Thank you to everyone who is submitting "Why I love my school" essays. We're still accepting essays and you can send them to thesfkfiles@gmail.com. Again, we're looking for 375 words on why you lover your school.
Some readers have mentioned that they'd prefer to not allow comments on essays. When you submit your story, just let me know whether or not you want the comments function enabled or disabled.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Why I Love The Laurel School
Not every child needs what The Laurel School offers, but it's a welcome treasure for the students who do need something extra (and for their parents).
Here's the school's official, accurately-descriptive blurb: "The Laurel School serves students with learning differences and students who benefit from a small class size. In a community that nurtures mutual respect and compassion, we cultivate the academic potential of each child through multimodal, differentiated instruction. By teaching learning strategies, self advocacy skills, and social competence, The Laurel School prepares students for the next level of education."
And here's our story: Our son attended Kindergarten at a progressive San Francisco private school that we hoped would meet his educational needs. He has a vision impairment that we knew would require some accommodation. During the school year, we also learned that his difficulty in focusing and staying on task was a type of ADHD. Though the school meant well and welcomed a variety of supports that we put in place, it just really wasn’t set up to meet his needs.
We had applied to the Laurel School the year before and, throughout that Kindergarten year, had many of what we called “maybe Laurel?” moments – maybe we should have chosen the Laurel School, maybe we should apply again for next year, maybe we should call and see if they have a spot available right now. Hindsight is easy, and there was some reason to believe the relatively small, progressive private school would work for him. But he wasn’t participating much with the class, he was standing out as somehow different, and we could see that it was beginning to affect how he saw himself as a student and among his peers. It became clear that he needed a school with more built-in supports and with experience teaching children who, for whatever reason, need something extra.
Our son switched to Laurel School for 1st grade and we’re confident that he’s in the right school for him. Everything about the school has made a difference, including the much smaller class size. Our son is now participating academically and is feeling like a succesful student. More intangibly, we think he feels a greater sense of belonging at this school. The unexpected bonus of the school year is that we, as parents, feel less anxiety and feel our own sense of belonging – not only are we at ease dropping him off every morning (as opposed to last year’s daily anxiety and fear of what the day might bring), but we know that our fellow Laurel School parents have been on some similar journey with their children and that the teachers understand.
The best advice we heard last year, in thinking about whether to change schools, was this: it’s not really about what we want for our son, it’s about what he needs. He started in a perfectly fine school that we liked very much, but it didn’t meet his needs. Some kinds of school work may always be challenging for our son, but now we can feel sure that the Laurel School is actually teaching him.
Here's the school's official, accurately-descriptive blurb: "The Laurel School serves students with learning differences and students who benefit from a small class size. In a community that nurtures mutual respect and compassion, we cultivate the academic potential of each child through multimodal, differentiated instruction. By teaching learning strategies, self advocacy skills, and social competence, The Laurel School prepares students for the next level of education."
And here's our story: Our son attended Kindergarten at a progressive San Francisco private school that we hoped would meet his educational needs. He has a vision impairment that we knew would require some accommodation. During the school year, we also learned that his difficulty in focusing and staying on task was a type of ADHD. Though the school meant well and welcomed a variety of supports that we put in place, it just really wasn’t set up to meet his needs.
We had applied to the Laurel School the year before and, throughout that Kindergarten year, had many of what we called “maybe Laurel?” moments – maybe we should have chosen the Laurel School, maybe we should apply again for next year, maybe we should call and see if they have a spot available right now. Hindsight is easy, and there was some reason to believe the relatively small, progressive private school would work for him. But he wasn’t participating much with the class, he was standing out as somehow different, and we could see that it was beginning to affect how he saw himself as a student and among his peers. It became clear that he needed a school with more built-in supports and with experience teaching children who, for whatever reason, need something extra.
Our son switched to Laurel School for 1st grade and we’re confident that he’s in the right school for him. Everything about the school has made a difference, including the much smaller class size. Our son is now participating academically and is feeling like a succesful student. More intangibly, we think he feels a greater sense of belonging at this school. The unexpected bonus of the school year is that we, as parents, feel less anxiety and feel our own sense of belonging – not only are we at ease dropping him off every morning (as opposed to last year’s daily anxiety and fear of what the day might bring), but we know that our fellow Laurel School parents have been on some similar journey with their children and that the teachers understand.
The best advice we heard last year, in thinking about whether to change schools, was this: it’s not really about what we want for our son, it’s about what he needs. He started in a perfectly fine school that we liked very much, but it didn’t meet his needs. Some kinds of school work may always be challenging for our son, but now we can feel sure that the Laurel School is actually teaching him.
SFGate: Redshirting: When should children start kindergarten?
A recent SFGate blog post on redshirting:
Read the full post by clicking here.
In California a 4-year-old can enter kindergarten at the end of the summer as long as he is turning 5 years old by December 2. But many parents, especially the well-educated middle- and upper-class, opt to hold their children back a year, so their child starts school when he is 5 or 6. Parents particularly opt to do this if their kid was born in August, September, October, or November.
Redshirting is the term used to describe this practice and parents do it because they think their children will be more mature and ready for the social and academic demands of school at an older age. Some think it will give their children an edge throughout their schooling--and ideally help them get into a top college...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Join the San Francisco Advocates for Multilingual Excellence Yahoo Group
This from an SF K Files reader:
Not to steal visitors from the blog, but parents considering immersion might be interesting in joining the Yahoo group for the San Francisco Advocates for Multilingual Excellence, which is the public school immersion group. It has a discussion going on right now about "What I wish I'd known before I started immersion."
Subscribe at: SF_AME-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Why I love Adda Clevenger
We San Franciscans might just have the most stressful school admission process in the United States, but we are rewarded with some truly unique and outstanding public and independent schools.
The Adda Clevenger Junior Preparatory and Theater School in Noe Valley, certainly falls into the unique category. The word parents at the school use most often to describe it is “magical,” and so it is, for an energetic, outgoing child who thrives on variety.
Like many San Francisco schools, Adda Clevenger offers solid academics, a small-school environment, committed teachers, and a friendly, diverse community of families. Of course we love those things, but let’s focus on what sets Adda Clevenger apart.
That would be the musical theater program, which is just as much part of the core curriculum as reading and math. From kindergarten on, Adda Clevenger students receive extensive daily training from respected professionals in singing, dance and acting. Each year, every child performs in two major musicals, a dance show, and a graduation concert. We continue to be astounded by the professional polish of the shows and the technical progress of the children, most of whom arrive at the school without any visibly remarkable talent. After nine years, an Adda Clevenger student will know vocal music, acting, ballet, tap and every social dance you can name. No other K through 8 school in San Francisco, public or private, offers such an in-depth theater arts program.
This would be of questionable value if Adda Clevenger let academics fall by the wayside, but most graduates are admitted to top public and independent Bay Area high schools. Also unique is the practice of having subject teachers at all grades, even kindergarten. Teachers teach subjects they love. No child spends a whole year in a classroom with a single teacher with whom he has a less-than-ideal relationship.
Students also enjoy possibly the best school fitness program in San Francisco, with PE and gymnastics 45 minutes daily.
Adda Clevenger is all the more remarkable for accomplishing what it does on an open-enrollment basis. There are no auditions, academic evaluations, or lotteries. If there is space and the family can pay, any child who can keep up with the curriculum may attend. Most children will excel. It is magical.
—Susie Allison
The Adda Clevenger Junior Preparatory and Theater School in Noe Valley, certainly falls into the unique category. The word parents at the school use most often to describe it is “magical,” and so it is, for an energetic, outgoing child who thrives on variety.
Like many San Francisco schools, Adda Clevenger offers solid academics, a small-school environment, committed teachers, and a friendly, diverse community of families. Of course we love those things, but let’s focus on what sets Adda Clevenger apart.
That would be the musical theater program, which is just as much part of the core curriculum as reading and math. From kindergarten on, Adda Clevenger students receive extensive daily training from respected professionals in singing, dance and acting. Each year, every child performs in two major musicals, a dance show, and a graduation concert. We continue to be astounded by the professional polish of the shows and the technical progress of the children, most of whom arrive at the school without any visibly remarkable talent. After nine years, an Adda Clevenger student will know vocal music, acting, ballet, tap and every social dance you can name. No other K through 8 school in San Francisco, public or private, offers such an in-depth theater arts program.
This would be of questionable value if Adda Clevenger let academics fall by the wayside, but most graduates are admitted to top public and independent Bay Area high schools. Also unique is the practice of having subject teachers at all grades, even kindergarten. Teachers teach subjects they love. No child spends a whole year in a classroom with a single teacher with whom he has a less-than-ideal relationship.
Students also enjoy possibly the best school fitness program in San Francisco, with PE and gymnastics 45 minutes daily.
Adda Clevenger is all the more remarkable for accomplishing what it does on an open-enrollment basis. There are no auditions, academic evaluations, or lotteries. If there is space and the family can pay, any child who can keep up with the curriculum may attend. Most children will excel. It is magical.
—Susie Allison
Why I love Fairmount
I think I'll let my daughter tell you herself before I chime in. she says, "I love...
- that there's spanish
- that Ms. Laura's my teacher and she's really nice
- I have lots of friends
- the first graders get to play in the second grade yard sometimes at lunch
- I like everything about it."
- My kid is happy there. As a first-grade transfer leaving a school she was happy at, that meant a lot to us.
- There are so many caring, hardworking and talented educators and administrators there; they are everywhere! I've never seen a school staffed with so many professionals. It just seems overflowing with staff all the time.
- It seems to attract families who are smart and motivated and fun.
- The people there have a clear and balanced view of the place's strengths and deficits. Also (not unrelated) there is usually consensus around budget and goals.
- It strikes a great balance between having enough THERE there in terms of parent support, fund-raising and infrastructure and not being so bloated or rigid with "tradition" that it decries new ideas.
- It is a great, warm community. When there are cultural or language barriers, people talk earnestly and seriously about how to address them, and put in the work, mostly without relying on tired identity politics.
- It's a place that puts people before dogma. the culture there is inquisitive and concerned with fairness, but it does not seem to encourage or attract zealots or people who want to get on the soapbox all the time instead of putting nose to grindstone and getting to work. This leaves people free to work.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Parent essays: Why I love my school
The SF K Files is inviting parents to write essays about their children's schools. The stories should be no longer than 375 words (and of course they can be shorter) and should answer the question: Why do you love your school? You can talk about your school's community, special events, teachers, gardening program, whatever you like. We will run all essays on The SF K Files. Please email submissions to: thesfkfiles@gmail.com.
For those who are interested, we could submit your essay for consideration as a Perspective on KQED radio. Here are the guidelines for submission.
For those who are interested, we could submit your essay for consideration as a Perspective on KQED radio. Here are the guidelines for submission.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Sign-on letter in support of school food – for 12/15 Budget Committee Meeting
This from San Francisco School Food Coalition founder Lena Brook:
The SFUSD Board of Education Budget Committee is meeting on Tuesday 12/15 at 5pm (555 Franklin St.) to discuss the Student Nutrition Services department budget, among other items. I highly encourage those of you who are able to make it to voice your support for SNS. Comments will be limited to 1-2 minutes and talking points can be found in the letter below.
This item will be heard between 5:30-5:45pm.
For those of you who will not be able to attend the 12/15 meeting in person, please consider adding your name to this sign-on letter. My goal is to gather as many signatories as possible by 12pm Tuesday, so please circulate this to your school communities as well. I will send this to the entire School Board and to Superintendent Carlos Garcia on Tuesday afternoon.
SEND YOUR NAME AND SCHOOL AFFILIATION TO SFSCHOOLFOOD@GMAIL.COM!!!
Download of copy of the letter HERE.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Hot topic: Cobb Montesorri program
This from an SF K Files reader:
I'm sure you've read the article on the front page of the Monday Chronicle about the Montesorri program at Cobb and alleged tension between the GE program and the Montesorri program. The article didn't seem to present both sides of the story and I wonder if families from Cobb might shed some light/truth on the complexity of the situation if you posted it as a topic. Schools that share a similar construct -- where the District has planted a magnet program such as language immersion in an historically underperforming school (particularly with a core African American population) -- and similar issues, might benefit from the sharing of information and best practices as well.
Montessori program at S.F. school stirs clash
Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, December 7, 2009
It meant that poor, mostly African American students would have free and convenient access to what often is an expensive private program, out of reach and relatively unknown to inner-city children.
Instead, the effort has turned into a major headache for district administrators who now are embroiled in a bitter community battle over the educational fate of Cobb Elementary School.
At the heart of the fight is a district plan to phase out the school's traditional general education program - now serving predominantly African American students - to convert Cobb to all Montessori. While the program is offered to any family in the city, the intent of placing a Montessori program at Cobb was to better serve the neighborhood's African American families. Yet few parents from the community there seem to know much about the program or want it.
"Why should you uproot those kids?" said Deborah White, whose granddaughter attends Cobb's general education program. "That's a community school."
District officials say nothing has been decided and that the school board will vote on Cobb's fate in a public forum sometime in the near future.
A large waiting list
Currently, Cobb's Montessori program, which opened in 2005 for preschool children only, now takes up four of the school's 19 classrooms, offering instruction to 81 students up to the second grade. The program draws equal numbers of white, black, Asian and Latino students from across the city and maintains a large waiting list. This fall there were 133 applications for eight open seats in the pre-K program, said district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe. Priority is given to low-income families.
Now the district wants to expand the program through fifth grade, but that would mean there wouldn't be enough room to operate both Montessori and the traditional elementary school on the site.
One would have to go - with the general education program the most likely candidate. District officials say moving the Montessori program to another school would be expensive and would leave Cobb with just 150 students - too few to be financially viable.
Supporters of the Montessori expansion say it would make sense to send Cobb's general education students to nearby Rosa Parks or John Muir Elementary schools, but opponents, who include Cobb's parents and teachers, want the general education students to stay where they are. They're willing to fight for Cobb.
Dozens of supporters for Cobb's traditional program appeared before the school board recently to argue their case.
Cobb has served working-poor families in the Western Addition for generations. Moving to a more distant school would be a tremendous hardship for many, said Cobb general education teacher Yvette Fagan.
"Nobody came and talked to the families about Montessori," she said. "If they wanted the parents to have a choice, did they ask them if they wanted the choice? Are these parents supposed to feel invested?"
Poor marketing job
School board member Rachel Norton said the district opened the Montessori program at least in part to address the relatively low academic performances of African American children across the city, but it appears that school officials haven't done the best job marketing the program to the Western Addition families they had particularly hoped to serve.
Many neighborhood parents said they thought the program wasn't available to them. Some believed it was a private institution or that they would have to pay tuition for their children to attend.
Regardless, most parents remain committed to Cobb.
In the school's traditional classrooms, the teachers teach and give homework and tests. In Montessori classrooms, children teach themselves and each other. There are no tests or take-home worksheets; the teacher is a guide who monitors their progress with very specific visual and tactile tools.
Some studies have shown Montessori students, including low-income and minority children, perform better academically than those in traditional schools - although the research overall offers a mixed bag of results.
The Montessori program at Cobb is too new to determine how successful it is at raising its students' performance. The program's lone second-grader will be the only one eligible to take the state's standardized tests this year.
"(The Montessori method) actually has a really good track record with a group of kids we haven't done so well with as a district," Norton said. "We're not just doing the same thing we always did; we're putting programs in the targeted communities to help close that gap."
Enrollment dilemma
Cobb has long been the school of choice for Corinne Pope's daughter, Savannah, who will enter kindergarten next fall and would be interested in either program at the school.
Yet, at the district's enrollment fair she was told that because her daughter didn't attend Cobb's Montessori program as a preschooler, it would be nearly impossible to get into the program now.
If she enrolls her in the school's general education kindergarten, she wouldn't have any assurance that her daughter would be able to continue in that program through fifth grade.
"I don't know what we're going to do," Pope said. "I don't want to put her in the wrong school."
The school's Montessori implementer Emily Green acknowledged there will be few spaces for incoming kindergartners in the Montessori program and spots for upper grades would also be rare in the future.
In addition, it's not a good idea to transfer older elementary students into the Montessori method, Green said.
"I guess the moral of the story is this is hard," Norton said. "Change is hard."
How Montessori works
The first Montessori school was founded in 1907 by Maria Montessori in Italy, based on the fundamental idea that children teach themselves.
The method includes a "prepared environment" in which children can choose the activity they want to do.
Teachers don't give homework or tests.
Children work at their own pace and are placed in groups with a three-year age span, allowing them to learn from each other.
Teachers are considered "guides." They instruct students in how to use the specific Montessori learning tools and then let them learn and master the concepts.
"Everything is called work," said Carol Husbands, site manager for the Cobb Child Development Center, which includes the Montessori preschool program. "The teachers are trying not to interrupt their work. It's a children's house."
At San Francisco's Cobb Elementary School, each Montessori classroom contains a seemingly identical rack with strings of colored counting beads and a stackable tower of pink blocks. These are the same tactile tools one would find in a Montessori classroom in Hong Kong or Kentucky. The beads and blocks look like toys, but have order and purpose: to teach children individually and often subconsciously.
On a recent day, Cobb first-graders Lamariae and Eve, both 6, sat at a table huddled over a pile of words printed on cards.
"We're working together on singular and plural," Lamariae said.
Their teacher never interrupted or checked their work.
The girls put orange, key and kite under singular and then considered patio, cellos and donkey.
Nearby a student sat by himself and put cards with numbers in sequential order by ones, tens, hundreds and thousands.
While most Montessori schools are private, there are about 400 public programs in the United States, including those in charter schools.
San Francisco's Montessori program at Cobb Elementary School is one of about 30 in California.
