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Photograph by Drew Altizer Photography.

Photograph by Drew Altizer Photography.

Principal Chris Rosenberg, Starr King Elementary School, monitors class during Principal for a Day.

March 2009

Principal for a Day Brings Volunteers and Businesses Back to School to Foster Community and Academic Excellence

Lori Higa

You might think that being principal for a day in one of San Francisco’s public schools would be a little like being queen for a day.  Unfortunately, you’d be wrong.  But the experience for this View reporter and dozens of others who shadowed some of the City’s public school principals was eye-opening and inspiring.

Buena Vista Elementary, Daniel Webster Elementary, Downtown High School, International Studies Academy and Starr King Elementary, among other schools, participated in the one day event.  Captains of industry who volunteered their time included venture capitalist Warren Hellman, Deloitte’s Mark Edmunds, Ken McNeely of AT&T, Merrill Lynch’s Brian Riley and Jennifer Povlitz, and Larry Baer, the San Francisco Giants’ Chief Operating Officer.  San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) superintendent Carlos Garcia and City Attorney Dennis Herrera addressed the principals for a day at a post-event luncheon at AT&T Park. 

Principal for a day was hosted by nonprofit SF School Volunteers (SFSV), and has been sponsored for the past several years by Merrill Lynch.  SFSV places more than 2,100 volunteers in San Francisco public schools each year, with the support of 30 business-school partnerships.  Principal for a day helps businesspeople learn the nuts and bolts of being head of a school.  Principals have to juggle myriad responsibilities, from strategic planning to reviewing report cards, while staying focused on the bottom line:  student achievement.  

At Starr King Elementary, principal Chris Rosenberg, looking dapper in brown fedora, beige jacket and tie, took three principals for a day on his regular rounds.  Le-Ann Peling, of Comcast, Gretchen Koch, of Dreyers Ice Cream and the View toured general education, Mandarin immersion and Spanish bilingual classes, and visited students diagnosed with autism or learning disabilities, who were busily making valentines.  The visitors watched kids spill-out of the school’s main building onto the playground and jump energetically into playing tether ball and foursquare during the first 15-minute recess of the day.

Starr King is one of San Francisco’s most diverse schools, with 300 students from five main ethnic groups, none of which reflect more than one-third or less than one-tenth of the student population.  According to Rosenberg, Starr King’s student population used to exceed 400, mostly African-American and Latino children from the neighboring housing complex and Mission District.  School enrollment plunged to 150 as the dotcom boom and associated increases in living costs pushed families out of the City.  But the institution of immersion classes has attracted more Asian-American and European-American students to the school, and its population is growing and diversifying.  According to Rosenberg, the school has seen “seven straight years of improved test scores” that put Starr King in the district’s top percentile. 

If Starr King is any indication, SFUSD’s principals, teachers, and staff put in a hard days work.  Rosenberg’s dynamism, moxie, smarts and humor were apparent as he strolled through the school’s hallways, which are decorated with brightly colored tiles made by students.  He stopped often to meet, greet and ask about each student’s well-being, seeming to know the names of every child.  According to Rosenberg, who has a brother with Downs Syndrome, the district sends many special needs children to Starr King because of its strong programs. “We often receive students who have legal issues surrounding the services they are to receive because their cases will be resolved more quickly here.’”  

Starr King was built in 1955, and its age shows.  Rosenberg credits the PTA’s and nearby community’s dedication and volunteerism with implementing an ambitious greening campaign, including new landscaping and an architectural re-design that will spruce up the school.

After the morning school tours, participants gathered at AT&T Park, where they were treated to lunch and entertained by the Aptos Middle School’s jazz band.  Hydra Mendoza, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s education liaison, and a school board member, unveiled a new initiative calling for one hundred CEOs for one hundred schools, in which participating businesses will be presented with a wish list developed by principals and asked to provide the resources needed to make the wishes come true.

During lunch, principals and business executives discussed how they could partner to improve the quality of education and better prepare society’s future workforce.  Such collaborations have already helped establish a variety of programs, including mentoring, workplace readiness and leadership development, as well as contributed financial and technical support.  “Even with a downturn in our economy, it speaks to the power of our community to see so many businesses participating in principal for a day and giving back to our schools,” said Lisa Spinali, SFSV executive director. “I’m excited by the potential these businesses will help bring to fruition in our schools by engaging with them.” 

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