“We wanted to hold a bake sale to raise money, because the school that burned down needed to get their library back!”

They immediately began organizing and planning, figuring out who would bring what, where, and when.  They decided to hold the bake sale in Alta Plaza park and set up a table to display a massive array of goodies, even playing music to lure hungry passersby:

• Cookies (even offering a gluten-free option!)
• Cupcakes
• Chocolate truffles
• Lemon bread
• Brownies
• Cranberry bread
• Trail mix
• Individual sized bags of jelly beans…and more…

From beginning to end, the three girls worked out every detail, with support from their parents and siblings.

“We did most of the work because we wanted to!  We met the day before and spent two hours making huge signs with markers and lots of glitter!”

When asked what they learned about the experience, and if there was anything they’d change if they did it again, they said, “Yes!  We need to offer more healthy options, because there are a lot of young kids that play in the park with their families.  Next time we’ll bring fruit!”

In just a few short hours, the girls managed to raise over $300.  $338.63, to be exact.  They were thrilled to walk the funds down to Ms. Otero’s office, carrying three ziploc bags full of bills and coins. When asked how it felt, the girls burst out:

“Proud!”
“Exciting!”
“Amazing!”

Creative Arts Charter school is still rebuilding their library, and with the support of their local community and students like Lucinda, Catherine, and Sophie, it shouldn’t be long to fill those shelves.  For more information and and to learn how you can help, please visit: http://creativeartscharter.org/.

Thank you to our wonderful students for caring and showing us how easy it is to make a difference.  You rock!

Technology education meetings at SFDS

The SFDS technology department recently hosted two meetings to address parental concerns surrounding children and their consumption of technology.  These meetings were designed to create a safe environment in which families could share anecdotes, ask questions, and debunk student-driven myths, such as “everyone else in my class has an iPhone!”  Another goal of these meetings is to help families gain consistency in terms of expectations and guidelines regarding technology use for children.

We covered a wide range of topics in both meetings, touching on the following:

The seismic evaluation recommended improvements for specific sections of the north side of our building, based on criteria developed by engineers after the Northridge/Los Angeles earthquake in 1994.  Our building was constructed prior to that event and the new criteria.  The engineers have stated that the recommended improvements will bring the building up to current life-safety standards as defined by the American Society of Civil Engineers Standard ASCE/SEI 31-03 for the Seismic Evaluations of Existing Buildings.

The Board of Trustees has decided to move forward with this work as we continue an ongoing facilities evaluation.  We will proceed with developing specifications and obtaining necessary approvals, with the most likely scenario of construction at the end of the school year.  The work will likely coincide with some construction to improve ADA accessibility to the property as well.

In the meantime, we will continue to keep you up-to-date on the other projects and upgrades that will be scheduled during the summer months and in the future.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact me at (415) 951-0500 or mhalper@atcpartners.com.

Michael joins San Francisco Day School from Oakwood School in Los Angeles, CA, a K-12 co-educational independent school of 760 students.  As the Assistant Headmaster, Michael holds primary responsibility for the daily operations of several academic programs that include diversity, service learning, a student-led teacher growth program, financial management and administrative leadership.  His references emphasize his ability to work collaboratively with faculty to conceive, design, implement, and assess academic programs.

Michael is not new to the Bay Area – in 2000, he provided the primary leadership in founding the new high school division at East Bay Waldorf School, a K-12 school with 300 students.  Michael also created and implemented the academic, service learning, advisory, counseling, co-curricular and arts programs as part of the high school program.  Prior to his return to California in 2008, Michael spent many years as Chair of School at Haleakala Waldorf School in Hawaii. He developed and taught the Middle School Language Arts program and created the Visions of Peace Project: a public-private service learning arts education project for cultural revitalization, which included 50 schools throughout the state of Hawaii.

Michael will be joined in San Francisco by his wife Heather and their two children:
Taliah (15) and Oliver (12).  Next year, Oliver will attend SFDS as an 8th grader.

This appointment brings to a close an exhausting but affirming process to identify Nancy Clark’s successor.  I’d like to thank the Search Committee and especially Carolyn Sasser, Chair, who logged countless hours in this process.  On their behalf, I’d like to thank the SFDS community, who also contributed every step of the way.  You welcomed the candidates, gave them a true sense of the School and provided me with invaluable feedback and insights. In fact, Michael was so taken with our community that he chose San Francisco Day School over other nationally prominent institutions that also sought his candidacy.  He sent this note to me, following his visit:

“I have fallen in love with the School and community.  The depth of connection and engagement that I felt with the faculty and parents was unexpected and especially heartfelt for me. I want to work with the people who are at SFDS, and I am completely committed to being the Head of the Upper School.  My vision, hopes, and aspirations for the School are far-reaching, and I truly believe that we will all benefit in deep and meaningful ways.”

