The Berkeley Italian Language Parents Cooperative
Sponsored by Girotondo Italian School
1970 Chestnut Street, Berkeley
Preschool Schedule FALL 2009 (children from age 2 to 5.9)
- 2 Days per week: Wednesdays & Fridays: 8:30 am to 1:30 pm OR
- 2 Days per week with Extended Care: Wednesdays & Fridays: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
- Provide your own snack and lunch
- Girotondo Italian School will make Italian language and tuition available at a cost per child of $2,400 for each term: Fall, Spring and Summer. The program starts August 31, 2009 and ends July 30, 2010
- Annual materials cost is $340
- Email rosella@girotondoschool.org for an application form
Mommy and Me/Centro Gioco Schedule (children from 0 to 2 years old)
- Wednesday 10:30 am to 11:45 am (Sept 30, 2009 to March 10, 2010)
- Provide your own snack
- Materials cost for a term of 20 classes is $360
- Email rosella@girotondoschool.org for an application form
After School/Dopo Scuola Schedule (children from Kindergarten to 8 years old)
- Mondays: 3:45 pm to 5.30 pm (Sept 28, 2009 to March 8, 2010)
- Provide your own snack
- Materials cost for a term of 20 classes: $ 560
- Email rosella@girotondoschool.org for an application form
CALENDAR 2009-2010
Important Dates:
- Student and Parent Visitation Day Fri August 28, 2009
- Parent Orientation: TBD
- Parent Conferences with Teachers: February 23 and 24, 2010 and May 19 and 20
FALL 2009: August 31, 2009 to December 31, 2009
- August 31st - First Day of Fall term
- December 31st - Last Day of Fall term
Closures:
- August 24 – 28 – Week before school: Teacher Work Days and Staff Development Days
- September 7 – Labor Day (Holiday)
- October 12 – Columbus Day (Holiday)
- November 3 – Teacher Work Day
- November 11 – Veteran’s Day (Holiday)
- November 25 to 30 – Thanksgiving Break
- December 21 to 31 – Winter Break
SPRING 2010: January 1, 2010 to May 31, 2010
- January 5th - First Day of Spring term
- May 31st - Last Day of Spring term
Closures:
- January 1 – New Year Day (Holiday)
- January 4 – Teacher Work Day
- January 18 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Holiday)
- February 15 – Presidents’ Day (Holiday)
- February 23 and 24 – Parent Teacher conferences
- March 29 to April 2 – Spring Break
- April 14 – Staff Development Day
- May 19 and 20 – Parent Teacher conferences
- May 31 – Memorial Day (Holiday)
SUMMER 2010: June 1, 2010 to July 30, 2010
- June 1st - First Day of Summer term
- July 30th - Last day of Summer term
Closures:
- July 2 and 5 – In observance of Independence Day
- August 1 to 21 – Summer Break
Educational Philosophy, Core Values & Goals
Girotondo Italian School embraces the Reggio Emilia approach which values community involvement and is inclusive and relies on the active partnership and active participation of parents, teachers, children and community members.
At the heart of the Reggio educational approach is the integration of “emergent curriculum” that allows teachers to develop a curriculum based on each child’s interests, actions or serendipitous events. There is a balance of child & teacher initiated activities.
We believe that children come into the world with a love of learning and actively construct theories about their world and test their hypotheses through play and social interactions. We trust and treat our children as individuals.
We respect the way they express themselves mentally, emotionally, physically and socially.
Our teachers provide materials and provocations that help children to develop a deep and connected understanding of the world. Art, music, drama, and sculpture/construction are a part of the children’s everyday activities/experiences at Girotondo Italian School.
Following the Reggio philosophy, our teachers document the children’s learning by displaying photographs of the children engaged in learning activities; capturing and displaying their dictation, and displaying their various representation of their constructed knowledge. These processes are known as Documentation and “Progettazione”, and are visible through out the school.
The primary goals of Girotondo are:
- To expose students to Italian language culture and traditions in a nurturing and stimulating learning environment by offering them an internationally high standard education.
- To prepare our students to successfully enter any Italian and English school in the world.
- To create an appropriate environment for students to find peers with whom they can share their Italian skills.
- To foster creative and active learners who will become well-rounded and internationally minded world citizens.
- To maintain very high standard qualified teachers and administrators
- To build a community that shares a passion for the Italian language culture and tradition within the frame work of a high quality Italian immersion educational experience. .
- To serve the entire community by offering Italian enrichment classes from 0 to adult.
VISION & HISTORY
In 2003, Rosella Pusateri first started an Italian based playgroup in Sausalito called, “Bambini Let’s Play in Italiano.” The goal of the playgroup was to provide a safe and loving environment that enriched the lives of the children, with a unique opportunity to learn a second language/culture while celebrating the time-honored traditions of Italy. A strong sense of community among the families and friends of these children was formed and with it a respect and awareness of diversity and multiculturalism.
Now six years later GIS is much stronger and bigger, growing from the initial 8 families to 75. The desire for our children to speak Italian is still central to our vision, but our objectives have expanded -- we would like for our children not only to learn the Italian language and heritage but also to learn all subjects with the highest academic standards.
In June 2009 Mondo Bambini merged with Girotondo Italian School to become the Berkeley Italian Language Parents Cooperative.
Mondo Bambini: Italian for Kids was the brainchild of high-tech management consultant Angelo Del Priore and Berkeley City College Humanities professor Laura E. Ruberto. The Italian language program for children, in existence since 2004, was the only one of its kind in the East Bay and fashioned itself as a full-immersion cultural and language experience for children. Mondo Bambini classes were held in Berkeley once a week; they were taught by experienced native Italian speakers. The program mainly centered on preschool-age children but also at times offered after-school classes for older children. The program was launched with the aid of a grant from the National Italian American Foundation, and later the program received a grant from the Italian Consulate’s San Francisco office. Mondo Bambini also collaborated with the University of California, Berkeley, offering Italian majors internship opportunities.
Girotondo Italian School’s long-term goal is to become a Kindergarten through 12 th grade school, offering an International Baccalaureate (IB) degree upon graduation. Our goal is to create a program that will satisfy U.S., Italian and IB educational requirements. Until formal authorization, however, Girotondo Italian School is not an official IB school.