One family's unhappy encounter with SFUSD
Kortney Malkin, the mother of a kindergartner at a Mission District private school, gives us a detailed account of her entanglement with the SFUSD student assignment process.
I didn't play the game right. I didn't throw down the way I should have. But I did do my homework — more than any district should expect the average family to do. In fact, I was in a position of "privilege" in that I had just closed my business and was unemployed. So I threw myself into the kinder research process, and volunteered to be the "go to" person at my preschool.
But I still managed to f*** up my child's school lottery. And now when I get the dozens of emails from preschool parents asking me, the self-proclaimed lottery expert, for advice, i shrink back and shrug my shoulders. Why ask me? I worked this system to the best of my ability and became a whiny mess on a blog. To this day, we are not enrolled in a public school.
Here is what happened:
I toured about 15 schools. The day the tours started I was on the phone scheduling appointments. I quickly understood how much of a time commitment this touring was going to be so I added schools to my list that I was not initially interested in, so that I could report back to the parents in our preschool who were unable to take the time off work to tour.
I learned after the first few tours that
I toured Buena Vista (Spanish Immersion, or SI) Flynn (both SI and general education, or GE), Fairmount (SI) Monroe (SI, Mandorin Immersion, GE), Moscone, SF Community. All seemed nice enough. Kids seemed engaged, happy. Principals had their strong points. Communities seemed strong. They all clearly lacked enough resources, complained about space, bungalows, budget issues, but it was public school after all. Since we live 2 blocks from Flynn, were considering Spanish Immersion, and had a community of people there, we were set on Flynn...until...
I toured Clarendon.
Yikes.
The tour itself was impossible. There were so many people there that I couldn't see or hear 1/2 of what was being shown/said. But something struck me so hard that I had a headache for 3 days ... this school had everything that ALL OUR SCHOOLS SHOULD HAVE. A librarian to die for, who kept in touch with students long after graduation, to name one charm about Clarendon. I don't know exactly why it was so appealing to me personally, but wow. At this school it seemed if one kid has an issue, there was support for that kid. The campus wasn't any better or worse than most of the public schools I have toured, albeit smallish and foggy. but the program inside the mediocre facilities were heavenly (to me.) They took all the extracurricular activities and put a cherry on the top.
Now this school wasn't trying to sell itself. The principal basically told us all to go on more tours, cast a bigger net around the city, and find an other school to drool over (were we drooling?). Still, it was obvious that Clarendon was able to make up for the economic distress that all the other schools I toured complained about — they raise $400K through their parent group annually. WHAT?? $400K? That sounds like PTA boot camp.
For the rest of the week I was seething. It isn't fair. The state obviously needs to fund our schools better so that there isn't this kind of discrepancy. If CA gave each school an additional $200K annually, think of the potential...
That said, we fell in love with Clarendon and our whole world turned upside down. OK, dramatic I know ... but you haven't heard the rest of it.
At this point it is important to note that our family situation changed a bit. My husband's career shifted, and we realized that we could not give a 5-year commitment to San Francisco going forward. It was likely that we would move in the next 2 years. Therefore, language immersion was out.
I started to look at later start schools on my side of town with GE programs that were popular. I toured West Portal on a sunny day. Unfortunately my tour guide was awful (the Principal was on parental leave.) But i loved the campus, the programs, and heard enough from friends that I liked it. So we now favored two highly prized schools. Ick.
Early start was crossed off. Language immersion was crossed off. Our choices got smaller.
I threw a wider net out there and decided to tour a little-known school (to my Mission friends) called Lakeshore. Lakeshore was huge, had terrific programs, a wonderful library, and this amazing garden-centered curriculum. It was perfectly diverse, and the PTA raised a moderate amount of money. The Principal seemed overwhelmed by its size, but that (and its location) was the only negative. It was the best of both worlds. I really liked it. Still, the drive ... the drive ... So I toured Commodore Sloat hoping to love it because it was slightly closer. I had to tour this school twice because the first time all I saw were kindergartners sitting quietly at their desk doing worksheets. I didn't like how the tour guide represented the free-lunch takers, either. I wanted to like the school so much, I went back.
Oh, well. I know that this was probably a harmless mistake, but my second tour guide/parent volunteer actually referred to kids as either "smart" or "stupid."
I believe in omens. This school did not make the cut.