Judging from the thoughtful and supportive feedback we received in his survey, our community holds Michael in the same high regard.  Here are some of your comments:

“He would model caring for the ‘whole child,’ even in a rigorous academic program. I appreciate his belief in forming strong personal relationships with students, since this is the connection from which all learning springs.”

“As a parent of a 7th and 9th grader, he has seen what the future holds in grades 9-12, and can help assess the stress these kids are facing and how to handle them.”

“I felt that Mr. Mancini communicated clearly that building a strong school takes a tightly knit community in which all feel supported and respected.  He clearly has the experience and commitment to weave together the faculty, students, parents, and administration to strengthen our vibrant learning community.”

I look forward to joining you in welcoming Michael and his family to the SFDS community.

The first graders are currently learning how to write persuasive letters.  After noticing some graffiti on the outside of the school building, the class worked with their teachers to craft the letter below.  The very persuasive firsties made a strong case for closer police supervision, as they had already tried to asked the perpetrator to kindly stop painting the window, with little success.  After receiving their letter, SF Chief of Police, Heather Fong, decided to visit the first graders at SFDS in person and thank them for their concern. This provided a great example to children that initiative and care for your community can really make a difference.  As a result of their time and efforts, Chief Fong promised to increase the amount of patrol in our neighborhood, to keep a closer eye on the School.  Thanks, 1st Grade!!

“Exciting!”

“The most intense game ever played…”

No – we’re not talking about the 49ers playoff game – but this one was just as tense and even closer to home.  Our JV girls basketball team recently advanced to playoffs, after an emotional and physically demanding double overtime nail-biter.

“We were neck and neck the entire game!  We took a shot with one minute left on the clock and beat FAIS.”

It’s been a challenging season for girls basketball, but our students persevered, improving game after game.  Their secret?  “We never give up!  Sometimes it looks like we are going to lose, but we manage to bounce back.” The girls asked to thank their amazing coach, Susan Sonnemaker, and to give a “shout-out” to Coach Tognetti for his support as well.

You can cheer on this awesome team at their first playoff game, where they will face MCDS next Wednesday, 2/8 at 3:45pm (at MCDS).  Good luck to the following girls:  Mayme, Leila, Claire, Emily, Nina, Chloe, Bebe, Tomicia, Jane, and Isabel.  GO PHINS!

2011-2012 is an accreditation year for San Francisco Day School, which means that our faculty, staff and administration spent a large part of last year (and this year) preparing an in-depth self study for CAIS review.  This is a complex process that takes place every six years, in order to ensure that independent schools are able to articulate the reasoning behind their programs and practices and thereby maintain their CAIS membership.

As CAIS states on their site, “The accreditation process is designed to assist a school in engaging the energies of all community members in reviewing and clarifying the school’s purpose and goals for students, and in developing plans to accomplish these goals. The school also develops measurements that show the degree to which its goals for students are achieved. Because each school community is unique, the accreditation process permits the school to use considerable flexibility in its approach to the self-study yet still be linked to sound components of a quality self-assessment.

• involved the school community in a collaborative way;
• clarified the school’s purpose and its goals for its students–and the programs, people, and facilities that support them;
• assessed all aspects of the school’s operations, the student program and its impact on student personal and academic growth with respect to the criteria and standards;
• developed an Action Plan, as well as an accountability system for monitoring the plan’s implementation.”

This is all based on a comprehensive self-study that addresses over one hundred standards with responses to questions about every aspect of the school. Led by chairs Anne Paine and Chris Corrigan, SFDS created and submitted a report in November 2011.  Under their guidance, all of our teachers across the grades and grade levels spent many hours to describe and assess all aspects of our curricular and extracurricular program.

Following the submission of the report, CAIS delegated a team of educators to conduct an on-site visit.  Our CAIS visiting team came to SFDS in late January, and spent a few days at our school to assess the effectiveness of our programs in fulfilling our goals and objectives as articulated in the self-study.   Following is a recap of their topline commendations and recommendations following their visit, which they shared with the faculty and staff prior to their departure.

Commendations

• The Committee commends the faculty for their clearly demonstrated deep and resident commitment to the students of San Francisco Day School. For their dedicative support of the mission and philosophy of the school and for creating a nurturing environment that supports the academic, social and emotional development for the students.

• The Committee commends the Board of Trustees for its commitment to the School’s mission and philosophy, for its fundamental understanding of the resources and commitment required to be a truly diverse and inclusive family school and for the passionate support that allows the school to realize its mission.

• The Committee commends the Business Office for their diligent efforts and strategic focus financial planning on an annual basis, which has allowed San Francisco Day School to maintain a strong financial position to support its mission

• The Committee commends the Students for their poise, creativity, confidence, kindness, depth of thought and leadership resulting in an atmosphere of mutual respect, inclusivity and a love of learning.

