The Action Committee Meeting Recap

Well I didn't take as copious notes last night as I have been and do not have the names of everyone in attendance, but know this: the room was packed. We thought we'd have 22 or 24 parents and teachers from the emails we received, but we had double that. Thank you Bill and Marianna Moran for hosting this exciting meeting. If there was any question that the parents couldn't make things happen and have themselves and their concerns and wishes and desires heard, there is none now. The mood was really positive and respectful. Thank you everyone for coming and speaking up.

We started with an update from the Teacher (Faculty) meeting that occurred earlier in the day. I've written those notes up on the previous blog post. Following that we discussed any District Updates. We do have some numbers on forms per grade level from the Office of Enrollment, but unfortunately these numbers were very incomplete and didn't include forms still at Washington or in Dr. Aleman's possession. And we got SEVEN more last night at the meeting. We hope to post complete numbers, per grade level on the blog soon.

The biggest news from the District is that the School Board has made two decisions that affect us. First, a Principal has been named to Washington Elementary. His name is Nestor Suarez and while we don't know a ton about him just yet, here is what we do know. He has moved up the ranks fairly quickly, from teacher to Vice Principal. Last year he was VP at Hamilton Elementary. His kids go to Longfellow where he is very active. Dr. Aleman had assured us that the candidate they were looking at was excited and very open to this new program of ours on campus. The second bit of School Board news is that they approved the Provisional Internship Permit which may apply to our teachers and be yet another way to hire them if they are not at the time of hiring, fully credentialed.

The letter to our parents, from Dr. Aleman, that states that this school is a go didn't go out yet but will this week. He wrote Marianna and told her it wasn't because there is doubt, but rather simply logistics. You should be receiving it soon.

After the District Update there were several questions regarding the lack of Fifth Grade teacher and the potential to continue to utilize the middle school teachers in Fifth Grade. As I may have mentioned before, this was one of Dr. Aleman's possible solutions when he was discussing how to make our middle school teachers full-time.

After this we moved on to talk about the various Committees that are needed. Parents attached themselves to a particular Committee and we broke into groups. The Committees are Enrollment, PTO, Marketing, Foundation and Preschool.

Enrollment, which is the biggest Committee right now, has the task of calling every parent that was enrolled at Harborside last year. Mostly teachers and a few parents are making those calls-- expect one soon! They are calling to see if you have concerns, suggestions, questions (that they can answer) and to see if you've turned in a District Enrollment Form. As I have stated on this blog many times, these do not oblige you to anything, nor do they boot you from any other arrangements you've made as back-up or other. They are essentially an interest head-count. If you have any interest at all, please download the form HERE.

You can fax it 619-725-7159 Attn. Sandy Robles (Harborside)
-OR-
Mail it to: SDUSD - Office of School Choice,
4100 Normal St. Annex 7-A,
SD, CA 92103-2682
Attn. Sandy Robles (Harborside)

As I said earlier, we got SEVEN new forms just from our Action Committee last night. We can add those to the 75 or so we have thus far. But we really REALLY need even more, particularly from our Middle School Community. The teachers in Middle School that we had remaining are interested in pursuing this but we need more Middle School family support.

The Marketing Committee is focusing on getting some of this excitement in print, as well as looking into other options for recruiting new students to our program. They are working towards an Open House in early August that will be held at Washington to introduce our existing families and newly interested families to the program, the campus, the Administration, the teachers and other parents.

The Preschool Committee needs more volunteers. Please contact us here or email Marianna and we will put you in contact with others. This Committees job is to shadow the department in charge of the Preschool development the way the Morans have shadowed Dr. Aleman (Ha ha ha - Oh and thank you!) Dr. Aleman has been involved in pushing the Preschool along, but you should know, it's technically not under his jurisdiction. But progress has been made, thanks to him, and we need a few Parents to really baby this part of the Program.

