sfusd taking over blog

so, we have begun school tours. i have spent a lot of time already looking at schools online, talking with parents, etc. i've been trying to make some decisions this way and it just isn't working. every time i hear something good about a school or program i think we should go for that. and vice versa. so for the next 6 weeks or so i am going to try really hard to justr be open-minded and look at schools and see how i feel about them and their programs. i'm going to use this blog as a way to help myself sort out thoughts and would LOVE if anyone out there reading who is in the same place we are wants to comment. i'm not going to try and write a guide of the different schools but more describe my reactions to them. we will see what happens!!

yesterday was my first tour, at miraloma. definitely not close to home, but could easily be a stop on the way to work. the parents here are very proud, involved and excited. we had 2 parent tour guides who were fighting each other for the chance to talk about how happy they were. the school is in a nice area. it is big and clean. a nice garden. a computer lab and tech teacher. the pta raises more than 100,000 and there are lots of enrichment programs during and after school. the classes are a little smaller than average. i felt like i was in a middle to upper class crowd of prospective parents, many of whom were looking at both public and private. there were several questions about GATE and how advanced children were taught in the 4/5 class. as we looked at rooms the kids were quiet and it was orderly and calm. i didn't feel a lot of excitement from kids or teachers, but i am used to pre-k where the kids are jumping and running and forgetting to use indoor voices.

from what i could see the upper classes looked very diverse and the lower grades quite white.
why does this matter?

on my school tour today at sf community i asked the lead teacher why she thought it mattered. this school is also nice physically, with big rooms and high ceilings, a great outdoor space and garden, but in a neighborhood with glass on the sidewalk and even a blanket on the ground outside the adjacent boys and girls club that looked like someone slept on. the school serves about 50% neighorhood kids, some from bayview, some from bernal, some from the mission. i had spoken beforehand with 2 parents from parents for public schools who had kids there and they ahd spoken of the diversity of the kids but i guess after miraloma i was a little surprised to see all the black and brown faces. all this stuff is really deep, looking at schools bringing up issues of difference and sameness and equity and equality. each school is unique. sf community seems to have great teachers except for one overwhelmed looking kindergarten newbie who i'm sure will improve. they are a teacher led school. they have project based learning for half the year, which is found at only one other school in the district. this type of learning is very appealing to me. there is a little bit of art and music but i think we would mostly be doing that on our own. the majority of the kids at this school come from poor families and i don't see this school becoming a hot and popular place like miraloma, ever, because of the neighborhood. so there will be no super strong pta and less parent volunteers in the classroom, etc. anyway, the lead teacher's answer, about how diversity helps us learn about other people who are different from us,and how to negotiate and get along with these people, was so heartfelt i actually got a tear in my eye.

so i think i have seen 2 extremes so far in terms of the diversity/socioeconomic issues in the district. can i get over my own nervousness about being unable to connect and negotiate and understand people from another culture? i know my school experience was one of sameness, and then of desegregation in principle, but tracking and separation in reality.

also i have been thinking more about how it would be so much green and also more peaceful to send the kids to school nearby. so that has me thinking more about spanish immersion, because there are 2 schools with spanish immersion within walking distance.


here is a real quote. miles asked me this morning if the school i was going to see was a spanish kindergarten. we ended up in a little kindergarten discussion and i was telling him about how all the schools had different good things. some have art, some have sports, some have spanish, some have computers.

"some have money" he chimed in. really!! i guess he has been overhearing mroe than i thought. or he is smarter than i thought.

this is all pretty interesting so far, let's hope i don't have a nervous breakdown. i still think i would like to send miles to a progressive private school but i am not feeling the same anxiety about the city schools versus those renowned suburban public schools.

buh bye