Madera Carnival Takes the Cake for Creativity

A toilet aim game and Alice in Wonderland croquet joined traditional activities like a cake walk at Saturday's carnival at Madera Elementary School.

Several local schools are holding carnivals this time of year but few can match the originality of Madera Elementary School, where attendees had the opportunity to play an Alice in Wonderland-inspired croquet game and take aim at a wooden toilet target. Proceeds from the event benefit the Madera PTA. St. Jerome School will hold its Spring Festival today (Sunday, May 20) from 10 am to 3 pm at 320 San Carlos Ave Portola Middle School will have a fair 10 a.m. to 3 pm June 2 that will include a silent auction, bingo, crafts, music, and games. Visitors are advised to enter on the Moeser Lane side of the temporary campus.

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Much Ado This Weekend: Old Roses Show, 3 School Festivals

No need to sit around on your hands this weekend in El Cerrito. The annual Celebration of Old Roses returns to the Community Center, and festivals will be held at three schools – Harding, Madera and St. Jerome.

Harding Bicycle Festival and Used Bike Sale 10 a.m. to 2 p.m Madera Spring Carnival 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 32nd Annual Celebration of Old Roses 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. St. Jerome Spring Festival 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Guest Columns

The Real Dirt on the Madera School Garden

The Madera Elementary School garden provides hands-on experience for youngsters in growing their own food, including planting, weeding, stopping bug pests, and eating and selling the harvest of their work.

By Molly Wahl and Deborah Kemp The Madera School Garden in El Cerrito helps students, staff, and families make the connections between food choices, our health, and the health of the environment through hands-on participation in the growing and harvesting of fruits, vegetables and herbs.  The Madera School Garden was started in 2007 by a hardworking coalition of parents, teachers and students. The garden sits on roughly an eighth of an acre and consists of terraced hillsides planted with fruit trees, herbs, native plants, and edibles such as strawberries, pineapple guavas and artichokes as well as a flat area filled with 10 raised rectangular planting boxes built by parents and planted by students with edible vegetables and flowers. The …

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"Don't Mess With Madera 5th Graders"

The PTA used the term "nail biting" to describe the showdown between parents and students at the "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" contest Thursday at Madera Elementary School in El Cerrito.

Here's the scene: three parents on one side of the stage were squaring off in a battle of smarts with seven fifth graders on the other side. The tension in the Madera Elementary School big all-purpose room was building Thursday as the final question was posed to determine the winning side in the contest, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" Principal Cheryl Cotton was posing the questions. It was a "a nail biting contest," said PTA President Linda Geiser. "The score was tied up until the last 'million dollar' question: What is 40 percent of 250?" You can probably guess who won by the headline on the ensuing report on the PTA's Web page: "Don't Mess With Madera 5th Graders." The event was part of the PTA’s "Take Your Family To School Week."

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Guest Columns

Big Buzz at Madera's First Spelling Bee

A special thanks to Madera Elementary School parent Lucy Kirsch for sending us this report on the school's first spelling bee, which turned out to be a real nail-biter. Think you could spell the word that determined the winner?

By Lucy Kirsch On Thursday, Jan. 26, Madera Elementary School in El Cerrito had their very first Spelling Bee ever at school. Out of the 193 students in grades 4-6 who studied for their classroom bee over winter break, only 24 finalists made it to the school bee. These studious finalists have been given a 450-word list ranging in difficulty level for students in grades 1-8. They've been practicing the study words at home and school. Their classroom teachers have been very supportive and encouraging. Many have watched the documentary Spellbound and were ready for the Madera School Bee. However, only one Madera Champion will represent our school for the district bee in March 2012. On the big day, the finalists wore their bright yellow …

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Public Input Sought on Making The Arlington Safer Near Madera School

The City of El Cerrito will hold a meeting at Madera Elementary School tonight, Monday, to receive public comment on proposed improvements to Arlington Boulevard near the school to improve safety for students walking and biking to school.