Parents for Public Schools came to the rescue when they visited our preschool for a parent info night. They explained the whole confusing lottery process in refreshing detail. If you put 7 schools down, you were in better shape than if you put less than 7 schools on the lottery app. The thing I got out of it was important: Vicki said, and I quote "I believe you will find 7 schools that you like ... but if you do not want your kid to go to a school — do NOT put it on your lottery application." Some of the parents tried to find a way to work the system. There was lots of buzz about putting down your favorite school, then the 6 hardest to get into schools. That way if you didn't get any, you would be in the first cohort in the waitpool. PPS assured us that it doesn't work that way — you can't beat the lottery system.
My husband and I went over our information and found that we could not accept seven schools. So, we decided to fill out our applications as honestly as we could. We put down Clarendon, West Portal and Lakeshore (not in that order) because those were the late-start schools that we loved. At the last minute we put Fairmount, too, in case SI was our destiny. I don't know. We just put it down as #4 to see what would happen.
We also toured only two private backups. One, Synergy, we liked a lot. Our preschool assured us (with the best intentions) that they had a great relationship with Synergy and our daughter would have an above-average chance of getting in. Money aside, Synergy was the best fit for our daughter and our family BY FAR. So, we happily applied to Synergy.
With all applications in, we sat back and waited. This is what happened:
The mail came with our SFUSD letter re: the first round. We got none of our choices, but were assigned to Flynn GE. Synergy: A week after SFUSD's letter came, the Synergy rejection arrived. We were invited to wait.
I don't have to tell you how emotional the results were for everyone — just read that part of the SFK_Files blog! We were disappointed, to say the least. By now, we were sure that Immersion was out for us, but because it was on our radar when we toured Flynn, the GE program didn't appeal to us AT ALL. So for our second round we decided that we didn't want Flynn GE. It felt fair to give up that Flynn GE spot and not register. After all, somebody wanted it and we didn't. We believed that things would shake up in the second lottery. So, we put down 7 schools this time: Clarendon GE, Lakeshore, Jefferson, Lawton, W.Portal, Harvey Milk & Sunnyside (two schools I toured after round 1.)
Result: nothing. We waitlisted Lakeshore with about 30 other people, but since we didn't put 7 schools on our 1st application, we were in the second cohort (priority) behind about 18 people. And we were not assigned to or registered at any school.
Private school was still a bust. Apparently so many families were applying to kinder this year every school was a mess. (how hard was it to check birth rates in SF??)
Somewhere between round I and round II lottery runs, I started visiting EPC (the SFUSD Educational Placement Center) and met my counselor, Shem. He was personable, thoughtful, polite. He appeared to be helpful, albeit very casual and laid back about the whole thing. I was determined to make sure he knew who I was and tried to connect with him. I got his work email address. When I checked in with him about our waitpool school, he signed his response "at your service." (note: that is his personal signature. It had nothing to do with me. However, I was fooled into thinking he was at my service.)
By this time I was obsessed with TheSFKFiles blog, too. The best thing about the blog was that people were offering up answers to questions that the EPC did not (and the PPS did not). It was a place that not only offered up instant answers, but also gave me questions I didn't know I had ... AND a place to rant and rave about my frustration with not having a school. The worst thing about the blog was the mud-slinging anonymous posters who made ignorant assumptions about other posters. It was maddening!!! And I couldn't get enough. I was becoming an obsessive-compulsive addict. My husband was so frustrated by my frustration that he forbid me to read "The Blog" — which I of course still did. I was quick to switch screens when he walked into the room....
With no school assignment, and the waitpool not moving at all, waitpool run after waitpool fun, i attended Open Enrollment. I got to the district office at 555 Franklin at 5 a.m. — and was 12th in line. They actually opened the door early so we could wait inside. At 8 a.m., after yelling at us for creating a fire hazard (we didn't form a neat enough line — public school policy) they handed out numbers. I new the list of schools with openings. It was bleak, but somehow I thought that maybe — just maybe — when my number came up, 20 spaces at Lakeshore would open up. I took Junipero Serra and went home defeated. Then I discussed JSerra with parents on the blog, and set up a group tour with the school. And you know what? It was an OK school. It had the same basic core curriculum everyone else had cause it's mandated. But still, the school focused where it should — on its community — which was heavily ESL Latino/Hispanic children. I liked that it was still a neighborhood school, but it wasn't the right fit for our daughter. If I was going to settle for a school, at least I was going to be able to walk there. And JSerra was not close enough to our home to do that. So, we didn't register there, either.