A tip from Parents for Public Schools: Don't go to the EPC Friday, Dec. 11
The deadline to apply for Lowell High School is this Friday, December 11. For those of you turning in Kinder applications you should wait till next week. The lines are likely to be long at the Educational Placement Center. —Vicki Symonds, Parents for Public Schools
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Title I Academic Achievement Award Schools
State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Announces
2008-09 Title I Academic Achievement Award Schools
2008-09 Title I Academic Achievement Award Schools
SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced that 200 California schools have been selected for the 2008-09 Title I Academic Achievement Award. They represent 88 school districts in 27 counties. The list of winners is attached.
Gordon J. Lau Elementary
Edward R. Taylor Elementary
Francis Scott Key Elementary
Garfield Elementary
Yick Wo Elementary
Sherman Elementary
Sutro Elementary
Ulloa Elementary
Visitacion Valley Elementary
John Yehall Chin (Elem)
"These schools deserve high praise for improving student achievement," said O'Connell. “They have addressed barriers to student success and were able to create a school environment conducive to learning. I congratulate the teachers, staff, paraprofessionals, parents, and students who all worked hard this past year to improve. I hold these schools up as models for their success in ensuring that all students without regard to race, economic status, or physical or mental challenges are given the kind of education that allows them to achieve to their fullest potential."
The Title I Academic Achievement Award may be given only to schools receiving federal Title1 funds as authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. To be eligible for the Title I Schoolwide Program, a school must enroll 40 percent or more of socioeconomically disadvantaged students. For more information about the Title I Schoolwide Program, please visit: Schoolwide Programs - Title I.
To meet the criteria for this distinction, the school must demonstrate that all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California's academic content standards. Additionally, the school's socioeconomically disadvantaged students must have doubled the achievement targets set for them for two consecutive years. For more information about the Title I Academic Achievement Awards please visit: Academic Achievement Awards - School/Teacher Recognition.
Title I is a part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and is the single largest federal educational program for K-12 public education. Of the more than 9,000 schools in California, more than 6,000 of them participate in the Title I program.
Prior to his public announcement, O'Connell personally called the principal at each school to inform them of their selection. “They were extremely excited at hearing the news and equally proud of being recognized for their hard work and success," said O'Connell. “It was inspiring to talk to them and share in this extraordinary moment."
The 200 awardees will be honored at a special award ceremony held in conjunction with the annual California Title I Conference scheduled for April 27-28, 2009, at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel in Anaheim. For more information about the California Title I Conference, please visit Title I Conference Information for 2009 - Improving Academic Achievement.
Hot topic: SFUSD and out-of-district students
This from an SF K Files reader:
I was recently rejected from turning in my son's kindergarten application at the SFUSD because my PG&E bill was too old. With living in SF for over 10 years, working full-ime for a non-profit here in the City and paying property taxes on a small TIC I was feeling insulted and sort of entitled. I left frustrated but went back with a more up to date bill and his application was accepted. The next day at work I was venting about this and the kindergatren process to a co-worker of mine. His 2 children both go to a "trophy school" and his family lives in Marin!?! I had no idea that once a child starts school in SF they can stay for the convenience of parents who work here. This seems unfair and I am wondering if it is actually legitimate? I have no interest in getting this guys kids kicked out of school, but it does seem off that some children who live outside of the county are allowed to keep coveted spots for their parents convenience. I am wondering how common this is, families who live elsewhere but the parents commute in to SF for work and send their kids to public school here?
Monday, December 7, 2009
Guest Blogger: Elementary school teacher and prospective kindergarten parent Lisa Borah-Geller
Why Should I Look for Schools That Develop Children Socially and Emotionally?
By Lisa Borah-Geller
I am a San Francisco parent of a prospective kindergartener, an elementary school teacher, and a curriculum developer for a non-profit organization called the Developmental Studies Center. Like some of you, I have spent a lot of time touring elementary schools. I have noticed that many parents look at test scores, facilities, program offerings (i.e., language or art programs), and principal leadership to judge the quality of a school. While these school characteristics are important, I encourage parents to also consider the school environment and how it fosters children’s social and emotional development. This is equally as important.
Touring the schools has made me reflect upon what kind of school environment I want for my daughter and how that environment can help her develop into the kind of person I hope she will become. I would like my daughter to treat others in a respectful, fair, and caring way and take responsibility for herself. I also believe that if my daughter feels happy, supported, safe, and engaged in school and learns to work well with others, she will feel comfortable enough to ask questions, explore new ideas, and learn more deeply.
I am looking for schools that foster a sense of community and teach children these values. Research shows that creating a strong sense of community at school increases students’ academic performance and has a positive influence on students’ behavior. When students are in caring school communities, they are more likely to like school, enjoy challenging learning activities, and help others (http://devstu.org/page/p-r-scientific-basis). In addition, data from a study on adolescent health, found that students’ sense of connectedness to school (and family) were linked to a decrease in a range of problem behaviors, including: the use of alcohol, violent behavior, emotional distress, and early sexual activity (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/training/connect/school_pg3.html).
When I walk into the classrooms on school tours, I observe how the teachers treat the students (teachers must model respect and kindness for students to act in these ways) and how happy and engaged the students are in their work. I look to see if children are working collaboratively, which fosters a genuine interest in and concern for others. I ask about programs the schools have to promote caring classroom and school communities and students’ social and emotional development. Fortunately, many of the SFUSD schools implement either the Tribes Learning Community® or Caring School Community® programs. Both of these programs help create a positive classroom and school environment. My non-profit employer developed the Caring School Community program.
Recently, as part of my work, I had the opportunity to observe a class-meeting lesson in a kindergarten classroom at Sunnyside Elementary School in San Francisco. In class meetings, children get to know each other, discuss issues, identify and solve problems, and make decisions that affect classroom climate. The teacher was very kind and caring and also had excellent classroom management. The children seemed very happy and eager to participate. The teacher engaged the children in authentic discussion with each other as they talked about how to act for substitute teachers. Talking about how to treat substitute teachers and committing to positive, helpful behaviors prevents problems and makes the classroom run more smoothly when the regular teacher is absent. Ultimately, a child who discusses and learns why she should treat everyone respectfully (including substitute teachers) is beginning to develop into the kind of person I hope my daughter will become—a good, caring, and responsible one.
By Lisa Borah-Geller
I am a San Francisco parent of a prospective kindergartener, an elementary school teacher, and a curriculum developer for a non-profit organization called the Developmental Studies Center. Like some of you, I have spent a lot of time touring elementary schools. I have noticed that many parents look at test scores, facilities, program offerings (i.e., language or art programs), and principal leadership to judge the quality of a school. While these school characteristics are important, I encourage parents to also consider the school environment and how it fosters children’s social and emotional development. This is equally as important.
Touring the schools has made me reflect upon what kind of school environment I want for my daughter and how that environment can help her develop into the kind of person I hope she will become. I would like my daughter to treat others in a respectful, fair, and caring way and take responsibility for herself. I also believe that if my daughter feels happy, supported, safe, and engaged in school and learns to work well with others, she will feel comfortable enough to ask questions, explore new ideas, and learn more deeply.
I am looking for schools that foster a sense of community and teach children these values. Research shows that creating a strong sense of community at school increases students’ academic performance and has a positive influence on students’ behavior. When students are in caring school communities, they are more likely to like school, enjoy challenging learning activities, and help others (http://devstu.org/page/p-r-scientific-basis). In addition, data from a study on adolescent health, found that students’ sense of connectedness to school (and family) were linked to a decrease in a range of problem behaviors, including: the use of alcohol, violent behavior, emotional distress, and early sexual activity (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/training/connect/school_pg3.html).
When I walk into the classrooms on school tours, I observe how the teachers treat the students (teachers must model respect and kindness for students to act in these ways) and how happy and engaged the students are in their work. I look to see if children are working collaboratively, which fosters a genuine interest in and concern for others. I ask about programs the schools have to promote caring classroom and school communities and students’ social and emotional development. Fortunately, many of the SFUSD schools implement either the Tribes Learning Community® or Caring School Community® programs. Both of these programs help create a positive classroom and school environment. My non-profit employer developed the Caring School Community program.
Recently, as part of my work, I had the opportunity to observe a class-meeting lesson in a kindergarten classroom at Sunnyside Elementary School in San Francisco. In class meetings, children get to know each other, discuss issues, identify and solve problems, and make decisions that affect classroom climate. The teacher was very kind and caring and also had excellent classroom management. The children seemed very happy and eager to participate. The teacher engaged the children in authentic discussion with each other as they talked about how to act for substitute teachers. Talking about how to treat substitute teachers and committing to positive, helpful behaviors prevents problems and makes the classroom run more smoothly when the regular teacher is absent. Ultimately, a child who discusses and learns why she should treat everyone respectfully (including substitute teachers) is beginning to develop into the kind of person I hope my daughter will become—a good, caring, and responsible one.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Hot topic: Claire Lilienthal
This from an SF K Files reader:
Would it be possible to start a topic on Claire Lilienthal? There aren't any reviews of the school on the blog and unfortunately, we can't make it to any of the tours due to work conflicts. I know it's one of the oversubscribed trophy schools but the parent comments on GreatSchool.net's site puzzled me - some reviewers claimed the middle school doesn't offer AP classes, several bemoaned the lack of arts, and several cited the high principal turnover in the last five years. I'd love to hear impressions from other parents who have either toured the school or whose children who attend it.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Pre-K Play Day at Zion Lutheran
Zion Lutheran School is hosting a "Pre-K Play Day" this Sunday, December 6, 2009 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. This event is for parents and children interested in Zion's 2010-2011 Kindergarten class. Zion is located at 495 9th Avenue (between Anza & Geary). Children will participate in classroom activities while parents have the opportunity to observe the class and to also participate in a parent Q&A panel. Seating is limited, please RSVP to Admissions Director Jillian McGuire at 415-221-7500 ext. 205. We hope that you will join us for this delightful event.
Respectfully Submitted,
Zion Lutheran Parent Teacher League
Respectfully Submitted,
Zion Lutheran Parent Teacher League
Friday, December 4, 2009
Marcia Brady's hot tips for touring parents and parent-pleasing tours
At the risk of over-posting, I can now offer a couple of hints that might help the tour process be less grueling for all parties concerned.
For parents:
1) If you are truly concerned about test scores, consider not looking at immersion schools. There are any number of good reasons why these schools show lower test scores and still do a good job educating children. I won't go into them here, but it is a drag to have tours taken over by passive-aggressive (or even aggressive-aggressive) parents with this bone to pick.
2) Leave a ton of time to find parking if you drive, because you never know how a given block or neighborhood is. You'll need to park for about 1.5 hours, as tours rarely "dismiss" on time.
3) Dress warmly as you will be spending considerable amounts of time in drafty breezeways or outside (earlier in the year, I would have said apply sunscreen as you may stand on blazing asphalt for quite a while!)
4) Keep it down in the classrooms. I am amazed that the teachers can teach through all the distractions people on tour introduce into the classrooms.
5) Take notes, as it all becomes a blur after a while. Consider sharing your thoughts in comments if a school is reviewed. It really helps balance out the reviewers' inevitable biases or blind spots.
For schools with tours:
1) Do whatever you can to have the principal present. It makes a huge difference. It signals a commitment to incoming families, and lets us see your vision for the school.
2) Make sure parent tour guides are really well-versed, and yet also able to defer questions to the principal (another reason it is good to have him/her there). Most have been wonderful, but occasionally a tour guide can really throw things: the best ones convey information succinctly, do not override things with their own issues, and have notes on the facts in their hands.
3) Please oh please make sure that whoever is answering the phone has all the relevant information: what tours are language-specific, the correct start time, and whether or not you need to pre-register. People are taking clocked time off work here, and aren't happy if they show up and find out they are there on the wrong date, at the wrong time, or not on the list.
4) Please know that we are deeply grateful for comforts and welcoming elements like music (yay, McKinley!), coffee (go, Marshall!), expressions of sympathy about this strange process (hats off to many of you), and offers to let us e-mail you (ditto).
And that is all from me. Really.
Marshall Elementary
Reviewed by Marcia Brady
The Facts
Location: 1575 15th St. (at Capp), Mission District
School hours: 8:40-2:40 (thanks for the correction, commenter!)
Tel: 241-6280
Principal: Peter Avila
Web site: through SFUSD portal
Parking: Miserable [for touring parents, anyway]. If you plan to tour, take public transportation or use the garage at 16th/Hoff. Morning isn’t a problem if you are dropping off; afternoons is meter parking only, in a crowded neighborhood.
Grades: K-5
Kindergarten size: 2 classes of 20 each, full immersion
Total student body: about 220
Odds of getting in on R1: 21.7% according to the magic spreadsheet. However, I think a middle-class kid has a good chance, as he/she would add diversity: it’s a lower-income school with 75% Latino/a population mostly from the neighborhood.
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with:
A tight-knit, small community feel, a focus on science, and an immersion program actually situated in an “immersed” neighborhood. Not a good choice for those who want a school with guaranteed, regular aftercare.
Campus/Playground: Nondescript two-story stucco-concrete structure with murals on the outside. Nicely lit classrooms center on a lovely courtyard, with a circular bench built in like a well in its center. The “well” is decorated with kid-made tiles, and the courtyard also features a stained-glass wall. I didn’t get a feel for how space is there: there is a library, computer center, and café/auditorium, but I don’t know what else. There are 2 yards, each with a small play structure and plenty of asphalt, and I think I saw at least one bungalow.
PTA: Growing, with $50K raised, used predominantly to build up the sciences there.
Language program(s): see above
Library / Computer Lab: Did not get to see either because of time (see “impressions”), though I peeked into a small computer lab with perhaps 20 flat-screen black terminals (Dells?). The brochure lists computer classes for kids, but I didn’t get to ask how often.
Arts: Not as strong as some places, but instrumental music is particularly good there, upper grades have visiting artist program. They list ArtSpan on the brochure but I don’t know what that is.
PE: 2x/week.
Tour Impressions:
We began in the courtyard to watch assembly. On the one hand, this was great – it started with a boom box playing music, and then segued to school chants and cheers, announcements, and a sing-along of the school song. What a great way to get the kids focused for the day. On the other hand, it burned up 20 minutes of the tour, so the tour is really 9-10ish and I had to go too early to see the upper-grade classrooms (some of the K and 1 kids were apparently on a field trip).
Afterward, we went to the cafeteria for a talk and Q and A with the parent liaison, principal, and other parents. Amazingly, there was coffee, tea, and hot cocoa for us, and even egg sandwiches, though I think none of us dared take one in case we were taking breakfast out of a kid’s mouth. The parents seem delighted with the school, and the parent liaison clearly works hard. Principal Avila was forthright and thoughtful – he is in his second year at Marshall. There was, as always, the annoying, slightly hostile parent question about test scores. But Principal Avila and the parents rose to the occasion – I was particularly impressed with the principal’s statement that he will not have his teachers teach to the test, as he had to do so in Oakland and lost all passion for teaching. I also appreciated that he is pushing hard for testing to be done in Spanish: the big-picture data he can’t get, he says, is how close to grade level the bulk of the English-predominant students are in their Spanish reading, writing, etc. Personally I’d love to see English-dominant kids tested in Spanish and Spanish-dominant kids rising to the top of those tests. Finally,
Then it was off to see classrooms. The K classrooms are just enormous and very clean, immaculately decorated with bulletin boards full of kids’ work, 3 Rs stuff, etc. The one K classroom we did visit was interesting, because the kids were reading aloud in unison in Spanish – not just words, but sentences written out on chart paper. OK, what gives here that the large majority of them can already read? Are they small geniuses? The kids were also clearly engaged with and excited by what they were doing. I was really, really bummed to have to leave at 9:50, when I had thought the tour would run something like 8:40-9:50 and scheduled a 10:00 appointment nearby.
In conclusion, as they say: Marshall seems great for those for whom Alvarado and Flynn are too big in scale or have too long-shot odds. Full immersion produces an incredible cohesiveness, and Marshall is smaller and less crowded than Buena Vista (another full immersion school) appeared to me to be. It looks like a happy, energetic place. The parents all spoke of each of their children being embraced by the school, whether as an English-only or Spanish-only child to begin with. With the odds from the spreadsheet, I don’t know if Marshall counts as a “hidden” gem, but with a warm community feel and a principal who is clearly on his game, it looks very sparkly. Some people might flinch at the location—it’s in the very heart of the Mission, and the street life is pretty, um, ripe —but I consider that a plus, as it’s a neighborhood-y school and clearly counts that area as part of the cultural education students are expected to get. And hey, there are 16 security cameras outside the building and the outdoor balconies face the courtyard, so your kid will most definitely be safe. I had tossed it on my list of tours because what the heck, location. Now—with perhaps a revisit to see some classroom teaching--I could see putting it on the top half of my 7!
Commodore Sloat Elementary Tour
Reviewed by Debbie
In the past month or so my kindergarten application process pendulum-of-stress has swung from obsessing about it every day, all the way to the other side - surrendering to it, almost to the point of not really thinking about it. It has lowered my stress level quite a bit which has been great, but it also has led me to not post anything, so for that, I apologize.
True to my initial plan, I have only toured a small handful of schools: West Portal (posted that review), Commodore Sloat (this review), and Sunnyside (Marcia Brady's review is excellent so I don't see a need to post another review).
I have heard and read really good things about Commodore Sloat, but somehow it manages to stay under the radar. Like West Portal, Commodore Sloat is also close to our house. I drive and/or run by this school several times a week. When I’m running, I always slow down if it’s recess or children are out for P.E. so I can observe the kids and the teachers – I’m sure I look like some weird or nosey adult.
Commodore Sloat is an "attendance area" school, and we live in the attendance area. I’ve heard that living in an attendance area doesn’t really matter that much, especially with high demand schools. However, the Educational Placement Center rep at the Parents for Public Schools event on 10/3 said that if you put your attendance area school #1, you’re positioning yourself the best way possible for that school. So hey, if it makes even an incremental difference in the outcome, I’ll take it!
If you want all the school details and more information about the school’s programs, go to the Sloat Parents’ Club Organization’s website (http://www.sloatparents.org/). It’s a really nice and informative website. Otherwise, this post will focus mainly on the tour itself.