The PTO and Foundation Committees are our parent organizations. They will fill out more as the Enrollment Committee's job lessens. But we have a lawyer-parent working on the Foundation, which is our outlet for contributing and soliciting money for our program. We're taking a look at how other successful schools structure and utilize their financial resources.

All in all, truly productive and positive. Next week we work in our groups, continue to get updates from the District and give them to you via this blog, call our parents and enjoy the holiday. Hope you enjoy yours. Send any questions or suggestions this way (just click on the word "Comments" at the bottom of this or any post) or email Marianna, or even me (superclea@cox.net) I don't have all the answers, but I'm trying to gather what I can in one place. Happy fourth.

From The Teachers' Meeting: Curriculum

Here is the "Curriculum & Approach To Teaching" that the Faculty drew up yesterday at their meeting:

Harborside School is an independent school that offers the pre-kindergarten through eighth grades the resources of downtown San Diego, striving at all times to build a unique and high-quality educational experience. The academic program emphasizes a project-based, hands-on, interdisciplinary style of learning that provides the students with lessons that acknowledge and foster the individual strengths of self-motivation, commitment to learning, social awareness, problem solving and critical thinking of each student while also supplying individual support for increased competency across the learning spectrum. We are committed to building a community of confident, independent learners in a cooperative environment and to developing among our students the virtues of thoughtful and constructive citizenship. We strive to provide academic excellence and become the school of choice within our urban community.

Teachers' lessons are geared toward fostering student initiative, rather than the standardized, one-size-fits-all approach geared toward lecture, rote worksheets, and textbook-oriented chapter tests.

Inquiry-based learning fosters, rather than inhibits, the natural curiosity of adolescents at an age where they are becoming increasingly aware of the larger world around them. The development of critical thinking skills as they are applied in the classroom is more than just an academic exercise-- it is essential for healthy civic engagement with society that these students will inherit as adults.

The constructivist model relies on research indicating that the deepest understanding of knowledge is created through exploration, reasoning, and discussion. If you reflect for a moment on how you, as an adult learn a new concept or skill, you are most likely to find that interaction, questioning, and practice each play a part.

Our program emphasizes extending the classroom into the urban community using the many resources the city of San Diego has to offer. We also emphasize participation and community service by both our parents and our students. The academic program progresses from the acquisition of strong foundational skills through the development of critical analysis using exploration and project based learning both inside the classroom and in the greater community. The program is designed to reach beyond the standards outlined by the state.

Teacher Meeting Recap: Admissions

So much to say, my fingers can't type that fast! I'm going to start with the Teacher Meeting Recap, but let me just say both meetings we're very exciting.

The agenda for the Teachers' Meeting was to establish an admissions policy that works within the framework of our new situation, as well as delineate the curriculum objectives in an easy to digest single page document that we can use to promote this school and further define it.

If you're child was already in Harborside, they are automatically admitted (if you choose) in this program. For all others, here is the Admission Process per the Teachers' Committee. This is what they are putting forth to the District:

* Parents must agree in advance to volunteer at the school 30 hours per school year.
* Students must agree to volunteer in the community throughout the school year.
* Parents and Students must take a tour of the school and be interviewed by an admission committee before filling out the admissions application.
* Students must have a letter of recommendation from a previous teacher in a format (created by staff and administration) including the following domains— Social / Emotional; Academic; Behavioral.
* In sticking to our original mission, students must score an average to above-average grade on the assessment instrument. There will be another meeting today that determines what this test will be.
* Preschool students must be potty trained prior to admission.
* Preschool students must come in for a behavioral assessment prior to admission, as before.
* Class size is maximum 18. Preschool ration is 10:1.

The question they would like to pose to the District is this: If students are admitted into the program and fail to meet our criteria, are we able to remove the student from the program? We hope to have an answer for you soon.

In the meeting that will happen today they will also determine a Discipline Policy.

In attendance at yesterday's meeting were Antionette Crivello, Erin Pennell, Diana De La Pena, Russell Jufiar, Erika Witham, Colleen Marble, Cara Hetrick, Steve Edele and our parent representatives, the Christy and Terry Rockwell.