Since I used my name on the blog, I was vulnerable to attack. If I hinted that I didn't want JSerra, i was called an elitist, racist, etc. But I didn't care — I needed to get as much information about SFUSD as possible, so I kept participating. Someone was bound to offer information that would give me an edge (I know, ridiculous thought process. but I was a desperate addict, remember?)
Anyway ... weeks pass. With each waitpool run we are more disappointed. I continue to obsess with friends over the strategy of which waitpool list to be on. I would run over in my head — over and over again — what is the smartest move? However, by this time I don't trust my instincts, nor do I trust EPC. I'm missing some details as to why i started to mistrust EPC. For one, their answers seemed vague to me. But I also know about some people who were approved for special circumstances for bogus reasons (because the Board who approves these things doesn't bother to confirm the family's claim.) To protect people's privacy, I can't go into detail, but a friend of mine was actually told that she did not qualify for special circumstances because her needs are not unique!? Ugh! I could scream. Needless to say the system isn't completely random, or obviously fair. I'd argue it isn't sane....
On one visit to the EPC, Shem helped me work through an "am i waitlisted at the right school" question, and hinted that Lakeshore would never happen for us. Not this year. Nothing was moving and I was in the 2nd cohort. Flynn GE was my best chance. Start time worked and we could walk. So we changed our waitpool school to Flynn GE.
The irony. That was our original assigned school.
Two days after I changed our waitpool school to Flynn GE ... just two days ... some of the registered SI families were disenrolled by the district!! Months earlier the district had overenrolled English-speaking kids to the SI program, but did
nothing until 3 weeks before the first day of school. Now, they decided to just kick families out of Flynn SI (and Alvarado SI). The Flynnerado 23 episode. Naturally, these families were given priority (over me) for Flynn GE. Well, I was furious at the district, for sure. But I also couldn't believe that my Shem would steer me to a school that would end up in such a mess! He had to know this was about to happen. I sent him an angry email and didn't hear back from him. I was screwed. Now my chances of getting in were impossible! We had no school, and school was starting in less than 3 weeks.
OK.
Thankfully a person who participated in the blog reached out to me and told me that a spot was open in the Kinder program at a private school near us. KMS. It fit our criteria (9 a.m. start time, walking distance, art-heavy curriculum with play-based philosophy, blah blah blah.) My criteria was shifting — and I was becoming bitter towards SFUSD. A private school i knew little about was more appealing than "giving in" to SFUSD at this point. I never promised this would make good sense.
I toured, filled out an application and signed up in 1 day. Safely enrolled in a school, I marched back to the EPC and changed our waitpool school. CLARENDON. Why not? At this point it is the only school that could lure me away from our cozy private school. The only problem is, she won't continue to 1st grade with KMS.
So we will have to try again for 1st grade. This time I'll put down 7 schools. The one I want, and 6 of the hardest-to-get-into schools in the district. I will work every angle I can and not take anything for granted. I will wear a padded push up bra and bring picnic lunches to my counselor at the EPC. I will probably start reading the blog again, too. But to be sure, we will line up more than just 1 private school this year. Just because you prefer a private school, or prefer public school, doesn't mean you get one.
We are thinking of leaving SF for a variety of reasons. If we do, I bet our new neighborhood school will welcome us, without a waitlist.
I didn't play the game right. I didn't throw down the way I should have. But I did do my homework — more than any district should expect the average family to do. In fact, I was in a position of "privilege" in that I had just closed my business and was unemployed. So I threw myself into the kinder research process, and volunteered to be the "go to" person at my preschool.
But I still managed to f*** up my child's school lottery. And now when I get the dozens of emails from preschool parents asking me, the self-proclaimed lottery expert, for advice, i shrink back and shrug my shoulders. Why ask me? I worked this system to the best of my ability and became a whiny mess on a blog. To this day, we are not enrolled in a public school.
Here is what happened:
I toured about 15 schools. The day the tours started I was on the phone scheduling appointments. I quickly understood how much of a time commitment this touring was going to be so I added schools to my list that I was not initially interested in, so that I could report back to the parents in our preschool who were unable to take the time off work to tour.
I learned after the first few tours that
- The parents touring ask the same questions over and over again throughout the touring process, i.e.: "if you have a bright kid, how do you challenge them?" Because everyone thinks their kid is bright, but no one researches to find out that every school in our district does the same thing: They evaluate students periodically for being both under-challenged and over-challenged, etc. The repetitive questions not only wasted time on the tours and make them go longer than scheduled, but they become b-o-r-i-n-g.