FACTS:
Date of tour: October 2009
Location: 50 Darian Way (Ingleside Terrace area), 415-759-2807
Principal: Jeanne Dowd (this is her first year as principal)
School type: Public
Parents’ Club Organization Website: http://www.sloatparents.org/
Tours: Tuesdays, 9-10:00am, call to register
School day start/stop: 8:40am-2:40pm (yard supervision starts at 8:20am)
Grades: K-5
Total Enrollment: 355 (16 classrooms)
Kindergarten size: 66 (3 classes of 22)
Language Immersion: None
Before/After school care: Fee-based offered through Stonestown YMCA, 2:40pm – 6:30pm
THE TOUR:
It was very stormy the day of the tour, and we were running late so we arrived late. Not a good start for us, but we were glad to finally set foot on this school and have the opportunity to check it out. The school takes up the entire northeast corner of Junipero Serra and Ocean Ave, but the main entrance is on Darian Way. We walked past the front office and signed in at a table where there was a parent volunteer to greet us and point us in the direction of the auditorium where the tour began. We walked into the auditorium and saw the principal sitting in a big circle with all the parents on the tour. There were about 20-ish parents, and three parent volunteers. Shortly after my husband and I sat down, the principal said, "Well, that’s the end of my spiel". What? We missed it? Darn! That’s what you get for being late. But we did catch some information: this is the principal’s (Jeanne Dowd) first year as principal. Her past experience includes being a 3rd grade teacher (her favorite grade) at Malcolm X, teaching at John Muir Elementary, Fairmount, and teaching 1st grade in Bolivia. Most recently, she took a sabbatical to earn a Masters degree at Berkeley in their Principal Leadership Program (one parent there said it is a very rigorous program). Ms. Dowd came across as being very smart and capable, and I thought, "this woman will run a tight ship!".
Ms. Dowd then opened it up to questions from the parents. The questions yielded information like: there’s usually a teacher-in-training from SFSU in all the K classes (in addition to the regular teacher of course) and parent volunteers; the staff’s goal is "aligning curriculum" – continually assessing students so you always know where the students are in their learning. The Parents’ Club Organization (PCO) is not a PTA; there are no dues, and anyone can join as long as you have a child at Sloat. The PCO rep there mentioned a figure of "$70,000 - $100,000", but I’m not sure if that’s how much they raise every year or how much they have right now. There is good collaboration between the PCO and the teachers. We also learned that there is a theater arts program (K-1), music program through the district (K-3), gardening program (1x/week in K - I had heard that they have an exceptional gardening program), choral music, P.E. program (I have observed this during my runs, and the P.E. teacher speaks very enthusiastically and respectfully to the children), library 1x/week (the parents just finished bar coding all the books), and instrumental program (4-5, where the children can learn to play the violin, trumpet, or clarinet).
Sloat has no combined grades, but they do something interesting in the 4th and 5th grades. The children are taught English and Social Studies by one teacher in one classroom and Math and Science by another teacher in another classroom. This way, the teachers get to teach the subjects that they like and/or the subjects at which they feel most competent, and it is getting the children ready for middle school and the rotating of classrooms. I liked this concept.
Ms. Dowd talked about the "Tribes Community" at Sloat. From her description, it sounded like the goal is to build a community within the classroom so kids work together. She said that it builds inclusion so kids will feel comfortable taking risks academically. Four main components of building this sense of community are: sharing, mutual respect, attention, and right to pass (if a child doesn’t want a turn at something, he/she has the right to pass). There’s also an emphasis on being responsible. A Sloat parent in the circle said that her son is currently responsible for helping children who get hurt by getting bandaids and opening them for the hurt child. They also mentioned a "buddy" system where younger children are buddied up with older children.
A parent asked about homework. Ms. Dowd said, "Kindergarten is rigorous now". Okay, that scared me, but then a Sloat parent in the circle said it’s not bad, pretty mellow, and they usually have a week to do it. It’s more about learning the exercise of homework. Ms. Dowd added that homework should not be something new; it should be just practice of what they’ve already learned in the classroom. Whew, I felt better.
Then we said bye to Ms. Dowd and the Sloat parents took us to the walking part of the tour. We saw the lunch room first – small (but it was the first elementary school lunch room that I’d seen so maybe they’re all this size) with windows overlooking a courtyard where the older children will eat lunch on nice days. The K classes eat together at the same time. The older children eat at staggered times. Monitors are present to help children open stuff up and to make sure they all eat something.
The best way to describe Commodore Sloat’s physical layout is a square divided into four quadrants or "pods" is what they call them. The southwest quadrant is where the three K classes are. The K classrooms were a good size, well lit, neat, and organized. I know the expectation is for me to comment on the level to which the kids appeared happy and engaged, but for me that’s tough because the kids seem to act like I would expect regular kids to act with 20 adults staring at them – kind of quiet, working on an activity, some talking to each other or to the teacher, with an occasional child saying "hi". I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in terms of the children’s behavior. There are no bungalows at this school, and the tour guide said it was because the neighborhood that the school is in doesn’t allow them. I’m not a fan of the bungalows so this was fine with me.
The outdoor play area is HUGE, and is one of the outstanding features of this school. Keeping in mind the square shape of the school, the playground wraps widely around two sides of the square. It’s quite nice, and there are two very separate newer looking play structures, and the K classes have their own recess area (one of the play structures) and a separate recess time than the older children.
Then we went to the library. They are about 9,000 books, and they are now all bar coded. It looked neat, organized, bigger than I thought it would be, with lots of tables and chairs, and an area in the corner that looked like a storytime area. Every January the PCO sponsors an Adopt-A-Book event where new books are donated by the parents, and each child who donates a book gets to have his/her name in the book.
We also saw a few of the classes with older children. One of the teachers came outside and spoke to us for quite a while. One of the things that stood out about her was that one of her goals for her students is for them to type 35 wpm by graduation. She said this was to ensure they would be prepared for all the typing (on computers) in middle school. I was impressed by this goal and totally agree that typing is a necessary skill to have.
Then the tour guides answered last minute questions, thanked us for coming, and wrapped it up.
Likes: huge outdoor play area, smart and competent principal, separate classes for Math/Science and English/Social Studies in 4th/5th grades, focus on building a sense of community and inclusion among the children, active parent club, 8:40am start time, close to our house, and last but not least -–no bungalows!
Dislikes: None really, but if it had a language immersion program, it would be an even stronger school (and would probably no longer be "under the radar")
Overall impression: This is a solid school: strong and involved parents club, solid test scores (API 872 per greatschools.net), good sense of community, outstanding outdoor play area, smart and motivated new principal, and clean/organized classrooms. This school is going towards the top of my list.
In the past month or so my kindergarten application process pendulum-of-stress has swung from obsessing about it every day, all the way to the other side - surrendering to it, almost to the point of not really thinking about it. It has lowered my stress level quite a bit which has been great, but it also has led me to not post anything, so for that, I apologize.
True to my initial plan, I have only toured a small handful of schools: West Portal (posted that review), Commodore Sloat (this review), and Sunnyside (Marcia Brady's review is excellent so I don't see a need to post another review).
I have heard and read really good things about Commodore Sloat, but somehow it manages to stay under the radar. Like West Portal, Commodore Sloat is also close to our house. I drive and/or run by this school several times a week. When I’m running, I always slow down if it’s recess or children are out for P.E. so I can observe the kids and the teachers – I’m sure I look like some weird or nosey adult.
Commodore Sloat is an "attendance area" school, and we live in the attendance area. I’ve heard that living in an attendance area doesn’t really matter that much, especially with high demand schools. However, the Educational Placement Center rep at the Parents for Public Schools event on 10/3 said that if you put your attendance area school #1, you’re positioning yourself the best way possible for that school. So hey, if it makes even an incremental difference in the outcome, I’ll take it!
If you want all the school details and more information about the school’s programs, go to the Sloat Parents’ Club Organization’s website (http://www.sloatparents.org/). It’s a really nice and informative website. Otherwise, this post will focus mainly on the tour itself.
FACTS:
Date of tour: October 2009
Location: 50 Darian Way (Ingleside Terrace area), 415-759-2807
Principal: Jeanne Dowd (this is her first year as principal)
School type: Public
Parents’ Club Organization Website: http://www.sloatparents.org/
Tours: Tuesdays, 9-10:00am, call to register
School day start/stop: 8:40am-2:40pm (yard supervision starts at 8:20am)
Grades: K-5
Total Enrollment: 355 (16 classrooms)
Kindergarten size: 66 (3 classes of 22)
Language Immersion: None
Before/After school care: Fee-based offered through Stonestown YMCA, 2:40pm – 6:30pm
THE TOUR:
It was very stormy the day of the tour, and we were running late so we arrived late. Not a good start for us, but we were glad to finally set foot on this school and have the opportunity to check it out. The school takes up the entire northeast corner of Junipero Serra and Ocean Ave, but the main entrance is on Darian Way. We walked past the front office and signed in at a table where there was a parent volunteer to greet us and point us in the direction of the auditorium where the tour began. We walked into the auditorium and saw the principal sitting in a big circle with all the parents on the tour. There were about 20-ish parents, and three parent volunteers. Shortly after my husband and I sat down, the principal said, "Well, that’s the end of my spiel". What? We missed it? Darn! That’s what you get for being late. But we did catch some information: this is the principal’s (Jeanne Dowd) first year as principal. Her past experience includes being a 3rd grade teacher (her favorite grade) at Malcolm X, teaching at John Muir Elementary, Fairmount, and teaching 1st grade in Bolivia. Most recently, she took a sabbatical to earn a Masters degree at Berkeley in their Principal Leadership Program (one parent there said it is a very rigorous program). Ms. Dowd came across as being very smart and capable, and I thought, "this woman will run a tight ship!".
Ms. Dowd then opened it up to questions from the parents. The questions yielded information like: there’s usually a teacher-in-training from SFSU in all the K classes (in addition to the regular teacher of course) and parent volunteers; the staff’s goal is "aligning curriculum" – continually assessing students so you always know where the students are in their learning. The Parents’ Club Organization (PCO) is not a PTA; there are no dues, and anyone can join as long as you have a child at Sloat. The PCO rep there mentioned a figure of "$70,000 - $100,000", but I’m not sure if that’s how much they raise every year or how much they have right now. There is good collaboration between the PCO and the teachers. We also learned that there is a theater arts program (K-1), music program through the district (K-3), gardening program (1x/week in K - I had heard that they have an exceptional gardening program), choral music, P.E. program (I have observed this during my runs, and the P.E. teacher speaks very enthusiastically and respectfully to the children), library 1x/week (the parents just finished bar coding all the books), and instrumental program (4-5, where the children can learn to play the violin, trumpet, or clarinet).
Sloat has no combined grades, but they do something interesting in the 4th and 5th grades. The children are taught English and Social Studies by one teacher in one classroom and Math and Science by another teacher in another classroom. This way, the teachers get to teach the subjects that they like and/or the subjects at which they feel most competent, and it is getting the children ready for middle school and the rotating of classrooms. I liked this concept.
Ms. Dowd talked about the "Tribes Community" at Sloat. From her description, it sounded like the goal is to build a community within the classroom so kids work together. She said that it builds inclusion so kids will feel comfortable taking risks academically. Four main components of building this sense of community are: sharing, mutual respect, attention, and right to pass (if a child doesn’t want a turn at something, he/she has the right to pass). There’s also an emphasis on being responsible. A Sloat parent in the circle said that her son is currently responsible for helping children who get hurt by getting bandaids and opening them for the hurt child. They also mentioned a "buddy" system where younger children are buddied up with older children.
A parent asked about homework. Ms. Dowd said, "Kindergarten is rigorous now". Okay, that scared me, but then a Sloat parent in the circle said it’s not bad, pretty mellow, and they usually have a week to do it. It’s more about learning the exercise of homework. Ms. Dowd added that homework should not be something new; it should be just practice of what they’ve already learned in the classroom. Whew, I felt better.
Then we said bye to Ms. Dowd and the Sloat parents took us to the walking part of the tour. We saw the lunch room first – small (but it was the first elementary school lunch room that I’d seen so maybe they’re all this size) with windows overlooking a courtyard where the older children will eat lunch on nice days. The K classes eat together at the same time. The older children eat at staggered times. Monitors are present to help children open stuff up and to make sure they all eat something.
The best way to describe Commodore Sloat’s physical layout is a square divided into four quadrants or "pods" is what they call them. The southwest quadrant is where the three K classes are. The K classrooms were a good size, well lit, neat, and organized. I know the expectation is for me to comment on the level to which the kids appeared happy and engaged, but for me that’s tough because the kids seem to act like I would expect regular kids to act with 20 adults staring at them – kind of quiet, working on an activity, some talking to each other or to the teacher, with an occasional child saying "hi". I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in terms of the children’s behavior. There are no bungalows at this school, and the tour guide said it was because the neighborhood that the school is in doesn’t allow them. I’m not a fan of the bungalows so this was fine with me.
The outdoor play area is HUGE, and is one of the outstanding features of this school. Keeping in mind the square shape of the school, the playground wraps widely around two sides of the square. It’s quite nice, and there are two very separate newer looking play structures, and the K classes have their own recess area (one of the play structures) and a separate recess time than the older children.
Then we went to the library. They are about 9,000 books, and they are now all bar coded. It looked neat, organized, bigger than I thought it would be, with lots of tables and chairs, and an area in the corner that looked like a storytime area. Every January the PCO sponsors an Adopt-A-Book event where new books are donated by the parents, and each child who donates a book gets to have his/her name in the book.
We also saw a few of the classes with older children. One of the teachers came outside and spoke to us for quite a while. One of the things that stood out about her was that one of her goals for her students is for them to type 35 wpm by graduation. She said this was to ensure they would be prepared for all the typing (on computers) in middle school. I was impressed by this goal and totally agree that typing is a necessary skill to have.
Then the tour guides answered last minute questions, thanked us for coming, and wrapped it up.
Likes: huge outdoor play area, smart and competent principal, separate classes for Math/Science and English/Social Studies in 4th/5th grades, focus on building a sense of community and inclusion among the children, active parent club, 8:40am start time, close to our house, and last but not least -–no bungalows!
Dislikes: None really, but if it had a language immersion program, it would be an even stronger school (and would probably no longer be "under the radar")
Overall impression: This is a solid school: strong and involved parents club, solid test scores (API 872 per greatschools.net), good sense of community, outstanding outdoor play area, smart and motivated new principal, and clean/organized classrooms. This school is going towards the top of my list.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Yick Wo fund-raising
This from an SF K Files reader:
With the holidays upon us, gift giving is at the top of our minds. If any of you are already beat from braving the store crowds on Black Friday or think that Cyber-Monday wasn't worth all of the hype, then why not consider a gift that fits every budget, requires no exchanges and has a positive impact?The Yick Wo website is open 24 hours a day for your holiday shopping needs and accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover cards.Just visit our link at http://www.yickwo.org/ywes/support .And don't forget, a donation to Yick Wo's Direct Appeal makes a wonderful gift from Grandparents, friends and other extended family members (and it is tax-deductible). So please pass along this wonderful tidbit of holiday shopping advice to all of those who may be looking for the perfect holiday gift this year.Happy Holidays,Yick Wo Direct Appeal Fundraising Team
Hot topic: Attendance area, diversity and immersion programs
This from an SF K Files reader:
Do immersion programs function differently in the assignment system for determining the category of "applicants within the attendance area who add to diversity at that school?"
I understand (I think) that the lottery looks first for children in the attendance area who would add to diversity in the incoming K class, and that if your child BOTH is within the attendance area AND adds to diversity, then being in the area is helpful. Our attendance area school is an all Spanish-immersion school with a high number of English language learners, and we are definitely interested in putting it down as a Round I choice. As an English-speaking non-poor family, we might add to diversity at the school overall as compared to the initial already-formed class of younger siblings.
But I also know that the lottery run separates out English-monolingual/Spanish-monolingual/bilingual families when assigning students to immersion programs. We presumably don't add to diversity when compared to other English-speaking families who are being considered for the English monolingual spaces in the immersion program.
So, will being in the attendance area help or not? Is "diversity" evaluated with regard to the school as a whole or with regard to just the relevant subset (English-speaking vs. target-language-speaking) of spaces?
Thanks very much for any input, and I hope this question applies to enough other people here that I'm not just asking for myself!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monroe Elementary
Reviewed by Marcia Brady
The Facts
Location: 260 Madrid St., at Excelsior (Excelsior)
School hours: 8:25-2:25 K-3, 8:25-2:30 3-5
Tel: 469-4736
Principal: Jennifer Steiner
Web site: www.monroeelementaryschool.com
School tours: Tues. 8:45
Grades: K-5
Kindergarten size: 4 classes of 22 each (2 Spanish immersion, 1 Cantonese bilingual, 1 English Language Development)
Total student body: 480
Odds of getting in on Round 1: 15.2% for the Spanish immersion, according to the spreadsheet. Like most SI programs, they are in need of Spanish-speaking and bilingual students.
Parking: Not too bad; dropoff for older kids
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with:
A multilingual, multicultural environment, a strong focus on literacy and the arts, a range of aftercare options. Probably not the school for a kid who needs a smaller building or smaller numbers, though the feel is quite intimate given the size of the place and student body.
Class Structure / Curriculum: The GE there seems to be the English Language Pathways program; otherwise, the curriculum looks fairly standard. Kindergartners in Spanish immersion stay with the same teacher for K-1.
Campus/Playground: Big modern building, of the poured-concrete-and-lots-of-breezeway style of the 1950s or 60s, painted bright orange. Tile murals, colorful paint, and wall art abound outside. The plant has a somewhat worn feel, but is very cheerful and bright. Inside, nondescript architecture, but a spacious feel – a big bright auditorium/café, classrooms looking out onto a 1600 square foot garden or the playground, with light coming in. Large asphalt yard with big new-ish play structure, bungalow restrooms and bungalows for several classrooms. Smaller concrete outdoor auditorium. Garden has an outdoor classroom with an adobe circular bench modeled on SF’s “skyline” of hills, and a charming grotto of kid-made birdhouses.