Two Meetings on Wednesday, the 27th

Just a head's up-- the Faculty are meeting tomorrow as well, at 1 PM to discuss Enrollment / Admissions and Curriculum matters.

The Action Committee will meet at 6 PM. Again, everyone is welcome, just email Marianna. There will be a movie on for the kids and some light food. Details below in the previous post.

If you cannot attend but have issues you'd like addressed, please send them on over, to Marianna (moranrealtyinc@hotmail.com) or post them on this site in the comments and we can add them to the work-in-progress-Agenda. Thanks!

Next Meeting

Action Committee Meeting on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

121 Broadway #302, Historic Spreckels Theatre Building on the third floor.

Please park in yellow or metered parking (which are both free after 6!) Or you can even park at Horton Plaza. (Which is free with validation.)

We will be serving light dinner and drinks.

Please bring the kids if you need to-- they can watch a movie (there's enough space).

FYI - this is simply parents and teachers meeting so anyone who is interested is oh-so welcome.

Also, please send your ideas for the agenda directly to Marianna Moran (moranrealtyinc@hotmail.com)

Hope to see you there.

Teachers' Meeting: The Report

I should start by saying I had to leave a touch early so there will be more information coming from the latter part of the meeting from another parent. This meeting was held at the Washington Elementary Library. Dr. Aleman led the discussion. In attendance were about seven parents and the following teachers: From Preschool — Ms. Pearson and Ms. Laurie; from elementary —Ms. Colleen, Ms. Moser, Sra. Foletta, Mr. Graham, Mr. Jufiar, Antoinette Crivello (who was hired from Preschool to be the new 2nd grade teacher before "Black Friday"), Ms. Witham; and from Middle School Ms. Moses and Ms. Schneid. Ms. Hetrick was represented by one of the other teachers (she's out of town) as was Preschool Asst. Teachers Carey Johnston and Kristen Bernard. Ms. De La Pena was out of town, but has met with the District. In fact all of these teachers have either met with the District's HR Dept. or are scheduling to do so very soon. In addition to these Teachers and the parents, Mr. Edele was also in attendance.

As a side note, it was lovely to see Dr. Aleman respond to Ms. Pearson's question with a "I've heard so much about you, in fact I've never heard so many wonderful things said about any Preschool Teacher - You're very popular." That made the room smile.

He said they have 75 or so District papers signed and turned in thus far and a few more trickle in every day. There has also been some interest from parents who have heard of the program (probably from our own parents.) In total, he feels confident there could be 100 in the end and he said they would have been happy with 30. So to quote him, "We have the numbers to support this."

Here are the big important general things you should know:

* Dr. Aleman is sending out a letter to all the parents on Monday regarding the green light on the move.

* Dr. Aleman said next week he will be able to tell the teachers, each one specifically, where they are in the process and if the District can offer them the contract. They will not receive the contract then, but they will be assured at that point that one will be there for them for Fall.

Now on to the details and specifics that we got.

As you may or may not know, Washington does not currently have a permanent Principal. Dr. Aleman said they were hiring someone by end of June (early July at the latest.) It is believed this person will come from inside this District but no more information on that topic has been given.

Dr. Aleman has asked for information on materials and instructional aids that would be needed for our program so that they may figure out what they need to order. Mr. Edele said he would take care of providing Dr. Aleman with that list.

On the Middle School front he said, "I don't know yet the numbers for 6th, 7th, and 8th. Not yet." He said he was looking for 15 per class in Middle School, but we know we didn't have that at Harborside (Ms. Moses or Ms. Schneid pointed that out.) He said that there are a few possibilities-- he said there could be mixed age groupings (where they do some combine classes) or there could be recruitment from outside Harborside. District philosophy is to add a grade a year, starting with 6th, but that is not how it has to be done. Figuring out Middle School enrollment is a priority. He encouraged everyone to tell Middle School parents to sign the forms if they are interested. It doesn't mean you're committed, it means that you are interested. This way they can see how many MS students they potentially have. And this makes a difference in the hiring of those MS teachers. Yes folks, it's a bit of a Catch 22. But the forms do not commit you or boot you from any "back-up" options, so please fill them out if you think you would sign up if all goes forward to your liking.