The City of El Cerrito is holding a public meeting tonight, Monday, at Madera Elementary School to provide information and receive feedback on proposed road-crossing safety improvements on Arlington Boulevard near the school. The proposed changes would occur at two places, Arlington at Madera Drive and Arlington at Brewster Drive. The community meeting, to be held 6-7 p.m. in the school's multi-purpose room, will include Public Works Department staff on hand to provide details and receive public suggestions and comments. Members of the public are invited to drop by anytime during that hour. According to the city, the proposed improvements for Arlington at  Madera are The proposed improvements for Arlington at Brewster are Residents can …

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El Cerrito, Kensington Schools Show Gains on API Scores

Local elementary schools are close to or at the state target; Portola Middle and El Cerrito High move closer.

Five of six El Cerrito and Kensington schools made gains on their Academic Performance Index scores this year with the only drop being a marginal three-point loss at Harding Elementary School. El Cerrito High School’s score went from 645 to 658 on the scale, which goes from 200 to 1000. Portola went from 689 to 706. Two of the area’s elementary schools, Madera and Kensington, remain well above the state’s target of at least 800. Madera went from 942 last year to 949 this year and Kensington from 930 last year to 949 this year. El Cerrito’s other two elementary schools are close to the 800 target, with Fairmont climbing from 768 last year to 799 this year. Harding dropped from 801 to 798. The state Department of Education released the state…

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Valerie Snider

10:21 am on Sunday, September 4, 2011

I clicked on the above link (to the district website), hoping to learn something. Unfortunately, it's written in "educratese." I don't have a clue what any of it means. How can we expect our students to learn basis skills when the district administrators can't describe the "curriculum and instruction plan" in plain English?   more ›

From One School Community to Another, A Wish For Recovery

A traditional thousand-crane project, other origami, and funds are all part of Madera Elementary School's outreach to Japanese families still struggling with the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Rie Uzawa, a native of Japan who moved to the United States in 1993, had just gotten off the phone with her mother in Kyoto, Japan when she turned on the television to discover that Japan had been hit by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami. She saw images of an airport wiped out by the tsunami. Although Japan experiences a lot of earthquakes, it was quickly obvious that the March 11 one was particularly destructive, she said, almost unimaginable. The areas hardest hit are not near Uzawa’s family home, which is why her mother was unaware of the destruction when they spoke on the phone. But Uzawa is familiar with the area and, as a parent, particularly touched by reports of an elementary school of a little more than 100 students in Miyagi …

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"Go Portola!" Group Created To Bolster City's Middle School

A new group that is seeking to increase attendance at El Cerrito's Portola Middle School through information and improvements has quickly drawn interest.

As El Cerrito and Kensington public school students approach the upper elementary school years, Portola Middle School becomes a popular topic of discussion. Ultimately, each family will decide whether to send its children to Portola or a private school, or try to get into a middle school in a neighboring district. The numbers can vary greatly from year to year. Nerissa Wu, a Madera Elementary School parent, said many parents like her are committed to the public schools. But, she said, when families start choosing other options for middle school, it can have a snowball effect. As more families decide to transfer out, that seems to prompt more to follow. Conversely, as more of a child’s peer group commit to Portola, the more appealing that …

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Betty Buginas

9:52 am on Saturday, August 6, 2011

Thank you for the update. You guys are moving so fast! El Cerrito and Kensington have an awesome cadre of parents that can make this happen. Please list the meetings on Patch, too, at http://elcerrito.patch.com/events/new , so new people continue to have the opportunity to get involved.   more ›

Making Room for Sixth Graders at Madera

Portable classrooms, needed to add the sixth grade, arrived at Madera Elementary School Thursday.

There are a few things carried to schools that are heavier than the children’s backpacks, as evidenced by the trucks arriving at Madera Elementary School on Thursday. Madera is getting two portable classrooms to accommodate the addition of a sixth grade when school resumes at the end of August. Madera parents lobbied heavily for the addition of sixth grade. Previously, the school housed only kindergarten through fifth graders, one of the last in the West Contra Costa Unified School District to do so. The change removes the last of the sixth graders from Portola Middle School, leaving it with only seventh and eighth grade when the school year begins. Portola is currently housed entirely in portable classrooms, downhill from the vacant old …

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