• The Committee commends the Parent Association and their establishment of inclusive parent groups and committees that include learning differences, diversity and parent education events, all of which align with the School’s mission and philosophy.

• The Committee commends the Administration for the addition of the Learning Resource program which includes a specialist in every grade level, demonstrating the commitment to making the curriculum successful to students and supports the differentiated instruction.

• The Committee commends the Faculty for implementing Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design, demonstrating a long standing commitment to best practice and student learning in attending to diverse student learning styles.

• The Committee commends the Administration, Faculty, and Staff for their cohesive approach to providing a caring community culture. For their commitment to enriching the lives of the San Francisco Day students and for working tirelessly to enable the School to realize its mission.

• The Committee commends the Administration for leading the community and clarifying the meaning of the School cornerstone beliefs and for establishing clear, achievable priorities to carry out the School’s mission and commitment to educational excellence.

• The Committee commends the Staff for their dedication, skill and commitment they bring to San Francisco Day School every day. For the gentle and effective approach they employ with both students and parents and for the considerable professional talents they bring to bear on the day-to-day life of the School.

Recommendations

• The Committee recommends that the Board of Trustees and the Administration implement the long range financial model adopted by the Board of Trustees that will allow the School to maintain competitive faculty salaries, support the educational program, and maintain significant tuition assistance to sustain the long range financial stability of San Francisco Day School.

• The Committee recommends that the School more clearly articulate an evaluation process for faculty, staff and administration to ensure and sustain consistent performance across all areas of the School.

• The Committee recommends that the Faculty and Administration commit to further professional development in integration of new media literacy in core content areas and it be consistent throughout every grade level.

• The Committee recommends that the Faculty and Administration establish a firm commitment to the educational ideas that include: Habits of the Mind; Health and Wellness; The Artistic Mind Set; and Cultural Competence as outlined in the action plan to develop skills for the 21^st century learner.

• The Committee recommends the Building and Grounds Committee continue their efforts to complete and approve a comprehensive facility plan in order to alleviate space constraints, improve programs and provide areas for differentiated small group lessons.

• The Committee recommends the Head of School and Administration explore tangible ways to more substantially and meaningfully increase enrollment of diverse students and support their school experience to sustain the community’s close alignment with the School’s mission.

• The Committee recommends the Administration and Faculty analyze the School’s schedule with a specific emphasis on improving the instructional time, efficiency and effective use of classroom space.

Although schools are accredited for a maximum period of six years, they must complete an interim review midway between accreditation visits. The interim report addresses the school’s progress in responding to the major recommendations of the visiting committee and the advancement made on its Action Plan.  We will continue to keep you apprised of our progress regarding the CAIS report and our corresponding actions.

Yearbook recognition ads are a great way for parents, families and friends to commemorate student achievements and important milestones.  To purchase your ad online, go to www.YearbookAdService.com and choose your ad size, template and upload your pictures. If you prefer to upload a custom ad, you can save it as a JPEG and upload as one image.

Questions? Call 925-376-9527 or email www.yearbookadservice.com.

Details*:
Full Page $180.00
1/2 Page $95.00

*Please contact Michelle Phillips (mphillips@sfds.net) or Annette Allen (aallen@sfds.net), 2011-12 Yearbook Advisors, with any concerns or questions regarding pricing.

All ad orders must be placed online by Sunday, January 15!

On Tuesday, December 3, AXIS Dance Company performed for San Francisco Day School, exposing our students to a fresh and inspiring style of modern dance.  AXIS expresses dance and movement using a group of dancers with and without disabilities, creating an entirely new movement vocabulary for ‘physically integrated’ dance. AXIS introduced themselves and shared their individual capabilities and/or disabilities, and performed excerpts from several pieces.  See a short clip from their performance at SFDS:

Dance

Now entering its third decade, AXIS’ vision is to remain a leader in the emerging field of physically integrated dance by continuing to set new artistic and educational standards. Likewise, it aims to be a contender in the field of contemporary dance by commissioning renowned choreographers, composers and designers to create an exciting, innovative touring repertory. AXIS wants its work to challenge traditional definitions of ‘dance’, ‘dancer’ and ‘ability’ to expand dance to include an entire community that has been virtually left out of the performing arts. AXIS’ biggest dream is to make a lasting contribution to contemporary dance.

AXIS Dance Company’s mission is:

• to create and perform contemporary dance that is developed through the collaboration of dancers with and without disabilities
• to teach dance and educate about collaboration and disability through community education and outreach programs
• to promote and support physically integrated dance locally, nationally and internationally

For more information, please visit:  www.axisdance.org