Dr. Aleman had many answers for those teachers who are shy some of the requirements for credentialing. He said they could hire the teachers as "Permanent Substitutes" to "place hold" their position at Harborside. They can therefore teach while they finish credentialing. And for the middle school teachers, he said there were ways to making them "full time" even if there were not enough classes-- by adding tutoring, making them multi-level resource teachers that teach in the "upper" lower grades. He didn't make any guarantees, I want to make that clear. But he did say they were looking to find solutions and make sure they got all the teachers aboard who wanted to come, one way or another. They would be "creative." One thing he did guarantee was that our teachers had first priority to be hired over other teachers for this Harborside program, no matter what our teachers' or the other teachers' credentials.

Admission came up. Harborside students are automatically in if they want to be. As for filling the rest of the seats, this is still a bit gray, although this is another priority. Dr. Aleman explained that bi-literacy programs and dual language programs in the District have admissions policies. Basically it goes like this: parents have to show interest, the school explains the programs to the parents, parents can choose it and then they wait on a list that is chosen by lottery. In G.A.T.E. and Seminar programs students are chosen by Raven test scores. He said he is absolutely open to hearing whatever our admission policy was or what we wanted it to be. The teachers are going to be discussing this with Mr. Edele. It was brought up that our school has used the ERB test as well as teacher assessments but ultimately let's most kids in.

Dr. Aleman clarified again that this is not a Magnet or a Charter School. This is a program offered on the campus of Washington. Magnets are tied to specific public funding and this particular program isn't getting specific funds earmarked from the State so it isn't a Magnet. But he did note that about 75% of the current student body doesn't live in the area (like a Magnet.) They choose this school, often because their parents work in the area. And there currently is a G.AT.E. Program at this school.

A parent did ask about the fear that there may be an unwanted separate "elitist" feel to our program, what with a formerly private school coming on the campus of a public downtown school. Dr. Aleman's response was that there are other programs that operate on schools across the District like the G.A.T.E. and Seminar programs, the Dual-Language Programs and the International Baccalaureate Programs. These programs don't include all the students on campus, just some and he says it works just fine. He felt that ultimately it depends on the parents and then he praised the Harborside parents and the Washington parents he's met with as being very accessible and friendly. Marianna Moran has been in contact with the Washington PTO president and would like very much to get together with her and their organization over summer and really "make friends" from the get-go.

The District's media person will be getting in touch with this Parent-Teacher Group (yes, the Action Committee) to get the word out. The more it's written about, the more real it becomes.

Lastly, we need more parents to be involved. We're going to meet next week and we encourage anyone who wants to be a part of this parent - teacher group to join us. We especially NEED to hear from Middle School parents, but again, we really want to hear from anyone who wants to participate. It's tentatively scheduled for Monday after-work but more specifics will come soon. If you want to be included please email Marianna Moran at moranrealtyinc@hotmail.com

Hope this helps, more to come, I'm sure. -- Clea
(And I apologize for my typos.)

Teacher Meeting: At WE Library

Here's the deal on the Teacher Meeting tomorrow. We were told Dr. Aleman wouldn't mind if parents came and he could talk to them as well. So most of us are going. We want to hear what Dr. Aleman says. Like we said, we'll post what we hear right here in the afternoon. But if you're coming down, it's going to start at 11 AM at Washington Elementary in the Library. It's a good time to check out the school too, if you haven't seen it.

Thursday Meeting Confirmed

Dr. Delfino Aleman, the District 5 Area Superintendent who has been working hard to make this Harborside Program happen, is meeting with our teachers this Thursday, June 21st at 11 AM at Washington Elementary. Parents are welcome to attend. We'll report any news here Thursday afternoon. Hope to see you there.