After School programs: free ExCEL by invitation, space limited; free CDC at Excelsior/Monroe for K-5, fee-based private daycare at Buena Vista (with transportation there provided), Boys and Girls club down the street.
Additional Programs: Arts (see below), Reading Recovery program, garden used for instructional purposes by teacher.
PTA: 150 on the roster, $50K raised, mostly grants as it is a lower-income school.
Language program(s): see above
Library / Computer Lab: Big library serves as the hub for several lower-grade classrooms (K-2?). Library collection is trilingual (English, Spanish/Cantonese); the librarian is there 2 ½ days/week and kids can check out a book every other week. Library has an additional small reading room where books are kept in a grade-level tracking system, and children are assessed and then given books with 90% familiarity, to gently push them upward. Small computer lab with 18 flat-screen iMacs; computer class 1x/week with additional use of labs at teacher discretion.
Arts: PTA-funded. Dance, Visual Art, Drama, and Music in 16-week cycles, 1x/week. At the end of 2 years, kids have had all.
Science: FOSS kits, WISE program to train teachers in science instruction, impromptu botany in the garden.
PE: District-funded PE has replaced Sports for Kids for budgetary reasons. PE coach is available at lunch and recess. Unlike many SF schools (check out the recent Chronicle article), Monroe meets the state requirements for PE.
Recess/Lunch: Oops, forgot to ask!
Tour Impressions:
We began in the auditorium, where a parent volunteer was teaching auxiliary verbs to parents who were English language learners. So off to the outdoor auditorium (which is all painted in fading rainbow colors) for a briefing with the parent volunteer. Our first classroom visit was an SI first-grade classroom, where kids were on the rug, working together on some kind of question-and-answer game with questions written on cards and answers written on a wipe-erase “brainstorming” board. Another SI Kindergarten had a couch and big pillows defining a reading area, and the teacher first asked the kids to discuss something about the book he was about to read (the title? the cover? where did my high school Spanish go?). He brought them back to focus on the large group with a little rhythmic hand clap, which the kids joined in as they focused. I was struck by how attentive and engaged the kids seemed – I know that in my review of SF Community a teacher commented that you can’t assume that kids aren’t learning if they are distracted or chatty, but I still stand by my conviction that engaged, excited kids are what I want to see. Monroe had them in every classroom we saw.
We finished back in the auditorium, where we met principal Jennifer Steiner. She is in her fourth year at Monroe, having been an Instructional Reform Facilitator at Monroe for quite a few years prior. She has an MA in language and literacy, and told us that Monroe’s priorities under her watch were these two things, especially early intervention for kids not reading in first grade. We learned that the arts program (there are 4 teachers, 1 each for the four listed above) secures release time for the teachers to meet weekly in grade-level meetings, and discuss strategies for, among other things, differentiated instruction. Ms. Steiner was extremely down-to-earth and casual, with very clear aims for the school. The parent guide had said that the money Monroe controls on the SCS and in the PTA goes to “positions and people,” and this is evident in Ms. Steiner’s vision for a school that closes the literacy gap between lower- and higher-achieving students while offering rigorous academics and as lush an art program as the PTA can buy.
Monroe strikes me as a really good, slightly more accessible alternative to Alvarado or Buena Vista. While it’s working with a lower budget than these two more “buzzy” Spanish immersion schools, Monroe does a lot with a little. It’s a cheery place that attends rigorously to the 3 Rs while insisting that art, PE, and so on are not just for rich kids.
Hot topic: SFUSD lottery/Mandarin immersion
This from an SF K Files reader:
Parents who are looking at Mandarin immersion in particular (i.e. Starr King and Jose Ortega) for Kindergarten should remember that it works a little different than other programs.
The District reserves half the spaces for Mandarin-speakers and the rest go to non-Mandarin speakers.
So in Round One of the lottery, only half of the spaces will go to non-Mandarin speakers, 22 at Starr King and 11 at Jose Ortega. We have quite a few siblings, so those numbers will be even lower this year.
HOWEVER - Historically (and we expect no huge change for 2010-2011) the Mandarin spaces have NOT filled. We have usually gotten between one and two Mandarin speakers per class (why is worth a long and somewhat meandering essay on socio-economic and cultural expectation and presumptions in the Mandarin-speaking community.)
[An aside here: If your child is a fluent Mandarin speaker, you WILL get in in Round One. If you do not, it's because of a glitch in the program. RUN, DO NOT WALK, TO THE DISTRICT. There were a couple of these last year and in each that we could identify, it just took one call or visit to the District to get the kid in. Pretty much any child fluent in Mandarin will get whichever school they want.]
That means that unlike almost all other programs, a WHOLE BUNCH of slots in Mandarin immersion open up in Round Two.
So, if your child is not a fluent Mandarin speaker and you don't get in to one of the Mandarin immersion programs in Round One, there is still a very good chance that you will get in in Round Two. You've got almost as much chance of getting in in Round Two as you do in Round One.
Final note: There is no requirement that children coming in to 1st grade immersion have any knowledge of the target language (ie Mandarin.) So each year we have several families who come in to Mandarin Immersion in first grade and their kids do just fine. Because people move over the summer, there are almost always a few spaces open.
If you have more questions, please contact the schools, or the Mandarin Immersion Parents Council. You can read more about the programs at http://miparentscouncil.org/
Thanks,
Beth Weise
President, Mandarin Immersion Parents Council
Parents who are looking at Mandarin immersion in particular (i.e. Starr King and Jose Ortega) for Kindergarten should remember that it works a little different than other programs.
The District reserves half the spaces for Mandarin-speakers and the rest go to non-Mandarin speakers.
So in Round One of the lottery, only half of the spaces will go to non-Mandarin speakers, 22 at Starr King and 11 at Jose Ortega. We have quite a few siblings, so those numbers will be even lower this year.
HOWEVER - Historically (and we expect no huge change for 2010-2011) the Mandarin spaces have NOT filled. We have usually gotten between one and two Mandarin speakers per class (why is worth a long and somewhat meandering essay on socio-economic and cultural expectation and presumptions in the Mandarin-speaking community.)
[An aside here: If your child is a fluent Mandarin speaker, you WILL get in in Round One. If you do not, it's because of a glitch in the program. RUN, DO NOT WALK, TO THE DISTRICT. There were a couple of these last year and in each that we could identify, it just took one call or visit to the District to get the kid in. Pretty much any child fluent in Mandarin will get whichever school they want.]
That means that unlike almost all other programs, a WHOLE BUNCH of slots in Mandarin immersion open up in Round Two.
So, if your child is not a fluent Mandarin speaker and you don't get in to one of the Mandarin immersion programs in Round One, there is still a very good chance that you will get in in Round Two. You've got almost as much chance of getting in in Round Two as you do in Round One.
Final note: There is no requirement that children coming in to 1st grade immersion have any knowledge of the target language (ie Mandarin.) So each year we have several families who come in to Mandarin Immersion in first grade and their kids do just fine. Because people move over the summer, there are almost always a few spaces open.
If you have more questions, please contact the schools, or the Mandarin Immersion Parents Council. You can read more about the programs at http://miparentscouncil.org/
Thanks,
Beth Weise
President, Mandarin Immersion Parents Council
SFUSD inclusion event
The 9th Annual Inclusive Schools Week will be held December 7-11, 2009. Inclusive Schools Week is an annual event that highlights the accomplishments of families, schools, and communities that have dedicated time, labor, and resources to promoting inclusive education for all of the world's children.
San Francisco Community Event and Dinner
Screening of the Documentary film "Including Samuel"
Monday, December 7th, 6-8 PM
Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy
4235-19th Street
Dinner will be provided.
For Inclusive Schools Week, we are screening the film "Including Samuel" (see more details below), an hour-long documentary about inclusive education.
This will be an informal event, just a chance for people to watch the film and discuss what they saw & how it may have changed the way they feel about inclusion. We will have a panel of parents and educators there to help answer any questions you may have about inclusion. We'd like to include all members of our community for this event, not only those with children in inclusion. If you don't know what inclusion means, this is a great place to find out! (Harvey Milk is an inclusion school). Please share this invitation to anyone who you think might be interested.
PLEASE RSVP by December 1, 2009 (or sooner!) so we can have an accurate head count for food and seating arrangements.
RSVP to Audrey Vernick
audvern@yahoo. com
415-377-1132 cell
(Mom to Bennett, a kindergartner at Harvey Milk in the Inclusion Program)
About the film:
This is a rare chance to see a wonderful film about what it means to have a child with special needs included in a typical school, and the impact it has on everyone involved.
"Including Samuel: Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. Shot and produced over four years, Habib’s award-winning documentary film, Including Samuel, chronicles the Habib family’s efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family’s hopes and struggles as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. Including Samuel is a highly personal, passionately photographed film that captures the cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion."
LINKS:
http://www.harveymilk.com/
http://www.inclusiveschools.org/week2009
http://www.includingsamuel.com
watch a trailer of the film:
http://www.includingsamuel.com/media
San Francisco Community Event and Dinner
Screening of the Documentary film "Including Samuel"
Monday, December 7th, 6-8 PM
Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy
4235-19th Street
Dinner will be provided.
For Inclusive Schools Week, we are screening the film "Including Samuel" (see more details below), an hour-long documentary about inclusive education.
This will be an informal event, just a chance for people to watch the film and discuss what they saw & how it may have changed the way they feel about inclusion. We will have a panel of parents and educators there to help answer any questions you may have about inclusion. We'd like to include all members of our community for this event, not only those with children in inclusion. If you don't know what inclusion means, this is a great place to find out! (Harvey Milk is an inclusion school). Please share this invitation to anyone who you think might be interested.
PLEASE RSVP by December 1, 2009 (or sooner!) so we can have an accurate head count for food and seating arrangements.
RSVP to Audrey Vernick
audvern@yahoo. com
415-377-1132 cell
(Mom to Bennett, a kindergartner at Harvey Milk in the Inclusion Program)
About the film:
This is a rare chance to see a wonderful film about what it means to have a child with special needs included in a typical school, and the impact it has on everyone involved.
"Including Samuel: Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. Shot and produced over four years, Habib’s award-winning documentary film, Including Samuel, chronicles the Habib family’s efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family’s hopes and struggles as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. Including Samuel is a highly personal, passionately photographed film that captures the cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion."
LINKS:
http://www.harveymilk.com/
http://www.inclusiveschools.org/week2009
http://www.includingsamuel.com
watch a trailer of the film:
http://www.includingsamuel.com/media
Hot topic: Filling out the SFUSD application
This from an SF K Files reader:
I'm looking at the school application and I'm wondering how to answer the Home Language questions. My husband and I speak two different languages to our son, 50/50, and have done so since he was born. I would imagine this is not uncommon in this city. For those who haven't seen it yet, the questions are:1. What language did your child first learn when s/he began to talk? __________________2. What language does your child use most frequently at home? __________________3. What language do you use most frequently to speak to your child? _________________4. What language do the adults use most frequently at home? _________________Is, for example, "English & Korean" a legit answer? Would that answer make us "diverse"? What have other families done in this case?
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Hot topic: How to rank your 7 schools
This from an SF K Files reader:
I am hearing mixed messages about the importance of the order of the 7 school choices on the SFUSD application and wonder if readers could help clarify. In a few comments on this blog people who seem like they know what they're talking about have stated that the ranking is irrelevant, and yet Rachel Norton posted on her blog that " Of the 947 families who did not receive any of their Round I choices last year, almost 800 listed one of these high demand schools as their first or second choice" which seems to imply that the order does matter. What gives?
Hot topic: Placement of students with program needs
This from an SF K Files reader:
The EPC provides details of the selection process here. In reviewing it, it's handy in that it gives details behind the diversity index selection process. But I can't seem to find any details behind the first step of the selection process, ie. the "placement of ... students with program needs." In particular, I understand that immersion programs fall in this bucket, so this step represents a large portion (20%?) of spots for Kindergartners, including some of the most popular spots.
Does anyone know the details behind this first step in the selection process? Real documentation for this step of the process, or just the guidelines, or even hypotheses as to what they are doing are welcome as far as I'm concerned, given that I'm starting from almost zero. All I've gathered so far is that for immersion programs, they strive for either 50/50 native/english, or 33/33/33 native/english/bilingual. But I haven't seen firm documentation on that, and even if I did, it leaves *a lot* of uncertainty as to the process.
Hot topic: CTY John Hopkins
This from an SF K Files reader:
My elementary school age child, because of scores of above 95% on the grade level standardized test taken, qualifies to take the SCAT for the John Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth talent search. I was wondering if any of your readers had either taken part in CTY when growing up or have a child who is participating now.
http://cty.jhu.edu/index.html
I want to stress that I am not interested in anyone's opinion on gifted education, I only want information on this specific program.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
El Dorado's Bakers' Book
The Kindergartners of Room 9 and their First Grade Buddies in Room 104 would like to share the delicious results of their Breaking Bread unit with you. Their bound and illustrated cookbook will be available 5 December for $4.00 a copy (+ $2 shipping and handling if applicable). All proceeds will support their weekly cooking projects.
The El Dorado's Bakers' Book can be purchased at El Dorado in person, by phone (415.331.1537) or by mail (Jennifer Moless/Tali Horowitz, El Dorado ES 70 Delta St. San Francisco CA 94134). Orders are also accepted by email to jennifer.moless@gmail.com. We can accept cash or checks made out to Jennifer Moless or Tali Horowitz.
Thank you for supporting healthy, hands-on learning in our classrooms!
Hot topic: red shirting
This from an SF K Files reader:
Kindergarten or Pre-K?I hope this isn't considered off topic here, as we're mostly discussing various schools. We're still debating whether our son should be headed to Kindergarten next year, or Pre-K. For those of you who are on the fence like myself, could you share your thought process? And if you've made this decision in the last few years, how did you arrive at your decision? For what reasons did you think your child might not be ready for Kindergarten?
Friday, November 20, 2009
Hot topic: Chocolate milk
There is a lot of momentum building right now on the issue of chocolate milk in schools. The SF School Food Coalition, a new parent advocacy group focused on school food reform, would like to learn more about how the broader SFUSD community feels about the practice of serving chocolate milk at SFUSD school lunch. Please take a moment to visit our website and vote in the poll. It will close in one week so please spread the word throughout your school community!
http://sfschoolfood.org/
With thanks,
Lena Brook
Parent, Grattan School
Founder, SF School Food Coalition
Find background on the chocolate milk debate:
SFGate: The chocolate milk debate
AP: Industry pushes chocolate milk in schools
LA Times: Chocolate milk in schools: A necessary evil?
http://sfschoolfood.org/
With thanks,
Lena Brook
Parent, Grattan School
Founder, SF School Food Coalition
Find background on the chocolate milk debate:
SFGate: The chocolate milk debate
AP: Industry pushes chocolate milk in schools
LA Times: Chocolate milk in schools: A necessary evil?
Hot topic: Inclusion and kids with IEPs
This from an SF K Files reader:
I have a son with an IEP, and it has been recommended that he be in Inclusion in the general classroom. I would love to find out if anyone knows which Inclusion schools are best, and which ones may have fewer or more spots opening up next year, and how choosing to go with Inclusion affects chances of getting in. I hope you consider this a valid topic.
I have a son with an IEP, and it has been recommended that he be in Inclusion in the general classroom. I would love to find out if anyone knows which Inclusion schools are best, and which ones may have fewer or more spots opening up next year, and how choosing to go with Inclusion affects chances of getting in. I hope you consider this a valid topic.
Hot topic: If I knew then what I know now...
This from an SF K Files reader:
I just had the most random thought. it might be good to start a thread on your sfkfiles blog under the rubric of "if i knew then what i know now" -- messages directly from parents who went through the school enrollment process fairly recently -- say, the last couple years -- to the parents touring and applying for kinder now. it would be a great chance to share wisdom, offer comfort, debunk some of the myths, get parents more focused on the fact that there is life after kinder, how much kids change after they start K, challenging all your tightly held precepts about what your kid can and can't handle, etc. (starting to think school search is like birth -- the first time you focus so hard on this one event, you forget you have to raise the dang kid afterward.)
San Francisco Community School
Reviewed by Marcia Brady
The Facts
Location: 125 Excelsior Ave. , 1 block east of Mission (Excelsior)
School hours: 9:15-3:30
Tel: 469-4739
Principal: Kristin Bijur, Head Teacher (SFCS has a completely different leadership structure than I've seen, see below).
Web site: www.my-sfcs.org
School tours: Fridays, 10 AM
Grades: K-8
Kindergarten size: 3 classes of 20, going up to 22
Total student body: 275
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with:
Progressive values, mixed-age classes, innovative curriculum, an intimate, small-scale middle school. Not a good choice if your child needs structure or is daunted by older kids.
Class Structure / Curriculum: Mixed classes (K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 7-8), except for grade-specific math. Elementary school students have the same teacher for 2 years. Project-based learning: 2 nine-week science-based projects per year, each incorporating 2 out of 4 total themes (Human Body, Environment/Earth Science, Physical World/Design, and Community). So with each teacher, elementary students have all 4 themes over 2 years. They are repeated, but elaborated and extended for years 4-5 and 6-7 or 8. In 5th and 8th grade, students present portfolios to panels of teachers, family members, community members, and peers in order to "graduate" to the next level.
Campus/Playground: Very large brick building, with lots of light coming into the classrooms. Physical plant is, however, somewhat shabby and stark -- chipped plaster, peeling paint, not nearly enough on the walls to compensate for the large amount of wall space. 1 bungalow houses the library, another seems to be a greenhouse. Large yard divided into areas: an older-looking play structure, a sand and water-play area, and a beautiful garden big enough to walk in.
