Don't like your SFUSD assignment?
Wait-listed at every private school?
Heard about the Head of School situation at Marin Prep?

PLEASE READ ON...

I currently have two children enrolled at Marin Prep. Our family is thrilled with the teachers and the quality of the educational experience our children are receiving there. There is so much to highlight but here are the things I like the best about the school:

-Small class sizes that foster experiential learning (11 kids in each of my kids' rooms);
-Spanish infusion language model;
-Science, art, music, dance, PE, etc. enrich the school day;
-Bright & cheery facilities with all the tech advances you'd expect;
-A 100% committed administrative team that works closely with the faculty and parents to make sure the entire community is informed and supported; and
-Engaged parents that have created a real community and a friendly culture where all families feel welcome, particularly families that are non-traditional in structure. (A grandpa resides with us and is very involved in caring for our children; he has been warmly welcomed and included by everyone at the school.)

If you don't like your SFUSD school assignment OR were wait-listed at every private school AND you'd like your child to learn Spanish, I urge you to call Cameron Story, the Director of Admissions, and schedule a tour. Marin Prep offers rolling admissions so even now, it's not too late to apply for the fall of 2012. The K search can be such an intimidating, discouraging, exhausting process. (I toured 16 or so public and private schools when we were looking for just the right "fit" for our family.) But take a deep breath and consider touring just one more school so you/your child has another option. I hope you will fall in love with Marin Prep the way our family did.

So yes, it's true. Marin Prep's Head of School resigned in February after serving less than a year on the job. It's a fact that Marin Prep has had three different Heads of School in as many years and that can't be sugar-coated. I regret very much that to the outside world, Marin Prep and Bright Horizons (its parent organization), appear less-than-competent and rudderless. It has been a confusing and soul-searching time for everyone at Marin Prep. What I can report is that the reaction from Bright Horizons and everyone "in charge" has been swift, appropriate and most encouraging. Specifically:

-Bright Horizons immediately appointed an Acting Head of School, Debbie Highsmith, who has jumped right in on all daily operations;
-Carney Sandoe, the premier recruiting firm for positions like this, has been retained to help us find an Interim Head of School for the 2012-3 school year and a permanent Head of School going forward;
-A search committee comprised of selected parents and faculty will assist and support Carney Sandoe in screening all candidates; and
-The entire parent community will meet & greet the finalists for the position(s) and have an opportunity to weigh-in before an offer of employment is extended. This will NOT be a rubber-stamping exercise.

So if you have read this far in my post, you can probably tell that I have drunk the Marin Prep Kool-Aid and that I am "all in" and very optimistic about the future of Marin Prep. In my own defense, I'll just say that I do clearly see the big gaps we need to develop and fill in and I'll readily admit that the school is currently at a critical juncture. But I'm prepared to participate in the hard team work necessary to make the school a better place: that means volunteering more in the classrooms, digging a little deeper at annual auction time and thoughtfully participating in the search for a new Head of School. It's the only way forward.

Having toured this school a couple of times now, my first impressions of Edison from last November's tour before the applications process, as an awesome school, were reconfirmed yesterday.

While there are several other good public and charter schools in the district, there are some distinct reasons that in my view sets Edison apart from pretty much all of them. Here are a few:

- Drama, Art, Music and PE - built into the program. One of these is offered to each K class in rotation every quarter, with 45 minute classes everyday. The school has awesome permanent teachers on staff for each of these. This is pretty rare in publicly funded schools in the district I believe. We walked into the gym and the PE instructor was teaching the kinders hand-eye coordination when throwing a ball; and saw the drama teacher teach kinders how to act happy and sad in an impromptu dramatic sequence. The art teacher was preparing paints for the class about to start and planned to teach them how colors interact on paper. The music teacher was unfortunately out because she had twisted her ankle - though I saw her class practicing singing last November - and it was quite impressive. We believe these strong early foundations in the arts are quite a huge factor in the overall development of a child.

- Dual language program (different from an immersion program). Its unique in many ways, and I believe more effective. Essentially kids switch classrooms 3 hours in the Spanish room, 3 hours in the English room - or something to that effect. This way I feel English is not ignored, kids get instruction from multiple teachers, kids don't feel lost in a Spanish-only instruction, they experience multiple environments - all of which I feel should contribute to an overall better education - both for the language, and other academic areas.

- The Kids. I feel Edison has some of the most well behaved students I have seen across 20+ school tours. I saw spontaneous gestures of respect for us the guests, teachers and administrators. This doesn't happen in just a random moment - I feel its the result of a consistent, firm but understanding culture the school has built. That's just my anecdotal view - but also reverberated by actual parents on the various forums, etc.

- Demographics - seems to be changing to be more reflective of the city's population, as well as the school's immediate neighborhood. And I feel that's anecdotally evident when comparing a K classroom and the more senior classrooms. I am positive that as this school continues its positive momentum, this will continue to happen. Smaller class sizes helps as well - the school has 20 kids/class in K - through 3rd grade I believe(?).

- Food. They have outsourced to The Lunch Master - http://thelunchmaster.com/ - a fresh/organic food supplier. We went into the kitchen and saw stacks of healthy salad and scrambled eggs - ready to be served by a very energetic staff member who seemed to care what the kids and the staff ate. The monthly menu I glanced at seemed very healthy and attractive as well. 20+ of the teachers also eat the same food nearly everyday - a good sign. And at $3/meal - its a bargain.

- The Campus. It's completely renovated, with bright, airy classrooms with lots of natural light; new computer lab with new workstations (wish they were Macs, but whatever - :)); a wonderful play area with basketball court, new kinder play structure, and other open areas; a garden that's ready for love and build up by some parents.

- Its a Charter school. This is means less of the bureaucracy, more efficiency, easier firing of bad teachers/staff, more nimbleness in experimenting with new ideas and concepts.

- Few other random things make it a better choice for us too: 8:30 start time (kids can be in by 8 and get a healthy breakfast), very good after school program (3-6), close to public transport - 1 block from J-Church and a few from BART.

Hope this helps!