potrero view

March 2009

Potrero Parents Work to Save Daniel Webster

Halley Cornell

Three years ago, Daniel Webster Elementary School was slated for closure due to chronic under-enrollment. Operating at just half capacity, the kindergarten to fifth grade school was the subject of a San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education cost-cutting proposal that would have merged it with Starr King Elementary. But a group of Hill residents, many of them new parents, banded together to save the school. With a petition containing more than 600 signatures, and a strategy to increase enrollment in hand, the group convinced the Board to keep Webster open. On the laurels of that success, the Potrero Residents Education Fund (PREFund) was born. The group has since worked to provide funds for and attract students to the school they hope their children will attend.

 “Despite hundreds of children under age five in Potrero Hill, our neighborhood was faced with the very real possibility that no elementary school on the Hill would be able to serve its needs,” said Laura Mitic, one of the eight parents of preschool-aged children that comprise the all-volunteer PREFund group. The problem is endemic in San Francisco. Many upper-income parents send their children to private schools, both because of a perception of better facilities and educational experiences, and to avoid the school placement lottery system that may not grant them their school of choice. As a result, many public schools are under-enrolled and deprived of the resources these parents can contribute.

 Daniel Webster serves primarily low-income, non-European-American families.  Seventy-five percent of its students qualify for federally-subsidized free lunches.  According to Mitic, PREFund members are predominately middle-income, and their diversity lies in their talent. They are parents committed to helping an academically flailing school, she said.

 As part of its strategy to increase demand for Webster, in 2008 PREFund helped start Potrero Kids at Daniel Webster (PKDW), and launched a Spanish immersion kindergarten program. The bilingual preschool serves 36 children three- to five year-olds.  One-quarter are on scholarship. PREFund originally contracted with Mission Neighborhood Centers (MNC) to operate the school, but this January MNC and PREFund agreed to part ways. By the summer PREFund will take over management of the preschool, and MNC will focus on their existing Head-Start programs and a new Bayview-based infant/toddler/preschool program.

 “They [MNC] have 40 years of experience,” said PREFund member Jennifer Betti.  “They’re our safety net and don’t want to leave us too soon, so they made a business decision to delay the opening of their other facility. When they leave, we’ll have financial responsibility.”  According to Betti, PREFund has recently incorporated. She expects no major changes at the preschool as a result of the administration change. However, teachers will have the option of staying with PKDW or moving on when the transition takes place.  PREFund has said it will do it’s best to retain current staff so that the transition is as unnoticeable as possible for the kids, said PKDW parent and Webster volunteer Sara O’Neill. “There’s weirdness that’s inherent in any transition,” O’Neill said.  “But the preschool will be in very capable hands, and I don’t have any concerns about PREFund transitioning away from MNC for any reason. I’m glad they’re there.”

 So is Principal Moraima Machado, who says PREFund has not only been open to discovering the school’s real needs, but has hung in there even after the initial shine of success wore off. The group, she said, has raised funds to hire tutors and mentors.  Volunteers garden, paint, and replenish supplies. The group also helped form Webster’s first parent-teacher association, and has supported a number of academic enrichment programs.  “We have all of these academic needs and student needs on top of us. Some of the things that they’ve done take a secondary place in our schedules,” said Machado, who noted that a few Webster staff were initially skeptical that PREFund’s efforts would last long, let alone be helpful. “But you can see their commitment. Just by walking by the school you can see the beautiful colors and the garden; after school you can see the three teachers provided for tutoring services. They have made our environment more supportive to learning.”

 Betti said PREFund’s stick-to-itiveness has been important to its success. “We definitely had a lot of proving to do. There had been some other groups that set out to do things and didn’t stick around, and at first we could barely get the staff to say what they needed because they just weren’t used to getting help.” With PREFund’s support, the school now has a full-time social worker and on-campus mentors, which has contributed to a steep drop in suspensions and playground incidents. The staff has become more trustful. “We proved we didn’t just come in there to throw some bake sales,” Betti said.

 According to Machado, kindergarten enrollment rose this year. The school now has three kindergarten classes – up from two – with between 17 and 18 students each.  However, the school still operates at roughly half capacity. PREFund hopes that steadily increasing interest in public schools, along with the attraction of Spanish immersion, will ultimately fill all of the school’s seats.   “There are four or five families, including ours, who are all in for attending Daniel Webster,” said O’Neill, who said she’s heard of 20 or more other Hill families whose interest has been piqued by PREFund’s efforts.  According to Daphne Magnawa, a PDKW parent and volunteer, there’s a waiting list for the preschool, with many of those parents planning to apply for Spanish immersion kindergarten slots. “The momentum is definitely there,” Magnawa said of Webster’s growth.

 PREFund’s next big challenge will be drawing parents and students to Webster’s general education track. That portion of the school’s growth will take time, O’Neill said. According to Mitic, support from the neighborhood is key to Webster’s continued success. “The time is now to improve this school or risk children enrolling in private schools or schools outside the City,” she said. “Both of those outcomes rob the Potrero Hill community. PREFund epitomizes what the Potrero Hill community can do when it comes together.”

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