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October 05, 2007
Printable version
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PHS Historical Photos
Upcoming events 10-05-2007
ALL SCHOOL EVENTS:
• October 8–Fall Holiday, School Closed
• October 16–School Photos: All school and class pictures
• October 17–School Photos: Individual Portraits K-4
• October 18–School Photos: Individual Portraits 5-8
• October 19–Walkathon
Click here for a downloadable calendar of events for October
Click here for a downloadable 2007-2008 School Year Calendar
Announcements 10-05-2007
Picture Days
We will have school pictures taken on October 16, 17 and 18th. There is a rain date scheduled on October 24 for students who were absent or if we have rain on the outdoor picture day. Class photos and the all school photo will be taken on October 16. Individual portraits will be taken on October 17 and 18th. More details in next week's Friday Letter.
Walkathon
October 19, 2007 – Step up to the plate!
We are growing more and more excited as this year’s Walkathon approaches. We hope that everyone has received their packets and is well on the way to collecting more donations than ever before. This week we received word from a generous donor that she or he would donate five cents for every dollar we raise this year! We hope this matching gift will provide further motivation for us all as we continue to collect sponsors. If you have not yet received your packet, or if you have any other questions regarding this year’s Walkathon, please give Namrata a call in the Development Office at 415-751-9318, x106.
- Walkathon Flyer
- Instructions for Getting Sponsors and Collecting Donations Sheet
- Walkathon Sponsor Form
From the Director 10-05-2007
GET UP, STAND UP
Dear PHS Families:
The fields in the Presidio may be taken away. I’d like to appeal to many parents in the community to write to the Presidio Trust, if you feel moved, to lobby on behalf of keeping (and perhaps expanding) the playing fields not only for youth sports, but for everyone. The Vikings Youth Sports League is leading the effort. I have included a sample appeal letter from the Presidents of the Viking League, along with a sample letter from one of our parents, David Thompson.
Again, if you feel moved to keep and hopefully even upgrade the playing fields in the Presidio used by many of our children, I urge you to write.
Letters of support are due by, October 9th, the end of the public comment period.
Thank you,
Brian Thomas
FROM THE PRESIDENTS OF THE SF VIKINGS YOUTH SOCCER LEAGUE
A sample letter you can use, cut and paste and sign your name and send to the trust.
Your email should be addrssed to: thproject@presidiotrust.gov and simply state:
Dear Members of the Presidio Trust:
I write to urge the Presidio Trust to ensure that no playing fields are removed from the Presidio until alternative fields are built of the same size capacity. In particular, Morton fields, a full size soccer field, should not be eliminated until it can be replaced with another site that is also a full size soccer field. One alternative is Pop Hicks
but only if it is large enough for a full size soccer field. In addition, I urge you to maintain and seriously consider expanding the playing fields within the Presidio. The San Francisco Vikings Youth Soccer League that my children participate in has played at the Morton and Paul Goode and Fort Scott soccer fields as part of partnerships with
Town School and University High School. These fields are a truly priceless community asset, as are the other sports fields within the Presidio. I urge you to renew your commitment to the city's families by maintaining these fields, and rehabbing older fields (Pop Hicks) and creating new fields on appropriate grounds, including Crissy Field. I encourage the use of the fields for multi-sport use. We need large playing fields. We need the same size fields as Morton, Ft. Scott and Paul Goode. Julius Kahn field is not an option as a playing field replacement. Julius Kahn is already in full use. Morton, Paul Goode and/or Ft. Scott cannot be replaced with a field already in full use. Morton, Paul Goode and/or Ft. Scott need to be either left in tact or similar playing surfaces, not already in use, built.
The Presidio is a wonderful, vibrant, dynamic jewel. Daily it is being transformed to meet the needs of the community. Please consider the needs of both child and adult athletic programs as you review the Trust's mission and goals. It is vital to the health of our community that this need is considered in the Presidio's short- and long-term plans. I ask you to act immediately to preserve existing fields and revive those that have fallen into disrepair. These are vital community assets, and should be utilized to the fullest extent possible.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Your name
FROM DAVID THOMPSON (PHS PARENT)
Dear Members of the Presidio Trust:
I write to urge the Presidio Trust to ensure that no playing fields are removed from the Presidio until alternative fields are built of the same size capacity. I participated in the planning meeting on February 15, 2007 and the attendees at that meeting were nearly unanimous in support of the position that no field be eliminated before another is ready to replace it *and* and was also nearly unanimous that the number of fields should be expanded to 12 fields total.
