard-working volunteers! Each month Principal Ross will select a “volunteer of the month” from a list of candidates compiled by the PAG (with particular guidance from our volunteer coordinator and PAG vice-president, Melissa Lee). Starting from last summer, we’d like to acknowledge the following fabulous...
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 MoreMeet Board Member Ted Rebholz
At last Tuesday’s board meeting, Ted Rebholz was approved for a seat on the Yu Ming board for a term starting July 1, 2012, bringing us one step closer to our full board size of seven members. As our first non-parent board member, Ted is no stranger to Yu Ming as he has volunteered his time on both the finance and fundraising committees for the past two years. Now he brings his tremendous...
Read MoreSeeking New Board Members
As we continue to develop over the next several years, Yu Ming is seeking to expand and evolve our Board of Directors to broaden our reach and the suite of expertise needed to manage our continued growth. Our volunteer Board of Directors provides the overall leadership and governance of Yu Ming Charter School, including external accountability, internal oversight, and establishment of the...
Read MoreHear from Our Families
“Above and beyond.” “Way more than we expected.” “Motivating all the children to learn.” “The teachers are outstanding.” Hear what some of our families have shared about their experience at Yu Ming, and learn about the many different backgrounds represented in our community.
Read MoreNew Parent Information Night
We had a great turnout at our New Parent Open House on Tuesday night, with many incoming families attending to learn more about our school. Current parents and volunteer leaders in the school greeted potential new families to share information about many different aspects about what Yu Ming offers, including: Curriculum Kindergarten – Subjects Scope & Sequence Kindergarten...
Read MoreHelp Support Yu Ming Charter School
