Ahead of today’s scheduled 5 p.m. announcement, Mission Local has obtained the list of the San Francisco public schools that meet the district’s criteria for merger or closure. Three schools will potentially close, eight will potentially merge with another school and two schools may become “welcoming schools” for a closed school. The list follows:
- El Dorado Elementary School is proposed to merge with Visitacion Valley Elementary School, with students moving to the Visitacion Valley campus;
- Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy is proposed to merge with Sanchez Elementary School, with the Harvey Milk campus being repurposed as an early education center;
- Jean Parker Elementary School is proposed to close, with students attending Gordon J. Lau Elementary School(Cantonese biliteracy) or John Yehall Chin Elementary School (general education);
- Malcolm X Academy Elementary School is proposed to merge with Carver Elementary School, with students heading to the Carver campus;
- Redding Elementary School is proposed to be a welcoming school for Yick Wo Elementary School students (general education and special day class programs);
- San Francisco Community K-8 is proposed to merge with Paul Revere TK-8;
- San Francisco Public Montessori is proposed to merge with Rosa Parks Elementary;
- Spring Valley Science Elementary School is proposed to merge with John Muir Elementary School;
- Sutro Elementary School is proposed to close. Students may attend Lafayette Elementary School or Alamo Elementary School (general education), CIS at DeAvila Elementary School (Cantonese biliteracy) and the Sutro is proposed to be repurposed as an early education center;
- Visitacion Valley Elementary School is proposed to merge with El Dorado Elementary School;
- Yick Wo Alternative Elementary School is proposed to close. Students may attend Redding Elementary School (general and special education day class program) and Sherman Elementary School (general education);
- June Jordan School for Social Justice is proposed to merge with John O’Connell High School and move to O’Connell;
- The Academy is proposed to merge with Raoul Wallenberg High and move to Wallenberg.
Wayne’s scheduled 5 p.m. announcement precedes a 6 p.m. Board of Education meeting. A “virtual town hall” is scheduled for Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
The schools on today’s preliminary list meet the district’s criteria to potentially be merged or closed, based upon much-maligned surveys and low enrollment totals.
The final list of schools to be closed will be forwarded to the Board of Education on Nov. 12 and up for a vote on Dec. 10.
I am completely shocked that Yick Wo Elementary is on this list. This building was constructed in 1983. It is one of the newer schools in the District I believe. My children attended in the 1990s. It was always a small school. Approximately 200 children. That was what made it so great. It is a very nice facility. They had a great room for the small group of special ed children. The classrooms were well lit and well ventilated. I would be interested to know what the student population is now compared to when it was in high demand for the baby boomers’ babies. Why do I feel like this is a real estate grab as my initial reaction? (Across the street from the 950 Lombard rip-off house that has been in the news lately as well as some other high end real estate). I am interested to hear the reaction to this list for the other schools as well from current parents as well as parents of alums. I think Jean Parker is also a relatively new structure. Thanks for the reporting as always.
There aren’t enough parents in the City and County of San Francisco producing enough children to fill all the seats of non-religious or non-private public schools. Simple as that. Giant companies downsize, too. I read that Joel has 3 kids and so did I. But we are outliers. The world changes and SFUSD is not operating in 1965 anymore. We are not a middle-class city.
Now Mission Local will find parents who are outraged, horrified, terrified, enraged, weeping, etc., for each school closure anywhere in the city. The horror!
Meanwhile, nobody’s ever going to write about the racist graffiti at Manny’s in the heart of the Mission district.
Marlon —
Please go do something useful.
JE
I suppose it’s fair to spread the closures throughout the city.
It would be helpful to know the enrollment numbers at these schools (and empty seats) to better understand the logic of merging them.
I imagine the pushback will come from the communities of fairly high performing schools- sutro and Harvey milk
Long live the crown jewel, Lowell High!
Tired=Woj Bomb
Wired=Eske Alert?
Local reporting clearly impacted this process. Thank your for your service. If this is the final list, I empathize with the families affected and hope it does not come to pass.
I shake my head. What is going to happen to these buildings? These specialized programs and communities?
Rosa Parks is going to have their JBBP and General Education streams, and then somehow add a Montessori community? JBBP were welcomed at RPES about 15 years ago after losing at least two of their sites, and they will have to do it again.
Spring Valley is historically the original elementary school, right? What a shame to lose that beautiful site.
Harvey Milk grew into an amazing place after a lot of hard work on behalf of the school and surrounding community.
Yick Wo is a tiny, sweet school, and has such a lovely community that I know well.
I could go on and on.
As usual, the teachers, site staff, and families will have to make it work without any support from head office.
Doesn’t even matter who wins for BOE, or who runs head office, things never change. 30 years of being a teacher, parent, and volunteer in the district, and I just throw up my hands.
If you ask teachers and site staff what would truly make families want to stick around, they have millions of excellent ideas that would just fall on deaf ears. SFUSD could be world class. So many people believe it, just not the ones making any sort of decisions.
If people would stop and think/remember, the SFUSD District EPC / Enrollment Placement Center ASSIGNS all the students to their appropriate schools. Therefore, they control the enrollment numbers for each school. Students can apply for a school and it doesn’t mean they are going to get in. There are factors taken into consideration. The SFUSD has certain standards that have to be met before assigning a student.
Example just because you live across the street from a school doesn’t mean you will be assigned to that school. Equity, Race, Language spoken and understood is also a consideration (students are tested in language proficiency), Educational Merit Disciple (e.g. Lowell H. S and Ruth Asawa) and the capacity allowed in each building under Safety & Health Code.
And schools who have private donors like O’Connell. All three school that are mentioned above receive some kind of donation. Just do your homework and find out. If these schools close, they can lose that Donation and Support funding.
Just a little observation and inside info.
Interesting that they would slate The Academy at McAteer to close, but leave Ruth Asawa in the same building.
I am sick at heart at the idea of Spring Valley closing. Not only is it a well loved neighborhood school, not only was it updated and refurbished recently, not only is it a beautiful old building, it goes wa-a-a-a-y back. I believe it is the first school in San Francisco. And now the SFUSD wants to close it. And do what? Tear it down and build condos? I pretty much despise the SFUSD, and City Hall in general.