I encourage the use of the fields for multi-sport use as well as the development of large playing fields. Specifically, I encourage the following as discussed and overwhelmingly supported at all of the community meetings:
1. Morton Field cannot be closed until a new full sized soccer/lacrosse field is developed and opened to replace it.
2. Pop Hicks Field has been discussed since 2002 with the Trust as a priority field for redevelopment with San Francisco Little League---the fact that nothing has happened for 5 years is unacceptable. Now it looks like nothing will happen for another 3 years. Please put this field on a faster timetable. Additionally, while the reclaiming of
the western tributary is a valid objective, the more important goal with Pop Hicks is to retain this field as a first class playing field and not to reduce its size to the extent that it loses its viability as a Little League playing field.
3. Decisions to renovate Paul Goode, expand and renovate Julius Kahn, and expand and renovate Fort Scott need to be made and moved forward with now. These fields are the life blood of critical youth sports organizations like Viking Soccer, San Francisco Little League (baseball and softball), San Francisco Lacrosse and City Lacrosse. These fields need to be replaced with an artificial surface now as they are not holding up to the current heavy use they experience. Holding off on those projects for three-five years or longer is not acceptable given their current extensive and critical use.
4. New fields (Child Care Center Field, Commissary West, Paul Goode parking lot, Fort Scott North and West) need to move forward on a clear and aggressive timetable. To back burner these fields is to ignore the clear and immediate wishes of the Presidio's community.
5. The objective of 12 playing fields in the Presidio (up from 3 today) is the right target-it represents a substantial contribution to this immense need and is reasonable given the opportunities already identified by Trust staff.
The Presidio is a wonderful, vibrant, dynamic jewel. Daily it is being transformed to meet the needs of the community. Please consider the needs of both child and adult athletic programs as you review the Trust's mission and goals. It is vital to the health of our community that this need is considered in the Presidio's short- and long-term plans. I ask you to act immediately to preserve existing fields and revive those that have fallen into disrepair. These are vital community assets, and should be utilized to the fullest extent possible.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
David Thompson
High School Placement 10-05-2007
Ann Meissner Jennifer Franklin (Seventh Grade Humanities Teacher)
High School Friday Letter
October 5, 2007
The public school enrollment fair is October 27th at the Bill Graham Theater. Click here to download a flyer. This is one place to learn about public school options. You could also learn about the public schools through the website www.sfusd.edu or through the website for Parents for Public Schools at www.ppssf.org.
Lowell Information – Applications for Lowell will be available beginning October 27 at the public school enrollment fair on October 27th. See the flyer below. They may also be picked up at the school district placement office at 555 Franklin Street, room 100. The applications will also be available online at www.sfusd.edu. These applications, along with the general enrollment form for the public school district, are due December 7th.
The Lowell Night for 8th Graders will be Thursday, November 8th. This is an open house event which PHS will have tickets for closer to the event. All students interested in Lowell should plan on attending this evening event. Shadow visits may be arranged by emailing shadowlowell@yahoo.com. If you or your child knows a student a Lowell with whom you would like to schedule you may request that person when schedule the visit.
City Arts and Technology and Metro – This is a charter school located in the Ingleside district. The philosophy and style of teaching has many similarities to PHS. The study body size is roughly 400 students with classes of approximately 20 students. I visited the campus this week and was very impressed with the diversity and the stated goals of the school. I did not get to sit in on classes so I don’t have a good feel for the quality of instruction but this school is definitely worth investigating if you are interested in a public school option. Enrollment decisions are done by lottery. There are roughly 3 times as many applicants as there are spaces. Open house dates are October 22, November 27, January 28, February 11 from 6:30-8:00 pm. No reservations are necessary. To arrange a tour and shadow visit call the main office at 841-2200.
Information for the public alternative School of the Arts is available at sfsota.org. A portfolio and audition are required in addition to an application.