After School programs: Third Base program, was free but will cost next year, until 5:45
Additional Programs: Outdoor Education including camping trips for all grade levels every year, edible garden, extra classes in gardening, nutrition, and cooking.
PTA: no info. given on tour
Language program(s): None
Library / Computer Lab: Library has 16 Macintosh computers; each classroom has 3-4 computers. No formal computer curriculum. We did not see the inside of the library, but there is a librarian and K-5 kids have library class 1x/week. Kids must keep checked-out books in the classroom until Grade 3.
Arts: No info on tour, in brochure, or on website. Project-based learning incorporates art, though.
PE: No information on tour, in brochure, or on website.
Recess/Lunch: No information on tour, in brochure, or on website.
Tour Impressions:
This tour had only one parent at the helm. We began in a hallway, but went immediately to one of the K-1 classrooms. How do you know you are at an alternative school? Teachers are called by their first names, of course! There, the teacher spoke to the K and 1 kids about the ending sound "-ck" for a bit. Interestingly, I saw none of the dreaded behavior charts at SFCS, but these kids were wiggly and talked so much that the teacher's voice was hardly audible, and 2 kids were on "time out" chairs. One parent said immediately, "I've seen enough," and stomped out. All this left me wondering: are those behavior charts necessary for a quality learning environment after all? Or is a different focus -- SFCS's is conflict resolution and problem-solving -- going to produce less exterior evidence of "model children" while growing more socio-emotionally competent kids on the inside?
The K kids were then sent off to do worksheets, but no adults were there to supervise them, which seemed odd (SFCS has 14 credentialed teachers and 14-20 support staff members, so maybe someone was absent). In the other K-2 classroom, there were 2 adults, and kids were doing quite diverse things: some were in workgroups, others appeared to be on free play time. This second classroom had a dress-up area, a play kitchen, unit blocks, and neatly typed reading labels ("chair," "desk") on all the chairs,desks, etc. Both classrooms were large, but still seemed somewhat drab to me after Sunnyside's colorful ones. Interestingly, the 2-3 classroom we saw was equally wiggly; they were working on writing a collective letter to someone as a way of learning the parts of speech. I liked this approach, but again, was taken aback by the amount of noise and the number of kids who were clearly astrotraveling.
We ended in the cafeteria for a Q and A. The tour guide described SFCS's unique leadership structure: teachers with at least 3-4 years' experience rotate as "Head Teacher," which sounds more like a department chair, in practice, than like a principal. There is also a "Lead Team" consisting of one teacher from every grade, who meet with the Head Teacher and serve as liaisons to the other teachers. Their professional development is also internal; they do what is needed rather than attending the huge SFUSD meetings. Teachers seem to have a very high degree of autonomy here, and to collaborate a great deal. One parent asked about the effect of the mixed classes: the tour guide at first seemed to say they worked best for high-achieving kids who had older kids to work with, but then flip-flopped a bit and said that teacher attention generally went to the struggling students because, in the end, the issue was equity and closing the achievement gap, such that higher-achieving kids probably ended up achieving less than they could. Higher-achieving kids, she also said, did a lot of independent work. Remembering my own dreadfully lonely K-3 years where I was sent off to teach myself things, I wasn't wild about this news. But we did see evidence of some interesting projects, including a survey done by K-1 kids complete with raw data, methodology, and bar charts! I had to leave before the Q and A session was over, but it seemed that the Head Teacher was not going to appear, and I would have liked to hear from her about curriculum.
How does all this add up? I love the idea of the curriculum at this school, and of the possibility for teachers to collaborate and innovate: in this sense, SFCS seems like an independent school for the less well-off. In fact, SFUSD just named SFCS as one of eight "exemplary schools" that will be studied by Stanford researchers doing work on successful schools. The projects, the outdoor education, the emphasis on community "virtues" all appeal to me. And I am well aware that progressive education can look much messier in the process, but that wonderful products (both kids and what they make) emerge from it. But in the actual classroom teaching, I didn't see much going on that was different than the other public schools I've visited. And these kids seemed less attentive and eager to learn, not more. I was also more put off by the physical plant than I've been at any other school. But do facilities matter as much as pedagogy, values, etc.? So now I turn to SFCS parents with some questions:
Do the mixed-age classes work well for your kid, and why?
If you have a kid with learning difficulties, or a kid who is quite a bit above grade level, do you feel your child is achieving up to his/her potential, and how do you define that?
What is your sense of the classroom environment, and what might parents want to look at through different lenses than the usual ones they might put on for tours?
Sunnyside Elementary
Reviewed by Marcia Brady
The Facts
Location: 250 Foerster St. (in Sunnyside, between Glen Park and City College)
School hours: 8:40-2:40
Tel: 469-4746
Principal: Nancy Schlenke
Web site: www.sunnysidek5.org
School tours: Thurs. (not Weds. as I previously posted -- sorry!!*), 9-10:30 AM
Grades: K-5
Kindergarten size: 3 Ks of 22 each
Total student body: 300
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with:
A strong focus on science, an intimate feel, an active parent base, a later start time and later aftercare, and a clean, bright building and grounds.
Class Structure / Curriculum: GE program only
Campus/Playground: Beautiful, clean 1926 building with freshly painted yellow interior and large new windows, and big sunny classrooms. Library but no computer lab. 2 bungalow classrooms housing 1st grade and a split 4/5 grade (1 more bungalow likely to come, and they have the yard space). Very large asphalt yard with new-looking play structure cordoned off with a low wall decorated with student-made tiles. New mural, gardening boxes, and benches.
After School programs: YMCA 2:40-6:30 3-5 days/week ($435/mo. for full-time, ExCel 2:40-5:40 PM M-F). After-school enrichment programs 1x/week from 2:40-3:40 in Spanish (Lango method), piano, art, and American Sign Language.
Additional Programs: District-sponsored artist-in-residence program, Adventures in Music, Creative Movement, SF Ballet program. PTA and/or grant-sponrosred Art Appreciation, Art Cart, p/t classroom music teacher, school-wide musical performance, Exploratorium Mission Science SWorkships, Zoomobile, parent workshop, "Safe Rides to School," school greening project.
PTA: From 7-81 in just 2 years; $50K raised last year in grants and funding.
Language program(s): After-school Spanish class available, 1x/week.
Library / Computer Lab: Small, bright, well-organized library with automated check-out (so it's always open) even with a part-time librarian. Computer terminals in classrooms, but no computer lab yet -- a parent technology committee is working on that.
Arts: see "Additional Programs" above; also partnership with Asian Art museum for visits, programming.
PE: part-time instructor + 3 PE interns
Recess/Lunch: AM and lunch recess, 20 mins. each. Play first, then eat. Kindergarteners have their own recess.
Tour Impressions:
First, Sunnyside gets the award for most comprehensive and informative brochure! If you're even remotely interested, snag one of these, for it tells you everything you'd ever want to know, including a kindergartener's daily schedule. I actually visited based on the strength of the brochure and friends' urging, because it's not exactly on my way to anywhere.
We began in the library, which was meticulously organized and featured a book fair by SF's own Barefoot Books, with proceeds benefiting the library. There were 4-5 parents there, all seemingly very informed and able to answer questions well or defer them to the later chat with the principal if they didn't know. Unfortunately, the classroom part of the tour was disappointing, as all the K students were on field trips, and as we merely meandered about the upper-grade hallways, not really entering classrooms for any length of time. However, this did give us substantial time in the empty K classrooms, which are huge, sunny, and architecturally interesting, with built-in shelving and alcoves to separate off some of the play space (note to the district: are those radiators peeling lead paint, or do you test for that?!). The classrooms were beautifully equipped with toys, math manipulatives, and so on, on a par with most private preschool classrooms I've seen -- and the tour guide said that parents had been amazingly responsive to classroom "wish lists." There were lots of pocket charts with not only lessons outlined in them, but also things like goals: for example, one labeled "Focus Wall" for reading detailed the theme, the goals for phomenic awareness and phonics, sight words, reading strategies, composition skills, vocabulary, and listening/speaking skills. It wasn't for the kindergarteners to read, of course, but was enormously informative for a parent like me.
We finished with a meeting with Principal Nancy Schlenke, where we learned why and how Sunnyside is so science-focused. Ms. Schlenke is a former lab researcher from UCSF (she left research and taught at Alvarado for 10 years, was a Teacher-in-Residence at the Exploratorum, and served as an SFUSD science resource teacher before coming to Sunnyside). She's brought in the FOSS program; science-focused field trips; Mission Science Workshops for Grade 1; SFSU science students doing hands-on experiments wiht grade 2; Science Content Specialists from WISE (Working to Improve Science) who observe teachers, then provide feedback and lesson planning help; and teacher science training at the California Science Teachers Convention. She has also hired almost all the staff at Sunnyside within the past 5 years, and was very honest about the pros and cons of a younger staff (the pros: test scores have shot up and the school is now over 800; the cons: they might get cocky and the learning curve is steep). I thought she was very impressive. This was an unusually articulate and informed parent group who asked great questions, and she answered them with aplomb (talking about standards as the "basement" for achievement, not the ceiling, describing the Balance Scorecard System, telling us about her concern that differentiated instruction led to busywork for students not being attended to). She has also brought in lots of help, using City College's "pre-teacher" program and SF State's student teachers to bring in a total of 12 other adults every semester.
Overall: Sunnyside is charming, with an impressive set of parents, lots of enrichment, and a serious intellectual in charge. The commute would be rough for us, and it's not an immersion school, but otherwise it looks great. Apparently once the sad-sack alternative to Miraloma, Sunnyside is now a real catch!
* I usually write these up late at night, so apologies for errors. I try to go back and correct them if commenters point them out, so thank you to the person who caught this one!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
SFGate story: "S.F. public schools are good"
Today, I wrote a rebuttal to an SFGate story by the real estate blogger that said San Francisco's public schools have a bad reputation. While not all of us opt for public school, I think most of us know that public schools are a viable option for many families in this city--and if anything the reputation of public schools in this city has improved over the years.
My SFGate post might seem to be a bit of a puff piece for SFUSD, but I decided to focus on the good aspects of public schools because so many people in our city are still living in the 80s and don't realize that parents are considering public schools. They're still stuck on all the negatives. While we're immersed in education issues in this city and know that most families considering schools these days are looking at public (in addition to other opttions), most people in this city don't have kids and aren't tuned into the school situation.
Also those of you who have been with the blog all along know that I tend to have a positive perspective on things.
Please comment on the SFGate story and not here--it's important for a larger community to be tuned into what's going on and to hear the arguments for and against public schools, as I know some won't agree with everything in my blog post. Thanks! Kate
My SFGate post might seem to be a bit of a puff piece for SFUSD, but I decided to focus on the good aspects of public schools because so many people in our city are still living in the 80s and don't realize that parents are considering public schools. They're still stuck on all the negatives. While we're immersed in education issues in this city and know that most families considering schools these days are looking at public (in addition to other opttions), most people in this city don't have kids and aren't tuned into the school situation.
Also those of you who have been with the blog all along know that I tend to have a positive perspective on things.
Please comment on the SFGate story and not here--it's important for a larger community to be tuned into what's going on and to hear the arguments for and against public schools, as I know some won't agree with everything in my blog post. Thanks! Kate
After nearly 40 years of declining enrollment, the San Francisco Unified School District saw a boost in kindergarten applications the past two years. For the 2008-09 school year, applications were up by 308; for the 2009-10, they were up by an additional (and whopping) 500 from the past year. Believe it or not: Parents are sending kids to public schools in this city.In fact, so many new kids are pouring into public schools that the district re-opened a formerly shuttered school: De Avila on Haight Street.
What's going on here? Aren't people with kids in this city moving to greener pastures in Marin?
Actually, parents in this city are increasingly interested in sending their kids to public schools--and they're touring and applying to schools that were previously considered unpopular.
Hot topic: De Avila Elementary
This from an SF K Files reader:
I am curious to see what the opinions are of the potential mom's and dad's about this school. I am a parent at the school and love it. What gives, no chatter about the newest public school?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Live Oak School
Live Oak School
Reviewed by Claire
The Facts
Web site: http://www.liveoaksf.org
School tours: by appointment – 861-8840x220 or admissions@liveoaksf.org
Location: 1555 Mariposa Street
Grades: K - 8
Total Enrollment: 254
Start time: 8:30
Kindergarten size: One class of 22 kids
Library: Small but bright with lots of art on the walls
Tuition: Grades K-5: $21,150; Grades 6-8: $21,600
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with: Small class sizes, relationships across grade levels, a strong academic foundation with a commitment to supporting different learning styles, teachers who know children across the grades and support them in developing self identity and advocacy, bus service throughout SF, and an involved parent body.
Playground: The have a small play-yard and a small gym with a climbing wall. 1st through 8th graders use Jackson park directly across the street.
After-school program: Extended Care until 6:00pm – contracted rate of $7.00 per hr or drop in at $9.00 per hr. They also offer ”Roots and Branches” a fee based program providing interest-specific classes after school.
Language: Spanish only - French is offered as part of the after school program.
Financial Aid: Tuition Assistance is awarded based on need (calculated through SSS). Families with moderate or high need are encouraged to apply. 25% of families receive aid ranging from 10 to 75%.
General Information:
The Tour:
We started in the Library – the Admissions Director welcomed us and then the Acting Head spoke for about 10 minutes to give an overarching view of Live Oaks philosophy. We were then split into small groups and parent guides took us around. I appreciated getting a context from the Head before going into the classes.
The guide took us to the Art Room – a big space, full of light and, this being just before Halloween, full of kids carving pumpkins. We then we down the exterior stair case and got a quick peek at the play/lunch space and the gym. Both the space and the gym (which has a climbing wall) are tiny. The guide explained that grades 1-8 go across the street to Jackson Park for recess and PE. We were shown the multipurpose-room which is used for meetings, assemblies, performances, etc.
Then we saw the kindergarten room. It was sweet – a little loft play area, a guinea pig, lots of colors and inviting things to do around the room. It looked cheery and organized. The teacher was sporting a giant “NO” on his forehead and the guide explained that today was “N” day – the kids had done a guided writing project making sentences with lots of words beginning with N. Kids were in small groups around the room working on different tasks. There was a parent volunteer at one table, the assistant teacher at another and the teacher was floating between two other groups. The room was busy and happy.
We peeked in at 1st grade during a transition time, the teacher explained that some kids were doing independent exploration. We were shown the individual reading boxes – the teacher helps each child choose 3 books for the box – 1 that is easy, 1 that is just right and 1 that will be a challenge to read independently.
We looked in on an empty 2nd grade class and the guide mentioned that homework starts in this grade. The room was equipped with a smart board.
We moved on to the middle floor and found looked at the 5th grade room. The 5th graders are the “leaders of the lower school” and have the privilege of the first overnight trip w/out parents (to the Marin Headlands.) Their room had a more academic feel – lots of writing, not as much art.
There are 2 learning specialists, they are divided between upper and lower school. Upper school utilizes the specialists less for individual attending and more as a way of assisting the teacher by taking small groups.
4th grade takes the first overnight trip to Ft. Ross. They participate in a historical recreation, going so far as to make costumes and being assigned roles.
3rd grader curriculum focuses on the theme of personal responsibility – the kids had done a graph of their personal strengths and weaknesses and were then encouraged to look at their classmates graph to identify peers who could help them improve or needed a hand.
We visited the music room and heard the 2nd graders singing. The lower school has music 2 times per week and they focus on vocals and percussion instruments. The Upper school has music 1 time per week and they focus on vocals and studying various genres.
We saw a middle school Science class and a middle school math class. The math class was working independently checking their answers – they teacher was asking them to look over their work and identify their “Ah ha” moment. On the wall were photos documenting an 8th grade project measuring the slope of the sidewalk outside the school.
We visited a 7th grade humanities class – the kids were listening attentively as a boy gave his opinion about the book they were all reading. I was interested in the sign on the wall which read “What does learning look like?” and radiated out with: Independent Reading; Writing; Group Projects; Journal; Class Discussion; Blog: Presentation; Drama. The guide explained that many upper school classes have a blog where students who might feel shy about speaking up in class can have a forum.
We visited a Spanish Class – Spanish is the only language offered during the school day. 4th graders take it 2x per week, 5th graders, 3x per wk and in middle school (6 to 8) kids take it 3 or 4 days depending on which section they are enrolled in. Spanish is the only class that is divided into separate classes for the advanced level.
The docent told us that the 8th graders take a trip to Washington DC and raise funds by selling pizza on Mondays. The school offers a hot lunch on Wednesday and there is an optional (and extra cost) bag lunch program available.
We returned to the Library and three 8th grade students came to answer questions. They were composed and very open when answering questions. I couldn’t help but consider my son standing up there in 9 years and it was pretty adorable.
The kids talked about what they liked best (the small classes and the interaction between kids and teachers) and what the didn’t (short lunch period -- it’s 40 minutes, with a 5 minute passing period on either side and the lack of French as a language option.)
Claire’s Impressions:
This was one of the best tours I’ve been on. The Head and guides did an excellent job describing what is important to the school philosophically. I especially liked what the head had to say about Live Oak’s emphasis on knowing the children well and intentionally giving them a safe environment in which to take risks and grow.
The children are grouped into K to 8 mixed age groups called “Groves” and they meet monthly to build social emotional relationships around various activities and community service efforts. Many of the rooms had posters about class expectations and behaviors that the students themselves wrote or contributed to. This felt like a school where the children really were encouraged to participate and feel ownership.
Hot topic: Clarendon
This from an SF K Files reader:
I don't see a review of Clarendon here, though lots of people mention it as great. I also can't find their website (they really don't have one??). So, I'm wondering: has anyone actually toured Clarendon? What are you impressions as a prospective school parent? Thanks!
Hot topic: Sheridan
This from an SF K Files reader:
I am wondering if anyone has children at Sheridan or has toured or has any information to offer at all...
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Alvarado Elementary, Take 2
Reviewed by Marcia Brady.