FAQ, Part 1

So many questions, so little time. We're going to try and answer the questions that are floating around to the best of our abilities. Please send us your questions. We'll revisit this Q&A format often.

How many kids per class?

Dr. Aleman has stated the max will be the same max as we had at Harborisde. He said "15" and stated that was totally reasonable.

Will we keep our uniform policy?

Yes, or something quite similar we would think. The students of Washington already wear "Uniform Dress Code" -- that means they wear Navy or White shirts and dark or khaki pants. The differences are that they don't include red and the children are allowed to wear jeans, provided they are clean, unadorned and not ripped. Shirts are preferably collared but plain unadorned t-shirts (or school logo shirts) in Navy or White are accepted. Solid dresses and skirts in Navy or Khaki, just like we do, is the norm. We've even talked about selling an inexpensive logo'd polo before school starts, something that was in the works at the old Harborside. We can certainly do this school-wide.

When will the program be "defined"?

We're awaiting the first document that provides much in the way of BIG definitions such as class size, utilization of Harborside teachers, curriculum assurances, interaction between Washington and Harborside students, and admin structure. We hope to have this THIS WEEK. Further definition will come with each passing week over the first half of summer.

What about private monies?

At public schools, you can set up a Foundation for donations from parents and private enterprise. Our Program or Academy can have its own Foundation, as does Los Penasquitos Academy. We've already gotten some great legal advice on Foundation building. We want this to be open to the public to see, no secrets, no hiding. We think some of this money should be used to fortify our own program-- for instance paying for our teachers credentialing or bringing on Graham's program. But some of the money we thought could be used for the school at large. One of the great benefits of operating this school in a public setting is that we can affect change in our community.

Okay that's enough for now. More Q&A / FAQs later. Send us your questions by clicking on the comments button below. Thanks.

Did You Fill Out An Enrollment Form?

If you want to show support and get in on this program at this stage, you can fill out a San Diego Unified School District K-12 Enrollment Form. Basically, the District is seeing every form turned in as potential new cash into the district (because the school district gets State money for every child enrolled in public school.) It excites them. It makes them happy. It doesn't mean you're signed up in any contractual way. It means you're interested in this proposed program.

Download the form now.

Once you print it and fill it out, mail it to Washington Elementary:

Washington Elementary - Harborside Enrollment
1789 State Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 525-7475

The Teachers

Obviously the successes we've had at Harborside have had A LOT to do with our teachers. Everyone wants to know which teachers are on board. Several of our teachers have taken other positions. And we support them 110%. Meanwhile many of our teachers have been engaging in talks with the Human Resource Department of SD Unified, who would be their employer if (no, when!) this deal goes through. All of our elementary and middle school teachers who engaged in these talks are very close to qualifying and the District has said it is willing to work with them on these matters and push them through on a contingency plan that would allow them to finish their credentials in the future yet still start working in the Fall.

Dr. Aleman has packaged all their apps and is sending them to the State on Monday, the 19th and they are to be expedited. But the State needs to do the requisite background checks on our teachers and that is a good thing and we all know it will turn out well. That is one of the things that takes a bit of time though. Meanwhile, Dr. Aleman has agreed to meet with the teachers to have a Q&A-- we have tentatively scheduled this for Thursday, the 22nd and are currently contacting the teachers to see if this works. We look forward to this meeting because we know how much our teachers matter to us and to you. If they're in, many of us are in too. But of course many of them would have to turn down job offers right now to be free for a future potential job offer and that is scary. So we will see what happens with this meeting and if Dr. Aleman can convince them it is going to happen. Meanwhile, we've asked Dr. Aleman to craft a formal statement saying this proposal has been approved and is moving forward. We'll let you know as soon as we have anything in writing.