- There is a CA state-mandated curriculum that is the same in every school, but extracurricular activities vary depending on how much money is raised, and what it's spent on. The main question of interest or me became "how much do you raise, and what do you spend it on?"
- There are different school times. 7:50-1:50, 8:30-2:30 (i found a few schools 8:20, and 8:40), and 9:30-3:30.
I toured Buena Vista (Spanish Immersion, or SI) Flynn (both SI and general education, or GE), Fairmount (SI) Monroe (SI, Mandorin Immersion, GE), Moscone, SF Community. All seemed nice enough. Kids seemed engaged, happy. Principals had their strong points. Communities seemed strong. They all clearly lacked enough resources, complained about space, bungalows, budget issues, but it was public school after all. Since we live 2 blocks from Flynn, were considering Spanish Immersion, and had a community of people there, we were set on Flynn...until...
I toured Clarendon.
Yikes.
The tour itself was impossible. There were so many people there that I couldn't see or hear 1/2 of what was being shown/said. But something struck me so hard that I had a headache for 3 days ... this school had everything that ALL OUR SCHOOLS SHOULD HAVE. A librarian to die for, who kept in touch with students long after graduation, to name one charm about Clarendon. I don't know exactly why it was so appealing to me personally, but wow. At this school it seemed if one kid has an issue, there was support for that kid. The campus wasn't any better or worse than most of the public schools I have toured, albeit smallish and foggy. but the program inside the mediocre facilities were heavenly (to me.) They took all the extracurricular activities and put a cherry on the top.
Now this school wasn't trying to sell itself. The principal basically told us all to go on more tours, cast a bigger net around the city, and find an other school to drool over (were we drooling?). Still, it was obvious that Clarendon was able to make up for the economic distress that all the other schools I toured complained about — they raise $400K through their parent group annually. WHAT?? $400K? That sounds like PTA boot camp.
For the rest of the week I was seething. It isn't fair. The state obviously needs to fund our schools better so that there isn't this kind of discrepancy. If CA gave each school an additional $200K annually, think of the potential...
That said, we fell in love with Clarendon and our whole world turned upside down. OK, dramatic I know ... but you haven't heard the rest of it.
At this point it is important to note that our family situation changed a bit. My husband's career shifted, and we realized that we could not give a 5-year commitment to San Francisco going forward. It was likely that we would move in the next 2 years. Therefore, language immersion was out.
I started to look at later start schools on my side of town with GE programs that were popular. I toured West Portal on a sunny day. Unfortunately my tour guide was awful (the Principal was on parental leave.) But i loved the campus, the programs, and heard enough from friends that I liked it. So we now favored two highly prized schools. Ick.
Early start was crossed off. Language immersion was crossed off. Our choices got smaller.
I threw a wider net out there and decided to tour a little-known school (to my Mission friends) called Lakeshore. Lakeshore was huge, had terrific programs, a wonderful library, and this amazing garden-centered curriculum. It was perfectly diverse, and the PTA raised a moderate amount of money. The Principal seemed overwhelmed by its size, but that (and its location) was the only negative. It was the best of both worlds. I really liked it. Still, the drive ... the drive ... So I toured Commodore Sloat hoping to love it because it was slightly closer. I had to tour this school twice because the first time all I saw were kindergartners sitting quietly at their desk doing worksheets. I didn't like how the tour guide represented the free-lunch takers, either. I wanted to like the school so much, I went back.
Oh, well. I know that this was probably a harmless mistake, but my second tour guide/parent volunteer actually referred to kids as either "smart" or "stupid."
I believe in omens. This school did not make the cut.
Parents for Public Schools came to the rescue when they visited our preschool for a parent info night. They explained the whole confusing lottery process in refreshing detail. If you put 7 schools down, you were in better shape than if you put less than 7 schools on the lottery app. The thing I got out of it was important: Vicki said, and I quote "I believe you will find 7 schools that you like ... but if you do not want your kid to go to a school — do NOT put it on your lottery application." Some of the parents tried to find a way to work the system. There was lots of buzz about putting down your favorite school, then the 6 hardest to get into schools. That way if you didn't get any, you would be in the first cohort in the waitpool. PPS assured us that it doesn't work that way — you can't beat the lottery system.
My husband and I went over our information and found that we could not accept seven schools. So, we decided to fill out our applications as honestly as we could. We put down Clarendon, West Portal and Lakeshore (not in that order) because those were the late-start schools that we loved. At the last minute we put Fairmount, too, in case SI was our destiny. I don't know. We just put it down as #4 to see what would happen.