You can find a lot of the vital stats about Alvarado on Kate's review of 2 years ago at http://thesfkfiles.blogspot.com/2007/10/alvarado-elementary-school.html, or click on the link to the right of the posts.
So I will plunge into the meaty part:
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with:
A time-tested immersion program, enrichment galore, a creative environment, progressive values, location in a quiet, safe neighborhood. It might not be ideal for a very shy child or one easily overwhelmed, as it's a large place with 480 students.
Class Structure / Curriculum: 2 classes each of GE and Spanish immersion; each class is 20 for a total of 40 slots. By 4th and 5th, there are only 3 classes, 1 mixed (since you can "check out" of an immersion program by moving away, but you can't "check in" midstream, there is some attrition), with a ratio of 1:27 for the main classroom. Because kids are pulled out for 8-week sessions of enrichment, they have exposure to several different teachers, which is good prep for middle school as well as a nice way for a child to have role models besides his/her classroom teacher. The GE and Spanish Immersion kids are mingled for these pull-outs, too.
Odds of Getting In: Beyond low, unless you are a native Spanish speaker or bilingual.
Campus/Playground: Big, old-style building (maybe 1910s or 20s?), well-worn, with wide halls, high ceilings, and lots of light in the classrooms. The halls are filled with kids' art as well as commissioned art: papier-mache bees hung from one hallway ceiling; another stairway has two-story stained-glass windows; yet another has a giant, beautiful mobile. Dedicated art room, music/science room, motor skills room, computer lab, library, cafeteria/auditorium. Upper and lower asphalt yards. Upper yard has huge new play structure complete with rock-climbing wall; lower yard has freshly painted game markers on the asphalt. Murals and gardening boxes abound. Parking situation is wretched, but after K you can drop off (you have to walk in to pick up).
After School programs: GLO (Growth and Learning Opportunities, more requests than slots), and Excel (by invitation only). Low-cost after-school clubs (chess, clay club, theater, yoga, etc.). Motor skills classes for K, 1, and 2.
Additional Programs: 8 week enrichment "pull-outs" for special project in art, hands-on science, music, dance, etc.
PTA: Apparently hugely involved -- raised $250K including grants last year.
Language program(s): Dual immersion Spanish
Library / Computer Lab: Library is smallish, but nicely equipped, with a part time librarian; library class is 1x/week. Computer lab has 30 Dell terminals and kids go 1x/ week.
Arts: The art room is fantastic, filled with professional-level equipment including 2 kilns. Art is 1x week for 8 weeks officially, for special projects. But the school is filled with evidence of art as an everyday pedagogical practice in the classrooms.
PE: 2x week. After school club sports available, including basketball for the little ones.
Recess/Lunch: 2 recess periods/day. Lunch for who knows how long?
Tour Impressions:
The tour seemed already well underway by the time I arrived at 8:15. Apparently it had started at 8:00 even though the website says 8:15. Oh, well. We began in the playground, then proceeded to a motor skills room equipped with mats, stepping-stones, and other gross-motor equipment for the K-2 kids' special classes. We proceeded to a 2nd-grade GE classroom, where kids were working on money exchanges with little dry-erase boards. Interestingly, this classroom had a chart listing all the neighborhoods they represented. 2 kids were from Daly City and 1 was from San Pablo. I'm sure it's all very legitimate, but my heart did sink when I thought about how few SF kids get into Alvarado.
Onward to a bright, sunny SI Kindergarten classroom, where both SI classes were working together. The kids were doing small-group work and wow-- there was an adult (a student teacher, parent, or paraprofessional) at every table, for a total of 6 adults for the 40 kids present. We got to spend more time in the empty SI Kindergarten classroom, which was large and well equipped with easels, a reading area, a block play area, and art everywhere, including flags of the world created by the kids. I was pleased to see posterboard "vote charts" where kids could vote for which storybook they wanted to hear again (and later, to hear that the principal had recently promised to drink a bottle of Tabasco sauce if 50% of each classroom read a particular number of books for the annual Read-A-Thon -- and then drank it!).
We also peeked into a 5th grade SI class, where kids were doing geography with a combination of textbooks, colored pencil drawings, and inscrutable toothpick structures (topography models, I think). The teacher asked them to tell us what they were doing in Spanish, which several did. We also saw the bright, sunny science/music room and I was happy to see a large diagram/explanation of the scientific method on the wall, because I have it on good authority that UC kids don't know what the scientific method is, let alone how to follow it.
You know my thing is behavior management, right? So Alvarado gives awards *by classroom* for homework completed, clean-up, etc. This emphasis on the collective effort charmed me. Alvarado is also a good fit for us, in that social justice issues are woven into the curriculum (for women's history month last year, every class performed a rock song written by a woman, from Janis Joplin to Diana Ross). I saw just a bit of Principal Broecker, but he is young, hip, and very straightforward.
Overall? There's nothing not to love about Alvarado except, for us, the commute and the low odds: it's artsy and progressive, academically solid, and filled with opportunities for kids to learn beyond the 3 Rs. Without having had Spanish in the home and/or an immersion preschool, though, the odds are very low for getting in. Silly me for not being able to afford that Spanish-speaking nanny so we could get an immersion preschool so.... blah blah blah. But you see what I mean. It was also interesting to see a trophy school in action, and the very real difference in enrichment opportunities and facilities that such a school can offer. Yet as I understand it, Alvarado was once in the untouchable caste of schools, for middle-class parents: a friend of mine got her kids in when it was about where Daniel Webster is now, i.e., under the care of a first generation of "take back the schools" parents. Which leads me to a burning question. The commute aside, is it better to shoot the moon for a trophy school at #1, with other more attainable choices below? Or if a more attainable but still oversubscribed school like Flynn or McKinley isn't your #1, are you doomed not to get those either? I am a bear of little brain when it comes to the lottery. And then there's the question of whether it's better to meet up with a school at the beginning of its ascent, or to get onto an already-built bandwagon (to mix a metaphor).
SFUSD Student Assisgnment System redesign town hall meetings
The San Francisco Board of Education is changing the way students are assigned to schools for 2011. Learn about the options under consideration and share your questions and ideas.
You can attend one of the meetings below or take the survey at the bottom of this post.
November 18 (Wednesday), 6pm to 8pm
Mission High School, 3750 18th Street (Castro/Mission)
December 2 (Wednesday), 6pm to 8pm
Washington High School, 600-32nd Avenue (Outer Richmond)
December 15 (Tuesday), 6pm to 8pm
Dianne Feinstein Elementary School, 2550 25th Avenue (Parkside)
January 7 (Thursday), 6pm to 8pm
Drew Elementary School, 350 Girard Street (Bayview)
January 14 (Thursday), 6pm to 8pm
Francisco Middle School, 2190 Powell Street (North Beach)
Can't make it to a meeting?
Complete an online survey:
http://www.sfusd.edu/studentassignmentredesign
You can attend one of the meetings below or take the survey at the bottom of this post.
November 18 (Wednesday), 6pm to 8pm
Mission High School, 3750 18th Street (Castro/Mission)
December 2 (Wednesday), 6pm to 8pm
Washington High School, 600-32nd Avenue (Outer Richmond)
December 15 (Tuesday), 6pm to 8pm
Dianne Feinstein Elementary School, 2550 25th Avenue (Parkside)
January 7 (Thursday), 6pm to 8pm
Drew Elementary School, 350 Girard Street (Bayview)
January 14 (Thursday), 6pm to 8pm
Francisco Middle School, 2190 Powell Street (North Beach)
Can't make it to a meeting?
Complete an online survey:
http://www.sfusd.edu/
Hot topic: SFUSD Immersion
Tonight PPS-SF hosted an event for parents interested in SFUSD's language immersion programs. Did anyone attend? What did you think? Do incoming kindergarten parents have any questions about immersion?
Saturday, November 14, 2009
San Francisco School
Reviewed by Kortney
Please note that my daughter attends The San Francisco School (SFS).
We made the difficult decision to abandon our public school
aspirations after our second disappointing year with the SFUSD
lottery, and managed, somehow, to get accepted into SFS for 1st
grade. I thought I’d share my impressions of our new school with the
SFK_Files community.
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with:
Community. Resources. Beauty. Warmth. Diversity. SFS is all that
-- mac laptops for middle school students, digital white boards,
organic home-cooked hot lunches, and impressive academics—all in a
friendly, down to earth culture. It’s the best of both worlds. An
apt mission: “Cultivating and celebrating the intellectual,
imaginative and humanitarian promise of each student in a community
that practices mutual respect, embraces diversity, and inspires a
passion for learning.”
Consider SFS if you want a welcoming, spacious green, outdoor garden
and playground with a ‘summer camp’ feel, progressive values, a strong
academic program, a truly diverse student body and staff, and a world
class music program (Orff-Schulwerk method) that is fully integrated
into the academic program. Consider SFS if you want an incredibly
vibrant educational community that has a wealth of enrichment classes,
and strives to model what they hope for their students, as adults.
Consider SFS if you want a school that is preschool through 8th grade.
The Philosophy
SFS focuses on teaching its students how to learn, rather than simply
what to learn. The goal is to nurture a love of learning. In
addition, SFS dedicates fulltime staff and a room to its art program.
The art room is full of impressive supplies, but is also neatly
organized. The walls are decorated with vibrant masterpieces, but it
doesn’t stop there. All the school’s classrooms, hallways, library
and office display the children’s artwork. Creativity is nurtured
here.
From preschool on, there is an emphasis on learning through hands-on
projects (even in middle school geometry, students were using
manipulative); curriculum focused on thematic units/project-based
learning (for example kindergartners study apples for several weeks,
making apple pies, singing apple songs, reading apple stories); A
preschool program that is Montessori based goes through Kindergarten.
The elementary program (not Montessori) begins in 1st grade, and goes
through 5th grade. Middle School (6th-8th grades) split again into
two classes of 16 students. New, incoming students enrich the middle
school social life.
The Facts
Web site: www.sfschool.org
School tours: sign up online for a space. Elementary tours are
Mondays 9am, with preschool tours on Tuesday & Wednesday mornings.
Location: 300 Gaven Street near San Bruno Ave in the Portola neighborhood.
Grades: Preschool–8
Start time: Elementary 8:30 a.m. – 3pm. Middle School 8:15am, and
Preschool 9am.
Kindergarten size: Kindergarten is part of the Preschool. Each of the
two pre-school/K classes has 37 students with 4 teachers, their own
play yard (that’s two separate yards), and access to outdoor space
most of the day. The kids get to move and play, focus on projects, and
be kids! They also move out of kindergarten reading in most cases.
The two kinder classes join to become one 1st grade class, with 20-22
students, and 2 full-time teachers.
Total student body: 272
Tuition: $19,950
Financial aid: 35% of families receive some aid
Playground: two sizable, nicely landscaped play yards for preschool &
kindergarteners. One play yard for elementary and middle school kids,
along side a paved basketball court, picnic tables, and bunny hut.
There is a large “adventure playground” below, that can be accessed by
stairs or long slide. It offers space to explore, build forts, and
play. It is beautifully done, with a gazebo, organic garden, and duck
house. Golf and other extra curricular activities are practiced in
this space.
Before- and after-school program: 7:30am – 6pm. You buy “1.5 hour
blocks” of time for a little more than $10. Free playtime on the
yard, with plenty of supervision. You can also purchase affordable
classes (edible art, break-dancing, fencing, academic chess, golf,
violin, etc.)
Language: Spanish begins in preschool and continues through elementary
school. In middle school there are 3 classes, beginning, intermediate
and advanced. Students are placed depending on their Spanish level,
not by age, so classes are mixed.
Highlights: students have music and P.E. twice a week; art, music, and
drama is regularly integrated into the curriculum; large campus:
building - 22,560 sq. ft.
land - 1.3 Acres; incredible library; lots of field trips, including
overnight camping and a trip to Mexico for middle schoolers; an
organic kitchen provides daily snack with healthy home-cooked hot
lunches for preschool and elementary schools. The San Francisco School
is the most racially diverse independent school in the Bay Area.
Enrichment classes range from sports teams, to instrument classes
beginning in 1st grade, theatre and dance, hapkido, chess, cooking,
etc. SFS really shines here. New classes are offered all the time,
depending on interest. I love the after school program!
There is a school counselor on staff to offer families support. Also,
learning specialists work with teachers inside of the classroom to
support kids, without making a student “stand out.” The learning
specialists have their own resource room near the lovely library.
Kortney’s impressions
My first impression of SFS’ physical space was that it reminded me of
summer camp. The natural wood structures, the ever present green
(trees, gardens), and a sign post (hand painted by kids) that told me
which way to the office, or adventure playground, gave me an immediate
warm feeling.
We were greeted by friendly, down to earth staff who were open to
answering all our questions (on the tour.) Truly this school strives
for transparency. Perhaps because we applied after the admissions
deadline, we were able to track our chances of getting in here. Other
private schools shut us out after admissions. The SFS' honesty and
transparency was a relief!
SFS has the best of both worlds for our family. It has progressive
values, a diverse student body and staff (families of color, single
parent families, gay/lesbian parent families, economically diverse
families, etc.) right along side a strong academic program. In other
words, these kids get a high class education, without the stuffiness
of some private schools. Plus, The San Francisco School is the most
racially diverse independent school in the Bay Area, an impressive
stat.
Culture, community, and diversity are important words at SFS.
Environmentalism (compost bins are part of the recycling and trash
systems); being a good citizen (neighborhood volunteerism is
encouraged, and a walking bus gets families out of their cars on
Thursday mornings); encouraging independence, while advocating for
fellow students; and developing a strong sense of self are important
values. The graduating students get into the best High Schools, and
are often seen as very creative, grounded and organized learners.
Children learn through hands-on projects. In the classroom, I observed
fully engaged kids working collaboratively. The first grade room
splits the class in ½--one group getting the full attention of both
teachers for reading or math (for example) while the other group
attends a specialized Spanish, music, art or PE class. The
individualized attention is impressive. The classroom reads and
writes poetry, has student of the week, and conducts food experiments
in the classroom kitchen.
On the yard I observed children playing, swinging, and organizing
games with various balls and hoops. Amidst the typical joyful chaos
was true cooperation. I have yet to see a discipline issue.
As mentioned earlier, the music program is world class, bringing
visitors from around the globe to both observe and contribute. The
students perform concerts throughout the year and sometimes they play
at venues off campus.
If you’re interested in The San Francisco School, this is what they
are looking for:
They're looking for parents who want to get involved, become a part of
the close knit community, and give time to the school. SFS is looking
for families who fit with the philosophy of the school. They
encourage you to tour, and register your first impressions.
I will leave you with a quote from the SFS website:
Please note that my daughter attends The San Francisco School (SFS).
We made the difficult decision to abandon our public school
aspirations after our second disappointing year with the SFUSD
lottery, and managed, somehow, to get accepted into SFS for 1st
grade. I thought I’d share my impressions of our new school with the
SFK_Files community.
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with:
Community. Resources. Beauty. Warmth. Diversity. SFS is all that
-- mac laptops for middle school students, digital white boards,
organic home-cooked hot lunches, and impressive academics—all in a
friendly, down to earth culture. It’s the best of both worlds. An
apt mission: “Cultivating and celebrating the intellectual,
imaginative and humanitarian promise of each student in a community
that practices mutual respect, embraces diversity, and inspires a
passion for learning.”
Consider SFS if you want a welcoming, spacious green, outdoor garden
and playground with a ‘summer camp’ feel, progressive values, a strong
academic program, a truly diverse student body and staff, and a world
class music program (Orff-Schulwerk method) that is fully integrated
into the academic program. Consider SFS if you want an incredibly
vibrant educational community that has a wealth of enrichment classes,
and strives to model what they hope for their students, as adults.
Consider SFS if you want a school that is preschool through 8th grade.
The Philosophy
SFS focuses on teaching its students how to learn, rather than simply
what to learn. The goal is to nurture a love of learning. In
addition, SFS dedicates fulltime staff and a room to its art program.
The art room is full of impressive supplies, but is also neatly
organized. The walls are decorated with vibrant masterpieces, but it
doesn’t stop there. All the school’s classrooms, hallways, library
and office display the children’s artwork. Creativity is nurtured
here.
From preschool on, there is an emphasis on learning through hands-on
projects (even in middle school geometry, students were using
manipulative); curriculum focused on thematic units/project-based
learning (for example kindergartners study apples for several weeks,
making apple pies, singing apple songs, reading apple stories); A
preschool program that is Montessori based goes through Kindergarten.
The elementary program (not Montessori) begins in 1st grade, and goes
through 5th grade. Middle School (6th-8th grades) split again into
two classes of 16 students. New, incoming students enrich the middle
school social life.
The Facts
Web site: www.sfschool.org
School tours: sign up online for a space. Elementary tours are
Mondays 9am, with preschool tours on Tuesday & Wednesday mornings.
Location: 300 Gaven Street near San Bruno Ave in the Portola neighborhood.
Grades: Preschool–8
Start time: Elementary 8:30 a.m. – 3pm. Middle School 8:15am, and
Preschool 9am.
Kindergarten size: Kindergarten is part of the Preschool. Each of the
two pre-school/K classes has 37 students with 4 teachers, their own
play yard (that’s two separate yards), and access to outdoor space
most of the day. The kids get to move and play, focus on projects, and
be kids! They also move out of kindergarten reading in most cases.
The two kinder classes join to become one 1st grade class, with 20-22
students, and 2 full-time teachers.
Total student body: 272
Tuition: $19,950
Financial aid: 35% of families receive some aid
Playground: two sizable, nicely landscaped play yards for preschool &
kindergarteners. One play yard for elementary and middle school kids,
along side a paved basketball court, picnic tables, and bunny hut.
There is a large “adventure playground” below, that can be accessed by
stairs or long slide. It offers space to explore, build forts, and
play. It is beautifully done, with a gazebo, organic garden, and duck
house. Golf and other extra curricular activities are practiced in
this space.