We hesitate to mention teachers by name that have spoken with the District because we really don't want to step on anyone's toes and gosh, things change by the minute around here. We can tell you we spoke with Mr. Jufiar (First Grade) yesterday and he couldn't be more thrilled about this plan. Almost all of the other elementary school teachers and lower division resource teachers (Spanish, Art, PE) have been engaged in talks with the District. In Preschool we know that Ms. Alma and Ms. Donna have passed. When we find out any information on where they are going we will post if here for you. Additionally, Ms. Encoe (Fourth Grade) has moved on and taken a position at Warren Walker in Point Loma. We adore them all and respect them and their decisions so much. The remaining preschool teachers are also engaged with the District and we hope to have news on all of them soon.

The Proposal

Here is a copy of the Proposal that Dr. Aleman (the Area 5 Superintendent) approved:

The Harborside Program at Washington Elementary

* This is what the San Diego Area Superintendent has proposed: picking up our school (our teachers, our students, our programs, our academics, our culture) and dropping it down on the campus of Washington Elementary as a unique program that co-exists with the original Washington, but that operates separately, sharing the one large campus.

* Enrollment in this program will not be automatic for the neighborhood children. Our children would take the first spots. After that, enrollment is open to San Diego students as a “choice,” but there will be some sort of admissions process that assures that the participants in the program fully understand the culture, the educational philosophies and are suited for this type of learning situation.

* The campus of Washington Elementary is located in Little Italy, ten blocks from our current campus. It is big and clean and bright. The classrooms are all quite large; there is a library, there are computers for every child, there are several playgrounds, there is a large black top PE area AND a large field. There is an assembly hall / theater, there is a hot lunch program. The students that attend Washington Elementary adhere to a uniform dress code (not that different from our own) they appear engaged and well-behaved. The teachers and staff of Washington were exceedingly welcoming.

* The District is completely confident that we can breakthrough the red tape and make this happen NOW. That means that we can have these preliminary decisions made next week and that the school will be up and running as The Harborside Program this Fall (07) for our kids to resume school as normal in September.

* The School District understands that much of the biggest successes have been the charters and magnets, many of which operate outside of the parameters of "traditional" public school formats and directives. They new thinkers of the district, including both our Area Superintendent and the head Superintendent, see a future for San Diego schools that includes many different options and styles of schools. We have an opportunity to be one of those options— retaining the teaching methods and academics that we already thrive in — while picking up resources from the district. It is a new concept but has many things in common with magnet programs and even some of the charters. And here we have the opportunity to be at the genesis of such a unique school.

BUT if for some reason it doesn't work, the office of enrollment options has ceded that they will move us to top of our list of choice schools in the district of San Diego.

* And of course as a public school, it's free. And yet, because the district will be paying our teachers, they will now receive more money and better benefits. And while many of our teachers are not fully credentialed or are missing certain tests to teach in the public system, the District is willing to work with those teachers and give them temporary status while they complete the necessary tests / classes.

* Any moneys that we as parents wish to donate and / or raise will go into a Foundation that we as a school can spend for even more resources and programs. (Some of which we could use to help get our teachers fully credentialed.) Remember this— it will be much easier to get community involvement and raise funds as a public school than it was a private institution. In fact, the CCDC (Center City Development Corp.) has already earmarked money for Washington Elementary, money which we would benefit from as a program on that campus.

* The Superintendent has said that he intends on keeping the program as-is, which means that class sizes will be capped at whatever we as a school deem appropriate (Dr. Aleman casually mentioned 15) and that our resource teachers, such as our fantastic Art and Spanish instructors, would also be brought over, if they so choose.

* Currently the school operates as a K-5 however they want to bring over our whole structure, K-8, provided we have the teacher and student support. In addition they believe they can also bring over the preschool — the facilities are already there for a preschool of our size — which would continue to serve as a feeder into the K-8 program.

* You can tour Washington Elementary at any time, although there will be some specific times set up for Harborside parents in the next week.

* The next step is for the District to secure the teachers, which they are currently working towards. From there it is up to us, the parents, to come aboard. If the District feels they have enough numbers — and of course they are realistic know these will not be full classes — then they will make it official and over the summer, the school will essentially be moved over to the new campus.