Tuesday Tell All
Every Tuesday morning we send a newsletter to Aurora families with updates on our activities, upcoming events, and picture stories to show what’s happening. Click any edition below for more (some links have been disabled for privacy).
October 24: How to talk about difficult news, the Partner Pals get together, sibling assessments, Fund for Aurora update and some pictures from the Aurora Book Fair.
October 17: Applying for Flexible Tuition, getting ready for the Book Fair, and a very special guest visits Room 3.
October 10: Parent-Teacher Conferences, the Aurora School Book Fair, and Room 3 hikes down to Lake Temescal.
October 3: Celebrating Latin American Heritage Month, an Affinity Group potluck, and a profile of Art Specialist Julie Pollack.
September 26: Pics from School Picture Day and Back to School Night, Potluck Announcements and The Fund for Aurora.
September 19: Affinity Groups, postcards, school pictures and a profile of K/1 Teaching Assistant Cheaunie Sparks.
September 12: Aurora marches with Oakland Pride, volunteer opportunities, new postcards, lots of upcoming events, and a look at Spanish, music, art, PE, and woodshop.
September 5: Education gets underway! Info on family gatherings, enrichment classes, marching with Aurora at Oakland Pride, and a picture gallery from the first week.
August 30: Welcome back! Teachers and students reconvene and reconnect, volunteer opportunities, and lots of helpful information.
2022-23 School Year
June 6: Last week of school! The Aurora Art Show, wrapping up loose ends and planning for the summer.
May 30: The end is near! K/1 Publishing Party, getting ready for the Art Show and Gratitude Assembly, and watching the kids grow up.
May 23: The Aurora Read-A-Thon kicks of, Parent and Guardian Appreciation Coffee Hour, 4/5s go to Westminster Woods and two students step up as Head of School.
May 16: The K/1s take the stage, the 4/5s hold a publishing party, and the Middle Schoolers visit the Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum.
May 9: One month to go! The Middle Schoolers visit San Francisco’s DeYoung Museum, K/1 students take to the Greenspace to learn about habitats, and the library gets organized.
May 2: Volunteer opportunities, library organization, Black Lives Matter resources for families, and a profile of 4/5 Lead Teacher and Aurora Librarian Nicole Thomas.
April 25: Integrated art, the yearbook, Staff Appreciation Day and middle schoolers study the genome.
April 18: The middle schoolers study genetics, Affinity Groups plan a gathering, classroom placement survey is sent, room parent meetings, and new volunteer opportunities.
April 4: The Aurora Spring Auction comes to a close, Enrichment Classes, Break Camp, Parent/Teacher Conferences and pics from the 4/5 play.
March 28: Sunshine returns! The Aurora Spring Auction kicks off, the 4/5’s explore California history with their play Stuck in a Book, and we welcome a new member to the Extended Care team.
March 21: Cartoonist and author Judd Winick visits Aurora, the middle schoolers launch their next humanities Quest at the Oakland Museum of California, Enrichment Classes open and parent/teacher conferences are scheduled.
March 14: Middle Schoolers become citizen scientists during an overnight trip to Walker Creek Ranch, Aurora faculty review and update curricula, parent/teacher conferences, Affinity Group meetings and the auction is coming!
March 7: The 4th and 5th graders take the train for a day in Sacramento, an author visits Aurora to tell a story of perseverance, and the middle schoolers create accessible art.
February 28: Rooms 1 and 2 hold their publishing party, announcements of an upcoming coffee hour and author visit, and pics from break camp.
February 21: School’s on break this week, but we wanted to share some pictures from the K/1 play Hoot Owl Hoot, and from the 4/5 bake sale!
February 14: Happy Valentine’s Day! Black Lives Matter resources for families, the K/1 play is coming right up, grades 2/3 explore Ohlone culture and the Peralta Hacienda, 4/5 students study local art and history at the Oakland Museum of California, and middle schoolers form a partnership with UC-Berkeley’s Disability Culture & Community Center.
February 7: Exploring Aurora’s Integrated Art curriculum, the LGBTQQ Affinity Group visits the Oakland Museum, re-enrollment contracts are sent out.
January 31: Hip Hop for Change visits Aurora, Break Camps and a bake sale are announced, and a profile of of Room 1 Lead Teacher Tanya Grove.
January 24: Students weigh in on how Aurora supports friendships across grades, Affinity Group meetings, Moving On Up tours for parents whose kids are changing classrooms, the 2023-24 Academic Calendar is released, and a climbing excursion.
January 17: Registration opens for Aurora’s Summer Camps, last call for Winter Enrichment Classes, our 2022 fund drive meets its goal, and a look back at November’s Tinker Faire.
Parent Resources for BLM: For Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, Aurora’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee shares educational resources for parents.
January 10: Aurora’s clubs meet, Flexible Tuition updates, Middle School students present their historical fiction to the public at Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore in Berkeley.
January 3, 2023: Happy New Year! Recapping Friends & Family Day, a successful Bake Sale, Winter Enrichment Class registration is open and Summer Camps lineup announced.
December 13, 2022: Insects in the classroom, a new lunch program for 2023, getting ready for Friends & Family Day and a look back at the year so far.
December 6: A recap of our Parent Education Night on “Raising Resilient Children” with Sheri Glucroft Wong, and a profile of our K/1 Lead Teacher Andie DiBiase.
November 29: The Fund for Aurora continues, Winter Break Camps are announced, and a profile of Dana Culpepper, Teaching Assistant for Rooms 4 and 5.
November 22: More updates on camps, fundraising and a special spotlight on Math Specialist Mandy Mudde.
November 15: Pics from our very successful Aurora Tinker Faire (the first in three years!) and an update on the second meeting of Aurora’s Partner Pals (where kids from different age groups are paired off to teach mentoring and empathy).
November 8: Indoor PE on a rainy day, the Tinker Faire is fast approaching, Aurora Middle Schoolers go to a dance, and a profile of Room 2 Lead Teacher Elise Frank.
November 1: Partner Pals kicks off, getting ready for our annual earthquake drill, an alumni comes back to teach engineering in after care, and the middle schoolers present their STEM and Humanities Quest findings.
October 25: Rooms 4 and 5 present their work at a Publishing Party, Aurora’s Book Fair comes back to campus, and we get some special Diwali visitors.
October 18: Ramping up for Parent/Teacher Conferences and the Aurora Book Fair, plus a profile of middle school Humanities Guide Lynsey Kamine.
October 11: Aurora’s Affinity Groups meet, The Fund for Aurora launches, and Room 3 learns about Native Americans from a very special visitor.
October 4: Partner Pals is back, Tinker Faire is coming up and the middle schoolers become citizen scientists on an overnight to the Marin Headlands. Click to read more. Middle schoolers hike from cabins to the coast to look for volcanic rock and bioluminescent plankton.
September 27: Aurora observes Banned Book Week with discussions and presentations. Parents come out for Back-to-School Night, and the 2022 Fund for Aurora launches. Our new STEM Lab gets debuted for Aurora families!
September 20: School picture days, family potlucks, and the middle schoolers look at how biomimicry can inspire design. Click to see more. To mark the tenth day of school, K/1 students work on art projects using the number ten.
September 13: Enrichment Class Registration and a visit to the Aurora Woodshop! Aurora’s STEM Lab has successfully migrated to this new, light-filled space!
September 6: Aurora marches at Oakland Pride, Fall Enrichment Classes are announced, Parent Affinity Groups start meeting and more, as the year gets gets off to a busy start.
August 30, 2022 :Welcome back! Important back-to-school information for families.