We also toured only two private backups. One, Synergy, we liked a lot. Our preschool assured us (with the best intentions) that they had a great relationship with Synergy and our daughter would have an above-average chance of getting in. Money aside, Synergy was the best fit for our daughter and our family BY FAR. So, we happily applied to Synergy.
With all applications in, we sat back and waited. This is what happened:
The mail came with our SFUSD letter re: the first round. We got none of our choices, but were assigned to Flynn GE. Synergy: A week after SFUSD's letter came, the Synergy rejection arrived. We were invited to wait.
I don't have to tell you how emotional the results were for everyone — just read that part of the SFK_Files blog! We were disappointed, to say the least. By now, we were sure that Immersion was out for us, but because it was on our radar when we toured Flynn, the GE program didn't appeal to us AT ALL. So for our second round we decided that we didn't want Flynn GE. It felt fair to give up that Flynn GE spot and not register. After all, somebody wanted it and we didn't. We believed that things would shake up in the second lottery. So, we put down 7 schools this time: Clarendon GE, Lakeshore, Jefferson, Lawton, W.Portal, Harvey Milk & Sunnyside (two schools I toured after round 1.)
Result: nothing. We waitlisted Lakeshore with about 30 other people, but since we didn't put 7 schools on our 1st application, we were in the second cohort (priority) behind about 18 people. And we were not assigned to or registered at any school.
Private school was still a bust. Apparently so many families were applying to kinder this year every school was a mess. (how hard was it to check birth rates in SF??)
Somewhere between round I and round II lottery runs, I started visiting EPC (the SFUSD Educational Placement Center) and met my counselor, Shem. He was personable, thoughtful, polite. He appeared to be helpful, albeit very casual and laid back about the whole thing. I was determined to make sure he knew who I was and tried to connect with him. I got his work email address. When I checked in with him about our waitpool school, he signed his response "at your service." (note: that is his personal signature. It had nothing to do with me. However, I was fooled into thinking he was at my service.)
By this time I was obsessed with TheSFKFiles blog, too. The best thing about the blog was that people were offering up answers to questions that the EPC did not (and the PPS did not). It was a place that not only offered up instant answers, but also gave me questions I didn't know I had ... AND a place to rant and rave about my frustration with not having a school. The worst thing about the blog was the mud-slinging anonymous posters who made ignorant assumptions about other posters. It was maddening!!! And I couldn't get enough. I was becoming an obsessive-compulsive addict. My husband was so frustrated by my frustration that he forbid me to read "The Blog" — which I of course still did. I was quick to switch screens when he walked into the room....
With no school assignment, and the waitpool not moving at all, waitpool run after waitpool fun, i attended Open Enrollment. I got to the district office at 555 Franklin at 5 a.m. — and was 12th in line. They actually opened the door early so we could wait inside. At 8 a.m., after yelling at us for creating a fire hazard (we didn't form a neat enough line — public school policy) they handed out numbers. I new the list of schools with openings. It was bleak, but somehow I thought that maybe — just maybe — when my number came up, 20 spaces at Lakeshore would open up. I took Junipero Serra and went home defeated. Then I discussed JSerra with parents on the blog, and set up a group tour with the school. And you know what? It was an OK school. It had the same basic core curriculum everyone else had cause it's mandated. But still, the school focused where it should — on its community — which was heavily ESL Latino/Hispanic children. I liked that it was still a neighborhood school, but it wasn't the right fit for our daughter. If I was going to settle for a school, at least I was going to be able to walk there. And JSerra was not close enough to our home to do that. So, we didn't register there, either.
Since I used my name on the blog, I was vulnerable to attack. If I hinted that I didn't want JSerra, i was called an elitist, racist, etc. But I didn't care — I needed to get as much information about SFUSD as possible, so I kept participating. Someone was bound to offer information that would give me an edge (I know, ridiculous thought process. but I was a desperate addict, remember?)
Anyway ... weeks pass. With each waitpool run we are more disappointed. I continue to obsess with friends over the strategy of which waitpool list to be on. I would run over in my head — over and over again — what is the smartest move? However, by this time I don't trust my instincts, nor do I trust EPC. I'm missing some details as to why i started to mistrust EPC. For one, their answers seemed vague to me. But I also know about some people who were approved for special circumstances for bogus reasons (because the Board who approves these things doesn't bother to confirm the family's claim.) To protect people's privacy, I can't go into detail, but a friend of mine was actually told that she did not qualify for special circumstances because her needs are not unique!? Ugh! I could scream. Needless to say the system isn't completely random, or obviously fair. I'd argue it isn't sane....