Before- and after-school program: 7:30am – 6pm. You buy “1.5 hour
blocks” of time for a little more than $10. Free playtime on the
yard, with plenty of supervision. You can also purchase affordable
classes (edible art, break-dancing, fencing, academic chess, golf,
violin, etc.)
Language: Spanish begins in preschool and continues through elementary
school. In middle school there are 3 classes, beginning, intermediate
and advanced. Students are placed depending on their Spanish level,
not by age, so classes are mixed.
Highlights: students have music and P.E. twice a week; art, music, and
drama is regularly integrated into the curriculum; large campus:
building - 22,560 sq. ft.
land - 1.3 Acres; incredible library; lots of field trips, including
overnight camping and a trip to Mexico for middle schoolers; an
organic kitchen provides daily snack with healthy home-cooked hot
lunches for preschool and elementary schools. The San Francisco School
is the most racially diverse independent school in the Bay Area.
Enrichment classes range from sports teams, to instrument classes
beginning in 1st grade, theatre and dance, hapkido, chess, cooking,
etc. SFS really shines here. New classes are offered all the time,
depending on interest. I love the after school program!
There is a school counselor on staff to offer families support. Also,
learning specialists work with teachers inside of the classroom to
support kids, without making a student “stand out.” The learning
specialists have their own resource room near the lovely library.
Kortney’s impressions
My first impression of SFS’ physical space was that it reminded me of
summer camp. The natural wood structures, the ever present green
(trees, gardens), and a sign post (hand painted by kids) that told me
which way to the office, or adventure playground, gave me an immediate
warm feeling.
We were greeted by friendly, down to earth staff who were open to
answering all our questions (on the tour.) Truly this school strives
for transparency. Perhaps because we applied after the admissions
deadline, we were able to track our chances of getting in here. Other
private schools shut us out after admissions. The SFS' honesty and
transparency was a relief!
SFS has the best of both worlds for our family. It has progressive
values, a diverse student body and staff (families of color, single
parent families, gay/lesbian parent families, economically diverse
families, etc.) right along side a strong academic program. In other
words, these kids get a high class education, without the stuffiness
of some private schools. Plus, The San Francisco School is the most
racially diverse independent school in the Bay Area, an impressive
stat.
Culture, community, and diversity are important words at SFS.
Environmentalism (compost bins are part of the recycling and trash
systems); being a good citizen (neighborhood volunteerism is
encouraged, and a walking bus gets families out of their cars on
Thursday mornings); encouraging independence, while advocating for
fellow students; and developing a strong sense of self are important
values. The graduating students get into the best High Schools, and
are often seen as very creative, grounded and organized learners.
Children learn through hands-on projects. In the classroom, I observed
fully engaged kids working collaboratively. The first grade room
splits the class in ½--one group getting the full attention of both
teachers for reading or math (for example) while the other group
attends a specialized Spanish, music, art or PE class. The
individualized attention is impressive. The classroom reads and
writes poetry, has student of the week, and conducts food experiments
in the classroom kitchen.
On the yard I observed children playing, swinging, and organizing
games with various balls and hoops. Amidst the typical joyful chaos
was true cooperation. I have yet to see a discipline issue.
As mentioned earlier, the music program is world class, bringing
visitors from around the globe to both observe and contribute. The
students perform concerts throughout the year and sometimes they play
at venues off campus.
If you’re interested in The San Francisco School, this is what they
are looking for:
They're looking for parents who want to get involved, become a part of
the close knit community, and give time to the school. SFS is looking
for families who fit with the philosophy of the school. They
encourage you to tour, and register your first impressions.
I will leave you with a quote from the SFS website:
The San Francisco School is committed to ethnic and cultural
diversity, with 55% students of color and an inclusive ethos. Family
economic diversity, also an important goal, is achieved through a
moderate tuition, the school’s location in a modest neighborhood, and
a strong indexed tuition program which supports 35% of students on
reduced tuition. Through all of this, the entire SFS community is
committed to creating a school where students and families can live
and learn with confidence and joy.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Marcia Brady's Half-Time Roundup
While there is a lull in postings here:
Well, I am halfway through my tour schedule! It has been both exhausting and illuminating. I may as well come out now as someone whose initial relationship to all of this was deep anxiety and skepticism. I'm lucky to be highly educated by a series of private institutions, and I have upper-middle-class yearnings on a middle-class income. I could have been a happy millionaire Marxist, or at least a limousine liberal. So I was pretty sure I'd go into the schools and confirm my sense that no way was this going to work, and then go quietly bonkers because I can't afford private, leave the city, or homeschool (and I didn't plan to blog about any of this in the beginning).
After 7 schools, I'm in awe of the parents with (and without) other choices who first gave SF public schools a chance, and of what they have done so far. I'm moved by the communities that have formed around particular schools, especially in cases where a neighborhood has rallied around its own school, whether or not the lottery was going to yield every involved parent that particular school. I'm amazed at teachers who do so much with so little. Like anyone, I fret about public school and the budget cuts, the space and facility issues, the possible emphasis on behavior management, the worksheets. I also worry about having to commute a long way and work full-time, so that I can't lead any PTA charge to change a school. And no one school has struck me as absolutely perfect no matter what.
But here is the thing. I have seen schools that are both academically viable and socially vibrant, where I can actually imagine my kid. That's the test for me: I close my eyes and imagine my daughter's round, hard little head among the little heads in every classroom, and I see if that image makes me happy. I honestly thought that imagining her in public school would make me want to cry. And instead, I can imagine her in several of the schools I have toured with a feeling of excitement. We will look at public, charter, and independent schools, and I really can't predict what we will choose until there is a concrete set of possibilities in front of us. But I'm here to say that the parents, teachers, and administrators who have given their hearts and wisdom to the public schools have made possibilities for the rest of us--for which I am very grateful.
Now, onward to Part II.
Well, I am halfway through my tour schedule! It has been both exhausting and illuminating. I may as well come out now as someone whose initial relationship to all of this was deep anxiety and skepticism. I'm lucky to be highly educated by a series of private institutions, and I have upper-middle-class yearnings on a middle-class income. I could have been a happy millionaire Marxist, or at least a limousine liberal. So I was pretty sure I'd go into the schools and confirm my sense that no way was this going to work, and then go quietly bonkers because I can't afford private, leave the city, or homeschool (and I didn't plan to blog about any of this in the beginning).
After 7 schools, I'm in awe of the parents with (and without) other choices who first gave SF public schools a chance, and of what they have done so far. I'm moved by the communities that have formed around particular schools, especially in cases where a neighborhood has rallied around its own school, whether or not the lottery was going to yield every involved parent that particular school. I'm amazed at teachers who do so much with so little. Like anyone, I fret about public school and the budget cuts, the space and facility issues, the possible emphasis on behavior management, the worksheets. I also worry about having to commute a long way and work full-time, so that I can't lead any PTA charge to change a school. And no one school has struck me as absolutely perfect no matter what.
But here is the thing. I have seen schools that are both academically viable and socially vibrant, where I can actually imagine my kid. That's the test for me: I close my eyes and imagine my daughter's round, hard little head among the little heads in every classroom, and I see if that image makes me happy. I honestly thought that imagining her in public school would make me want to cry. And instead, I can imagine her in several of the schools I have toured with a feeling of excitement. We will look at public, charter, and independent schools, and I really can't predict what we will choose until there is a concrete set of possibilities in front of us. But I'm here to say that the parents, teachers, and administrators who have given their hearts and wisdom to the public schools have made possibilities for the rest of us--for which I am very grateful.
Now, onward to Part II.
Monday, November 9, 2009
How many kindergarten openings at your school?
Do you know how many openings there are at your school for incoming kindergartners? Click Here to take survey
An SF K Files reader was smart to suggest we start a thread where parents can share how many open kindergarten spots are at their schools--i.e., how many non-sibling spots are available? The reader was kind enough to create a survey on Survey Monkey where parents can enter in the number of spots.
The reader wrote in:
Click Here to take survey
Click here to find the survey results
An SF K Files reader was smart to suggest we start a thread where parents can share how many open kindergarten spots are at their schools--i.e., how many non-sibling spots are available? The reader was kind enough to create a survey on Survey Monkey where parents can enter in the number of spots.
The reader wrote in:
One of the big problems with the school search (both public and private) is the limited availability of information. Your site is the closest thing to a clearinghouse I've seen; PPS-SF and SFUSD are fair, but not great, for public school, and of course there is no central point of contact for private/independent/parochial/other. The suggestion I have is a specific one: would it be feasible to ask readers to submit whatever information they've garnered about the number of K spots actually available at each school? Sometimes this information is provided in a school tour; other times, no one has the nerve to ask the question, or perhaps the tour is scheduled so early in the process that the sibling numbers aren't in yet. It could save people a lot of time and energy to surface this information relatively early. E.g., last year, I heard that there were something like 3 K spots at Live Oaks; the earlier that fact gets out, the better chance it provides for people to truly evaluate whether it's worth their time to tour a school with such low availability. Similarly, at the SF School open house last week, supposedly the number of K spots was 2. (Total.)
The public schools all seem to have no idea how many siblings might be entering, but perhaps this information is guesstimatable by current parents at those schools/involved in those PTAs? Given the high preference that SFUSD accords for sibling assignment, it seems crazy that they have sibling applications due at the same time and part of the general process as the regular application pool; if people knew in December that, for example, there were only 2 spots left in a given K class, then a lot fewer people would be angry/disappointed about not getting into that school. (Basic PR, right? But PR/managing feelings of the parent community is not something SFUSD has budget or time for.)
Click Here to take survey
Click here to find the survey results
Hot topic: High school
An SF K Files visitor asked me to start a thread on high school:
I know it irks some of the kindergarten crowd, but would you consider posting a discussion of the search for a high school as a topic of discussion? That way, only those really interested in the high school discussion will read/post and those looking for elementary schools need not bother (unless of coarse they realize it really is just around the corner - time flies!)
I know it irks some of the kindergarten crowd, but would you consider posting a discussion of the search for a high school as a topic of discussion? That way, only those really interested in the high school discussion will read/post and those looking for elementary schools need not bother (unless of coarse they realize it really is just around the corner - time flies!)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Enrollment Fair: Share your impressions
An SF K Files reader asked me to post the following:
I just got back from the Enrollment Fair and would love to hear about everyone's experiences. Can you start a topic? I think it would be helpful to the EPC staff and schools to get constructive feedback while it is fresh in people's minds.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Hot topic: Private all-girls schools
An SF K Files reader asked me to post the following:
The discussion about boys' schools was fascinating! Can we talk about girls' schools now? Hamlin, Burke's, are there any other non-religious ones?
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Paul Revere College Preparatory School
Reviewed by Marcia Brady
The Facts
Location: 555 Tompkins St. (Bernal Heights)
School hours: 8:00-3:00
Tel: 695-5656 Main, 695-5974 Annex
Principal: Lance Tagomori
Web site: http://www.paulreveresf.org/
School tours: Weds. 9-10 AM
Grades: Pre-K-8
Kindergarten size: 60 (3 classes of 20 each, 2 SI and 2 GE)
Total student body: 450 [as corrected by a poster; I think I had the # for the Annex]
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with:
Safety from budget cuts, a powerhouse principal, lots of financial resources
Class Structure / Curriculum: The two-way Spanish bilingual immersion program is replacing the current Spanish bilingual program 1 year at a time, and began with the K class of 2005, so now it is K-4. Right now, there is also a Spanish bilingual program for Spanish speakers from 3rd grade on up. There is also a K-8 GE program, and a new Spanish immersion Pre-K. The school’s two buildings separate the older (4th-8th grade) and younger (Pre-K-3rd grade) kids. The younger kids have no contact with the older kids except through a “buddy classoom system,” though they eat lunch in the main building’s cafeteria.
Math is “Everyday Math,” which I found thrilling, given all I’ve read on how pencil-and-paper, procedural math kills off math learning. Science is FOSS, a system that delivers “labs in a box” at varying grade levels.
Campus/Playground: Clean, bright, spacious early 20th c. main building (for grades 4-8) and similarly impressive Annex building (grades Pre-K-3). The hallway boards were meticulously organized to showcase student art, writing projects, curricular innovation, etc. Though each building has its own yard, we only saw the Annex yard, one upper and one lower asphalt lot, with one small-ish play structure. The principal said that next on his docket was getting a new play structure.
After School programs: After school program runs 3-5:15
Additional Programs: Enrichment is grant-funded here, and thus secure from the vagaries of state funding and PTA fluctuations. Grants secure an extra paraprofessional in each classroom [a commenter says these are focused on the lower grades]. 20 kids per class K-5 and 18 per class 6-8, at leas through 2015. Games coach, science partnerships with Mission Science Center and UCSF.
PTA: Not much funds raised, I gathered [a commenter says their goal is $50K this year], but the president was articulate and seemed very dedicated. The PTA raises a few thousand for books for the library every year, which the principal matches. Meanwhile, the grants-getting and partnering-with-industry system that the principal is committed to ensures that the lower-income parents have as much say as those with more time and resources. I found this interesting, as I’ve worried a bit about the privatization-effect of depending on middle-class PTAs to fill in gaps left by state cuts.
Language program(s): Two-way bilingual Spanish immersion replacing Spanish bilingual program.
Library / Computer Lab: Oh. My. God. I see why they save it for the very last part of the tour. In the main building, the biggest, most beautiful library ever: 12,000 volumes, all catalogued online, in a space bigger than my local branch library. Library includes rotating artifact collection, displays of ethnic cultural items, other themed displays, charming bulletin board and wall art, etc. Grants have funded comfortable furniture and ambient lighting (the principal cited studies that said too much fluorescent light overstimulates kids). Accelerated readers can get help searching the catalogue using a “high-lexile reading index” for books appropriate to their level. There are 20 brand-new Mac computer terminals in the main library, 10 more in a small room in the annex, plus 20 mobile laptop stations with wireless and printers that go from classroom to classroom. Full-time librarian and half-time IT person. Kids have library 1x/week, plus time if they finish classroom work early. They can check out 2 books/week (1 fiction, 1 non-); I wish it were more but it’s my only complaint!
Arts: Looks like the standard district-wide offering. I did see a nice lesson on symmetry in English in an SI classroom.
PE: 2x/week, games coach on site 3x/week
Recess/Lunch: 2x/day recess, 20-min. lunch. Principal is about to experiment with having recess before lunch to get kids hungrier and help them settle down to eat rather than racing off to play, which seems an obvious move that no other school I’ve seen has made. Grants and parent volunteers supply healthy snacks.
Tour Impressions: This is the only tour I have been on that met in a dedicated meeting room, which made for a nice, quiet, thoughtful beginning. We were joined by the Principal, the PTA president, and 2 parents, for a brief intro and Q and A. Principal Tagomori asked each of us our name, our child’s name, and the name of the preschool our child was currently in, if any. He briefed us on the history of the school, which 5 years ago was in such poor shape that it became a STAR school, essentially recreated from the ground up (with only 2 staff remaining from the previous incarnation). The principal’s respect for his teachers shows, though; he even calls subs “guest teachers.” He described the space challenges that had come with both growth and the commitment to keep class sizes small (get ready for 2 new bungalow classrooms), and when a parent accosted him rather unpleasantly about PR’s test scores, patiently explained that they were building the school up from the lower grades, so they were skewed low by the upper grades as well as by the fact that immersion kids aren’t tested in the immersion language.
We then got to more or less wander into K-5 classrooms in small groups. The classrooms were remarkably spacious, sunny, and well equipped. Most of them had desks organized into small-group workstations, with kids attended to by the paraprofessional and teacher in rotation. The walls showed evidence of lots and lots of work on writing – second-graders’ similes, third-graders’ lessons on how to write a formal letter. It was tougher here to get a sense of the classroom dynamics because parents weren’t told not to talk, so they did – overall, I got a sense of alert, dynamic teachers and well-behaved though not entirely stifled children. PR has uniforms, which is fine by me!
Overall? Very, very impressive. Along with Eve Cheung at Junipero Serra, Lance Tagomori is the best principal I’ve seen thus far (keeping in mind that I didn’t meet principals at several schools, so no diss on them). I wonder if these two incredible principals at Bernal Heights have ever considered teaming up and creating a neighborhood of powerhouse schools, as neither has the high-rolling PTA thing going. In any case, Paul Revere seems meticulously well organized, resource-rich due to Principal Tagomori’s dedication to securing funds that can’t be violated by Arnold and/or by PTA problems, and very deserving of its STAR “dream school” status [later correction: as per a comment below, STAR/Dream School are technical designations for low-performing schools that have been targeted for particular funds and enhancements -- I should have invoked the hackneyed phrase "hidden gem" here instead!]. I’d be very surprised if it didn’t end up on my list!
Hot topic: Private schools for boys
An SFGate reader asked me to start the following thread. Please try to keep the focus on private schools for boys.
Not to stir the pot of private/public, but since it is that time of year, I would really love to see a 2009/2010 thread started for the independent schools for boys. My sense is that parents who choose all-girls schools often do so for pedagogical reasons surrounding same-sex education, while the all-boys schools in San Francisco tend to attract parents for very different reasons (they like the traditional/formal nature of the instruction). Not sure how to frame that in the context of a thread, but I would really love to hear from some other folks as to the self-selection of different types of families into the various all-boys schools…
I’m interested in learning more about the “personality” differences (both kids and parents) among those that choose same-gender education versus co-ed. I’ve been struck by the differences between Town, Stuart Hall, and Cathedral (versus one another, and the co-ed independents, as well as in the parents) but would love to hear from others!
LGBT Welcoming and Inclusive School forum
The upcoming LGBT Welcoming and Inclusive School forum will take place at Rosa Parks Elementary School at 1501 O'Farrell St. on sat , Nov 14 from 11:30-3:30 There will also be a school fair featuring public and independent SF schools. Lunch and childcare are included (suggested $5 donation). Please register at www.ourfamily.org or call Julia at 981-1960.
