Hey Kids! is a weekly feature looking at what’s coming up for families and kids of all ages.
Touring Season, SF K Files calls it. I saw the title and thought immediately of driving down Highway 1 to visit Jasper’s grandparents. Of going back to 1920 and taking a boat to Hawaii. A Grand Tour of Europe, or lands more exotic, if only in my mind (my library queue is getting full). Once a kid hits 2, however, it seems that Touring Season can only mean one thing: schools. Private, Public, Parochial, immersion, play-based, arts, Reggio, Montessori: my head is spinning.
Touring season. I used to laugh at those mothers who had their children’s high schools picked out at birth, but really, the process is so labyrinthine and inter-dependant that I am beginning to think this is a reasonable strategy. I don’t want to go through this every 2, 5, 3, 4 years. Fortunately, as overwhelming a system as SFUSD can sometimes appear, things seem to have gotten a little bit easier this year: the (semi-) return of the neighborhood school. And for every failing school, there are 2, 3, if not more, excellent ones, world famous, even.
A key metric common to excellent schools, good schools, rising schools, and hidden gems, is the PTA fundraising goal, especially in comparison to neighboring schools’ goals (look at the neighboring schools so you have a sense of the total baseline fundraising potential: you can’t raise the same amount of money in Ingleside as Noe Valley). This money pays for arts teachers, computers, farms;reflects the ability of the parent body to tap into even larger money–grants, donations, sponsorships. I want Jasper to learn geometry from art class, about science from planting flowers, but also to be able to walk to school. To know the landmarks along the way. To have this small voyage of his own every morning, to be engaged by his every step in the process of “getting there”.
The question, then for me, isn’t whether to take out a second mortgage or not, but how to both enable and model that engagement for him. Help build the garden, or call the friend at that investment firm; teach an art class, or get the computer company to donate monitors. To voyage through the phone, through the dirt.
Navigating the process, Part 1:
There are two upcoming school enrollment fairs; the one this weekend down on 7th St includes SFUSD, and offers childcare, although most parents advise against bringing the little ones if at all possible: apparently, it’s a bit overwhelming for the kids, too. On 11/20 in Excelsior, the focus is more on kindergarten and understanding the changes in enrollment process that are being adopted this year.
SFUSD Enrollment Fair. 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Saturday, November 13. All ages, email devlinn@sfusd.edu to reserve childcare for ages 3-7. Free. Additional Details. San Francisco Concourse East Hall, 620 7th @ Brannan (Muni 9X, 19, 10, 27)
Kindergarten Enrollment Workshop. 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Saturday, November 20. Adults; no childcare available. Excelsior Branch, 4400 Mission @ Cotter.
Navigating the process: Part 2
I know 18 is going to be here before I know it. It certainly was for me– I remember being so in-over-my-head trying to write my personal statements, it’s a wonder I ever got into college. Not so much content-wise, just the process itself seemed overwhelming. This weekend, 826 Valencia is offering a helping hand. Maybe it’s a gentle word about the whole huge undertaking (the rest of your life!), maybe it’s editing, maybe it’s figuring out a topic. Whatever it is, if you are a San Francisco high school senior, this weekend, they’re here to help.
The Great San Francisco Personal Statement Weekend. 1 – 6 p.m., Saturday & Sunday (one or both) November 13 and November 14. Free. San Francisco High School Seniors, only. Visit http://826valencia.org/personalstatementweekend/ to register or for more information. Mission high School, 3750 18th @ Dolores.
Tiny Minds
First 5 sponsors a program called Preschool for All, which subsidizes preschool throughout the city. This is a fantastic program available to kids in all neighborhoods, of all incomes, and of all learning abilities. More information and a provider directory at http://www.first5sf.org/pfa.htm.