On one visit to the EPC, Shem helped me work through an "am i waitlisted at the right school" question, and hinted that Lakeshore would never happen for us. Not this year. Nothing was moving and I was in the 2nd cohort. Flynn GE was my best chance. Start time worked and we could walk. So we changed our waitpool school to Flynn GE.
The irony. That was our original assigned school.
Two days after I changed our waitpool school to Flynn GE ... just two days ... some of the registered SI families were disenrolled by the district!! Months earlier the district had overenrolled English-speaking kids to the SI program, but did
nothing until 3 weeks before the first day of school. Now, they decided to just kick families out of Flynn SI (and Alvarado SI). The Flynnerado 23 episode. Naturally, these families were given priority (over me) for Flynn GE. Well, I was furious at the district, for sure. But I also couldn't believe that my Shem would steer me to a school that would end up in such a mess! He had to know this was about to happen. I sent him an angry email and didn't hear back from him. I was screwed. Now my chances of getting in were impossible! We had no school, and school was starting in less than 3 weeks.
OK.
Thankfully a person who participated in the blog reached out to me and told me that a spot was open in the Kinder program at a private school near us. KMS. It fit our criteria (9 a.m. start time, walking distance, art-heavy curriculum with play-based philosophy, blah blah blah.) My criteria was shifting — and I was becoming bitter towards SFUSD. A private school i knew little about was more appealing than "giving in" to SFUSD at this point. I never promised this would make good sense.
I toured, filled out an application and signed up in 1 day. Safely enrolled in a school, I marched back to the EPC and changed our waitpool school. CLARENDON. Why not? At this point it is the only school that could lure me away from our cozy private school. The only problem is, she won't continue to 1st grade with KMS.
So we will have to try again for 1st grade. This time I'll put down 7 schools. The one I want, and 6 of the hardest-to-get-into schools in the district. I will work every angle I can and not take anything for granted. I will wear a padded push up bra and bring picnic lunches to my counselor at the EPC. I will probably start reading the blog again, too. But to be sure, we will line up more than just 1 private school this year. Just because you prefer a private school, or prefer public school, doesn't mean you get one.
We are thinking of leaving SF for a variety of reasons. If we do, I bet our new neighborhood school will welcome us, without a waitlist.
Labels: Enrollment
11 Comments:
FYI Lakeshore is not a little-known school. It is one of the most popular choices for families on the Westside of the city.
Kortney,
Given you're so close to Flynn, did you consider St. Anthony's/Immaculate Conception?
It strikes me that Kortney's assignment to Flynn GE is pretty much the way it would work in a strictly neighborhood school system -- her strong preference for Clarendon is a pretty resounding statement in favor of choice over neighborhood.
Re St. Anthony's/ICA, I'm just meekly voicing my view that I don't get the notion that it would be routine for non-Catholics to send their kids to Catholic school (or fill in any religion), unless they are completely neutral on what they want their kids' religious beliefs to be. While I know that Catholic schools are open to non-Catholics' attending and make an effort to accommodate them, they are still teaching a VERY distinct religious view. (Not speaking for Kortney, who could be Catholic for all I know.)
At least she's honest about the symptoms of gambling addiction.
Kortney has too much time on her hands.
Kortney wrote this at my request to inform other parents.
Hello 10:25. As my note said, Lakeshore was little known to ME because I live in the mission. My preschool friends also live in the Mission/Excelsior/Noe and Sunset schools were off our radar.
That was my point. Thank you.
kortney
8:29 Good question. My husband is Jewish, and our daughter is being raised 1/2 Jewish, so catholic school was not a good option for us. I did look into parochial school briefly when we were feeling desperate, but found it to be much like public in many ways, except they talked about God. It is important to our family that we introduce spirituality to our daughter first. For this reason we didn't apply to any private Jewish affiliated schools, either.
8:51. Many folks discussed, at length, neighborhood assignment options. One that I kind of liked was a 4 school assignment. You would be guaranteed one of 4 schools in your district, for example. I think we would have made peace with those 4 schools, and even volunteered to help make them better before our child attended.
10:46
Are you multi tasking when you participate on this blog?
I found information of SFKFiles so helpful, as well as San Francisco Schools, that I thought my contribution may help.
Sometimes humor helps.
Thanks, Caroline, for the opportunity to voice my experience with the lottery.
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