Dear Roosevelt students and families,
I hope you had an enjoyable, restful and family filled summer break. Our office and administrative staff have returned back to school to prepare for the upcoming school year. I wanted to introduce myself and discuss a few important collaborative steps we can take to support your child’s learning this year.
Since I am new to Roosevelt, I wanted to share a little about myself. I grew up in New York City, surrounded by a family deeply rooted in education, service to others and equity. My mother taught English as a Second Language at the United Nations International School for 35 years, both my grandmothers were teachers and my maternal grandfather was also a teacher. My passion for working with others started in high school and college, where I spent many hours working with children, as a mentor, tutor and coach. I started my professional career as a School Psychologist, working with elementary schools in the Evergreen School District. In the past 10 years, I have been a principal in schools for students with special needs, the past 7 in the Vancouver Public Schools as a building principal. My wife, of 14 years, and I have a son Mason, who is starting sixth grade this year. We are very big fans of the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns. I am very excited to be the principal at Roosevelt, and especially excited to team with our existing Associate Principal, Jennifer Campos.
We want all of our students to feel a sense of belonging to Roosevelt, and a connection to their classmates. To help with that, this year at Roosevelt, all students and staff will be completing and sharing their DNA- Dreams, Needs and Abilities. Students and staff will use this information to learn more about our fellow students and staff. I wanted to extend that opportunity to you as well, if you would like to complete your Dreams, Needs, and Abilities that you have for your child. You can display it at home, or share it with your child’s teacher. Here are the links to the DNA document in English, Spanish, Chuukese, Russian, Ukrainian.
I look forward to working collaboratively with you this school year to support your child’s learning. If you have any questions, please reach out.
Thank you,
Jeremy Berliss
Eleanor Roosevelt Principal
jeremy.berliss@vansd.org
360-313-2600