This would be a great place for families interested in family diversity in SF schools, people wanting a more low key experience than the huge school fair taking place on nov. 7, or those interested in learning more about Rosa Parks itself. It is a beautiful and diverse school located within walking distance of japantown. There is also a work day that day to prepare our courtyard for our greening project - there will be families of students currently enrolled who, I'm sure, would be happy to talk to you!
This would be a great place for families interested in family diversity in SF schools, people wanting a more low key experience than the huge school fair taking place on nov. 7, or those interested in learning more about Rosa Parks itself. It is a beautiful and diverse school located within walking distance of japantown. There is also a work day that day to prepare our courtyard for our greening project - there will be families of students currently enrolled who, I'm sure, would be happy to talk to you!
SFUSD Enrollment Fair tips
SFUSD Enrollment Fair
Saturday, November 7, 2009
9am to 2:30pm
San Francisco Concourse East Hall; 620 7th Street @ Brannan
Free Shuttle bus service is available thanks to First 5 San Francisco:
Burnett CDC (1520 Oakdale Ave): Pick up 8am,8:30am,9:30am
Cesar Chaves ES (826 Shotwell St.): Pick up 8:20am, 8:50am, 9:50am
Gordon J. Lau ES (950 Clay St.): Pick up 8:45am, 9:15am, 10:15am
Concourse pickups & returns: 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2pm
For Attendees
Saturday, November 7, 2009
9am to 2:30pm
San Francisco Concourse East Hall; 620 7th Street @ Brannan
Free Shuttle bus service is available thanks to First 5 San Francisco:
Burnett CDC (1520 Oakdale Ave): Pick up 8am,8:30am,9:30am
Cesar Chaves ES (826 Shotwell St.): Pick up 8:20am, 8:50am, 9:50am
Gordon J. Lau ES (950 Clay St.): Pick up 8:45am, 9:15am, 10:15am
Concourse pickups & returns: 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2pm
For Attendees
1. Plan to spend up to 2 hours at the Fair. (After 2 hours your brain turns to mush and you won't be able to remember any more!)
2. Use public transportation or shuttle buses (see schedule). Parking is limited and the nearby lots and garages are expensive.
3. Bring a tote bag to put all of the flyers and papers you'll pick up, including the Enrollment Guide and application.
4. Bring your calendar to schedule tours.
5. The Enrollment Fair can be noisy and crowded. Small children may feel overstimulated by the crowds. If you can arrange childcare, it would free you up to focus on your school search.
6. Childcare options:
- Free Childcare is available at the Fair for ages 3-7. Register via email at devlinn@sfusd.edu.
- Arrange for a playdate and trade with a friend - take turns going to the Fair.
7. Bring water - you'll be talking with a lot of different people.
8. Visit the PPS-SF table! We'll have Parent Ambassadors and staff that can give you even more tips on finding a school that works for you.
9. Attend a workshop at the Fair to get more information. Workshop schedules will be distributed at the fair.
10. Go to the PPS table to pick up a Getting Ready for Kindergarten Guide for info on Kindergarten Readiness, Enrollment Tips and information, and Resources.
Marin Preparatory School Open House on Wednesday, November 18, 2009
On behalf of the Marin Preparatory School Parent Group, please join us for an Open House (Adult Only) on Wednesday evening, November 18, 2009 from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. We are located at 117 Diamond St. (near 18th St.) and light refreshments and food will be served. This will be a great opportunity to see the school, mingle with parents of enrolled students and talk with the faculty. Please RSVP to Head of School Ed Walters at (415) 865-0899. We look forward to meeting you!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Hot topic: twins
An SF K Files reader asked me to post the following:
I know there was a thread on this maybe two years ago but I can't find it. In any case, I'm wondering if you'd mind posting to your readers a question about twins and public school. I'm hoping to hear from people who have gone through the lottery in the last year or so and I'd like to know what the outcome was for Round 1. I know that some twins both get in to the same school but others get one kid in and the other wait listed. Thanks.
Clarification about Fairmount Elementary tours
I somehow didn't get the memo in time, but Fairmount is doing some of its 8:30-10:15 Tuesday tours entirely in Spanish: Nov. 3 and 17, and Dec. 1 and 15. The others are in English. No appointment necessary for either the Spanish or English tours, which end Tues., Jan 5. No tours on Dec. 22 or 29.
Since there were 4 or 5 of us English-speaking parents who hadn't gotten the message either, I thought I'd post this info and ask people to check their calendars and/or spread the word. And if you know Spanish-speaking families, please encourage them to attend the Spanish tours.
I'll return to Fairmount another day and post a review when I can.
Suggestions and preferences regarding parochial schools
Several parents have written in asking for a thread that focuses on parochial schools. Here you go!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Paging Buena Vista parents
By Marcia Brady
Kate wrote a very thorough review of this school two years ago for her search. You can find it here at: http://thesfkfiles.blogspot.com/2007/10/buena-vista-alternative-elementary.html, or by clicking the name under "Schools Reviewed." You'll find the basic facts about the school there too.
The thing is, I visited too, and I think it was a not-so-good tour day. We didn't see any classrooms because the teachers were out on professional development (which I take to be good), and our tour guide was honest to a fault about the flaws. I appreciated that, but it also potentially underplayed the school's strengths. I liked *many* of the things that impressed Kate, so please see her review. Buena Vista continues, to my eye, to be a school with a first-rate Spanish immersion program, a creative and progressive feel, and a dedicated and well-organized parent community. There's a strong LGBT parent presence there, which is good for us, and the emphasis on the arts fits our family's strengths and interests. As I understand it, it's one of my area's "trophy schools."
But I also had a few concerns, and rather than assuming that my impression of the place was the sum total, I thought I would ask parents what they thought. I know it's a well-loved place and probably deservedly so. So:
1) Space. Does Buena Vista feel overcrowded to you?
2) Recess seemed loosely supervised, compared to many places with Playworks, game coaches, etc.: has this been a problem? Or is the school cohesive enough that bullying and kids getting isolated aren't issues?
3) How are those 10-minute lunch shifts working out for your kids? Do they care, or would they rather go play anyway?
4) The price of that lovely nearby park, fenced grass/garden area, and spiffy playground is an almost deafening amount of noise from the 101, 280, and Cesar Chavez. Do you worry about noise or air pollution, or are the room to run around on grass and the expanded gross motor opportunities in the park worth it?
I'm feeling hesitant because it seems that any hint of concern isn't well-taken on this board, and I know parents, staff, and administrators have poured their hearts and resources into these schools. At the same time, it feels disingenuous to post only positives and no negatives. I hope that putting my concerns in the form of questions will allow Buena Vista parents and staff to respond constructively.
McKinley Elementary
Reviewed by Marcia Brady
The Facts
Location: 1025 14th St. (at Castro)
School hours: 7:50-1:50
Tel: 241-6300
Principal: Rosa Fong
Web site: www.mckinleyschool.org
School tours: W and F, 8:15
Grades: K-5
Kindergarten size: 67 (1 class each of 22, with 1 extra this year)
Total student body: 275
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with:
A warm and intimate feel, racial and class diversity, and a great PTA committed to funding lots of enrichment.
Class Structure / Curriculum: GE with Spanish classes K-5 (note: not an immersion school), Special Ed. All students K-5 write daily, and each child’s writing is put on the wall on a clipboard, so they can riffle back and see how they have progressed.
Additional Programs: Adventures in Music, Harvest of the Month (native plant gardening and eating fruits and veggies), music and theater program, Environmental Science Education program at Marin Headlands (field trips for the kids, including overnights, prof’l development for the teachers). Each classroom has a planter box for gardening projects.
Campus/Playground: Modern building, exterior a bit shabby. Interior has a ski-lodge feel to it, with rough wood panels on the wall and brand-new dark red linoleum on the floors. The classrooms are arranged in a hub-and-spoke formation around a central library – the library has no walls, and is large, beautiful, and well stocked. The effect is that the library seems the center from which knowledge beams out into the classrooms. I would like to have seen more natural light coming into the interior (the windows are rice papered), but the school did feel very warm and cosy. Artwork on the walls included a ceramic mural of Victorian houses in SF, with each house done by a child. There is one bungalow for a second-grade classroom; principal says they are hoping to move that class into the main building and use bungalow for other purposes. Safely enclosed upper and lower playground protected by the hill McKinley’s on top of. Upper playground has new, beautiful Kaboom! play structure. Lower playground has one big dome-shaped jungle gym. Parents have been “greening” the facility with terraced gardens, plants, etc.
After School programs: After School Enrichment Program (ASEP), 1:50-6:00 PM for $250/month. Scholarships available, space not guaranteed but they have accommodated all this year’s K students.
PTA: Has grown from 15 to 200 strong. McKinley has just phased out of Title 1, so the PTA has taken over the funding lost. They raised $110,000 last year including playground, goal this year is $100K. PTA is split into committees for grant-writing, “passive” fundraising (e-scrip, etc.), special events, and annual outreach. Right now their priority is to maintain the enrichment programs that will be cut in all SFUSD schools next year (science, art, library, etc.)
Language program(s): Spanish language and Latino culture enrichment classes, coordinated with the rest of the curriculum.
Library / Computer Lab: See above for library. Lots of computer terminals – couldn’t get close enough to count, but I’d say at least 25. Kids have library with a librarian 1x/week, computer class 1x/week beginning in 3rd grade. Teachers and parents can come to library anytime with kids to check ou book.
Arts: Artist-in-residence program
PE: 2x/week, coach on site MWF, emphasis on teaching teachers new skills and games to do with their kids.
Recess/Lunch: 20-minute AM recess, 30-40 minute lunch/recess in PM.
Parking: New street drop-off program to replace use of a playground for drop-off. Parents and 5th graders escort dropped off kids to school. Neighborhood parking is tough.
Tour Impressions: We met in the “Cafegymnatorium,” a large multipurpose room, where we were serenaded by a parent trio of piano, clarinet, and violin playing “All of Me” and other songs. This is apparently a parent-run extra for every Weds. morning, not just to impress those of us on tour! But it gave a welcoming and festive feel to the tour. Principal Fong ran the tour, and showed us almost every classroom from K-5, so we could get a feel for the whole school.
We began with the K rooms, which were large, with individual desks clustered in work stations. (“Who are these people?” asked one child. “They’re crowding us!”). Both K rooms had a kitchen play area, Legos and other manipulatives, and a wooden dollhouse among other toys. Each K teacher spoke for a bit, which is unusual for a tour – one talked about using the writing time to allow kids to socialize a bit and to pull kids to work on special skills. In another K room the kids were doing worksheets, tracing letters and coloring art. In a third one, the principal asked the kids to tell us what they are learning (“Halloweens stuff!” “Family!” “How to Write”). Interestingly, the SFUSD kindergarten Content Standards were posted on huge poster board outside of each classroom. In the 2nd grade classroom, a teacher had cut a paragraph into sentences and mixed them up, asking students to put the paragraph back together by finding the topic sentences, transitional sentences, etc. Also, for whatever it is worth, these were the most racially diverse classrooms I have seen on a tour: about 1/3 Latino, 1/3 white, and the other third split between African American and Asian. The upper grades looked a bit less mixed, with more Latino and African American kids. Since I know some people are concerned about their kid being in a small minority, I include this info. at the risk of sounding like it's my pet issue, which it isn't. I'm more concerned about alternative family structures, which are well represented there.
Among the many things we heard about was discipline – here they use red, yellow, and green cards (blue for excellence). The teacher moves the cards out from behind each other, so a new color peeking out indicates where behavior is headed. While I am not a fan of “evaluative” discipline, I found the principal’s explanation thought-provoking: she said that this was actually less shaming than reprimanding a student in front of others, as students were keenly attentive to their own cards but tended not to notice those of others. So I guess I am learning a bit about classroom management!
There is a strong LGBTQ parent community at McKinley, not surprising given the location in the Castro, and they meet regularly and do their own outreach. We also heard about staff retention – 100%, and about student teachers who begged to stay on. This principal offered something others have not: her e-mail address for questions (principal@mckinleyschool.org, answermaven@mickinleyschool.org).
Overall: I found McKinley to be a vibrant, cohesive school with a principal who clearly has vision, and a very committed PTA. Obviously, it’s not the school for you if you are dead set on immersion, but it looks like a great GE option for those who are OK with just Spanish enrichment. McKinley appears to be very much up-and-coming, and both the parents and principal were extremely welcoming and generous.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Town School for Boys
Reviewed by Claire
The Facts
Web site: www.townschool.com
School tours: by appointment – 415-921-3747
Location: 2750 Jackson Street
Grades: K-8
Total Enrollment: Approx. 400
Start time: 8:30 a.m.
Kindergarten size: 2 classes of 24 boys
Library: Huge and lovely with over 24,000 volumes
Tuition: Grades K-5: $23,710.00 (plus laptop fee for grade 5); Grades 6-8: $24,650.00
You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with: a challenging and rigorous education supplemented by a focus on fine arts, a single-sex environment, a community which emphasizes and communicates the values of responsibility and respect, a high teacher to student ratio(1:11)
Playground: Another land-locked city school but they’ve done a lot with what they have. The play space and play structure are on the roof and they have a nice indoor gym.
After-school program: Extended Day until 6:00pm also offer an “Enrichment Activities Program” providing interest-specific classes after school.
Language: Latin and Spanish
Financial Aid: Tuition Assistance is awarded based on need (calculated through SSS and adjusted for SF cost of living.) Tuition Assistance and Admission are considered separately.
General Information:
The Tour:
We began in the Head’s office. I was late and so stood outside the room and had a hard time hearing what was happening. My bad. A parent docent led the tour and several other parents were along to answer questions and shepherd us along. We visited both Kindergarten classes. The teachers wear an amplification microphone that projects their voice around the room. It was explained that these were tools to help auditory learners. The boys in Room A were sitting in a circle and taking turns saying good morning. The boys were focused and delighted as they practiced politely saying hello to their neighbor and then turning so the next boy could have his chance. Room B was transitioning from one task to the next and the boys were having a bumpy time getting from place to place. The teacher was patient and clearly not rattled by a lot of energy in the room.
We saw an empty first grade classroom. The class was spacious, bright and cheerful with lots of art and children’s work up on the walls. I noticed there were many posters here (and around the entire school) emphasizing being a good citizen, being respectful, etc.
They use the Chicago Math system and talked about the concept of “Spiral Learning” which aims to strengthen students' understanding of basic concepts by revisiting the concepts periodically with different contexts and with increasing sophistication throughout the curriculum.
We briefly met the Coach in a spacious indoor gym. The docent showed us the outside play area – there are upper and lower Astroturfed “fields” on the rooftop. It’s a great solution for a city building. There is a play structure for the younger boys. The sports program has an emphasis on character building and every boy who wants to play on a team has the opportunity. The Coach’s motto is “A team for every boy. A league for every team.” There is daily PE along with two recesses.
We visited the large, bright, lovely art studio. The artwork the boys produce is all over the school and clearly a well-deserved source of pride.
All upper school boys have their own personal laptop (a cost in addition to tuition.) Upper school has a focus on media literacy and character education. We visited an upper school science class and peeked in a few other classrooms. Again there was a lot of wonderful student art on the walls along with examples of work. The docent pointed out a math activity using sports statistics and talked about how great the teachers were at engaging boys utilizing their interests.
We met the lower school head who explained that the boys are divided into “Family” Groups which include one boy from each grade along with a teacher. Together they work to do community service types of activities. The groups stay together throughout their years at Town.
Claire’s Impressions: The facility is top-notch and there is no doubt that the education they deliver is excellent. The boys and teachers looked happy and focused as they went about their day. The docent didn’t talk much about the single-sex aspect of the school but the literature they gave me a bit more information. A letter from the head explained that their teaching is differentiated as much as possible to meet boys’ learning needs. On the tour I saw a consideration for boys’ needs for movement and engaging their high activity level. I heard talk of “competitive spirit” and quite a lot about sports. All good things but I walked away feeling that the definition of “boy” was slightly narrow and very traditional.
Glen Ridge Coop Auction
It's Auction time! Mark your calendars, book your sitters, and come to a wonderful night out. Some of the amazing items you could win include getaways to Tahoe, Sea Ranch, Mendocino and Sonoma; dining at Chez Panisse, Firefly, Lime, Zuni and Foreign Cinema; passes to Disneyland; private wine tasting at the Wine Club; tickets to the theater, Smuin Ballet and SF Symphony; jewelry; classes; merchandise and so much more! Visit www.glenridgecoop.org/auction for a complete listing of auction items.
With silent and live auctions, live music, fabulous food, and bottomless wine and beer bar, Glenridge Cooperative Nursery School parents know how to throw a party! Get a jump on your holiday shopping, connect with old and new friends, and support a great San Francisco institution.
Tickets at the door or contact Tersh Barber, Glenridge Parent (and Paul Revere Spanish Immersion Kinder Parent), via email tersh_barber@yahoo.com.
Glenridge Cooperative Nursery School Benefit Auction 2009
"Our Magical Canyon"
Saturday, November 14, 2009
6-10pm
The Janet Pomeroy Center
207 Skyline Blvd., San Francisco
$20 admits 2 people! (tickets available at the door)
www.glenridgecoop.org/auction
With silent and live auctions, live music, fabulous food, and bottomless wine and beer bar, Glenridge Cooperative Nursery School parents know how to throw a party! Get a jump on your holiday shopping, connect with old and new friends, and support a great San Francisco institution.
Tickets at the door or contact Tersh Barber, Glenridge Parent (and Paul Revere Spanish Immersion Kinder Parent), via email tersh_barber@yahoo.com.
Glenridge Cooperative Nursery School Benefit Auction 2009
"Our Magical Canyon"
Saturday, November 14, 2009
6-10pm
The Janet Pomeroy Center
207 Skyline Blvd., San Francisco
$20 admits 2 people! (tickets available at the door)
www.glenridgecoop.org/auction
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