Waldorf High School is celebrating the opening of their new site at 470 West Portal on Saturday, October 13 from 1-5pm. Everyone is welcome.
Curriculum Spotlight: 6th grade Humanities
Friday Letter—Mike Orlando
October 5, 2007
Taking Risks.
What was your first month of middle school like?
I assure you that, whatever your answer might be to this question, the answer that many of our sixth graders will give is “Yeah! It was great!”
I also assure you that this wasn’t an accident. In just the past week, these students have:
Walked five miles to count the arms on starfish.
Discussed why some books are challenged or banned from libraries.
Picked and packed organic potatoes.
Put the final touches on their memoirs.
Learned the deadly significance of the “blood of Socrates”.
Asked questions of a man who chose not to speak, or ride in a car, for seventeen years.
As the first month of classes comes to a close, it is a delight for me—and the rest of the faculty—to see our class of 2010 begin to really coalesce and make new connections with one another. On the first day of our Pt. Reyes trip, as each person present set a public intention for the trip, many of your students said that they wanted to use the time as an opportunity to “make new friends” or “talk with people I don’t usually talk with.”
And how they rose to this challenging goal. Of course old friendships were strengthened, but it was perhaps even more delightful to see new ones formed, and the bonds of community among these young people begin to grow even deeper.
Taking social risks is difficult even for adults, to be sure: yet each of your sixth grade students made intentional choices this week to hike, eat a meal, or invent a “slipper for a salamander” with someone new. Even if they didn’t make a new best friend, they have begun to learn a necessary skill—working productively with someone you might not ordinarily choose—that will benefit them multiple times over as they move into young adulthood.
Middle school is not easy. And it is the perfect time to take these, and a thousand other risks: to experiment, to discover boundaries, to change yourself and see how the world around you might be changed for the better.
I truly believe that—unlike some other middle schools—PHS students grow so exponentially as whole human beings because we see this risk-taking as so essential to them as emerging adults. And while there are consequences, to be sure, we treat these students with the utmost respect.
During an admissions open house a couple years ago, a sixth grader was asked by a visitor what he liked most about his new school. He answered, without missing a beat, “At PHS they understand that you’re human, and that it’s okay to make mistakes.”
The first month of middle school has been fantastic. And as the year continues, I look forward to helping these students take even more ambitious risks.
Curriculum Spotlight: Music 10-05-2007
Curriculum Spotlight: Music, Dan Goldensohn October 4, 2007
Once again, let me offer my greetings and warm wishes to all of you in the PHS community for a wonderful school year! I hope the children and everyone in their families will thrive and flourish through their PHS experiences. In music class, I’ll be doing my best to help make those experiences joyous and meaningful.
I’ve been here at PHS for many years, and (despite the fact that the kids always tell me, “Dan, you always say that!”) I think I’m hearing some of the best singing this early in the year that I’ve ever enjoyed. By “best” I mean that kids are singing freely, happily and expressively without being pushed or exhorted. There’s tunefulness of course, but mostly you can hear joy and the forceful presence of our youngsters’ personalities in their singing. I’d say this reflects beautifully on our school culture: students feel safe and secure in being who they are. They believe that they can find real satisfaction and excitement within the school environment. What a pleasure it is for me to create opportunities for them to experience the rewards of people making music together.
In the next few months, the whole school will be experiencing those rewards as our annual Follies gets rolling along, and each class shares its voice onstage at the Herbst Theater. Janna and Jennifer are getting the 8th Grade going fast on the original script, and later I’ll be carving out original songs for each grade to perform. The Follies is an arts experience that is totally unique: theater, creative writing, music, performance, dance, art, and stage production that involve the entire school, K through 8. It’s another amazing example of how the school culture fosters creativity and self-expression for our kids.
A project for the near future is to help develop an arena for PHS students to play musical instruments together. There are quite a few talented instrumentalists in the school community, and wouldn’t it be wonderful to create a school orchestra? Or some bands? I hope that families can let me know if their child would be able to take the time to start learning to play an instrument. I am not a violinist or a clarinetist or a drummer, but as soon as students can create musical sounds on their chosen instrument, I can help them to learn to play with other people. Please keep looking in the Friday letters for more information on how we can make this happen.