Presidio Hill School Weekly News

May 28, 2004

From the director:

Dear Families,

It is with great pleasure that I announce the hiring of Wendy Furry for 7th grade math and 8th grade science. Many of you know Wendy already - as our wonderful long-term substitute during Sue’s absence. Wendy has recently arrived in the Bay Area from Philadelphia as she puts it, having, “grown up on Scientific America with a dad who is a chemist and inventor.” Prior to moving to San Francisco she worked in an orphanage in Nepal. Most recently, she has been working with the San Francisco Boys Chorus and studying paleo-archeology. Wendy has already received the student initiated Best Substitute Award earlier this Spring, so I know they are delighted she will be joining us full time.

This time of year brings all kinds of endings and celebrations, marking the many accomplishments of our students, although it has been rather eerily quiet all week with the administration of the ERB tests! It is also a time when we evaluate this year, as a key element in planning for next year. One key element to the planning work is the evaluation of this school year. Teachers and administrators, as well as the Board of Trustees, are working on self-evaluations of their work this year. I’d like to ask your help in this process.

We have developed an end-of-year survey for parents to complete. The results of this survey will help us focus our planning efforts for next year. The end-of-year survey can be accessed by clicking on the button (labeled End-of-year Survey), on our home page. You will then be asked for a password. You have the option to exit the survey, at any time. When you sign back in, you will return to the point in the survey where you left off. Once you click on the Done button, you will not be able to change or edit your answers, but you will be able to begin another survey if you have more than one child at PHS.

Be patient, as this is the first time we have posted a survey online. Please contact Martin or Phil if you need any assistance. Also, hard copies may be obtained from and returned to Linda in the lobby. Feel free to ask Phil or Lisa Jeli for assistance in using one of the computers in the library, if you don’t have access to one at home or at work. This survey must be completed June 15th.

Summary information from this survey will be shared with parents in a letter from the director in August. Summary data will also be shared with teachers, staff and board members in upcoming meetings. I am hopeful this process will allow us to better see our strengths as well as areas for growth. Thank you for your help.

Enjoy the long weekend.

Ann Meissner
Acting Director

From The Deans

We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.

--Sandra Day O’Connor

Dear Families,

Every day brings us closer to the end of the school year. As I write this week, I realize that this is the last time that I will write to you this year. I have spent many hours conversing with parents about the important work we do as parents and educators, and the impact we have on students. I want to take this opportunity to share briefly my thoughts on the importance of parent-teacher partnership in the school community.

As partners in the educative process, parents play a vital role in the overall life of the school. Volunteer efforts, attendance at school functions, and other types of participation contribute greatly to our learning community. On Monday, I met with a sixth grade parent and educator to discuss the middle school curriculum and to strategize potential professional development opportunities for teachers. Today, I met with three seventh grade parents and a middle school teacher to discuss fundraising strategies for next year’s eighth grade trip. These are but two examples of the parent/teacher collaborations I speak of. I am happy to be a part of a community where the work is shared and everyone feels a deep sense of commitment to every member of the institution.

How does the relationship between teacher and parent affect students? Parents and teachers alike are responsible for creating an affirmative learning environment. Similarly, a positive working relationship between the parents and teachers offers students a feeling of support that is constant and reassuring during the middle school years. Our team approach is an important factor in developing academically and socially successful students with a positive attitude toward learning.

At this very important time in the school year when the focus is traditionally on student achievements, I want to say thank you to the parents for all of your positive feedback, consistent communication, constructive criticism, and continued support in all that we do. To the eighth grade parents, congratulations and farewell. To the sixth and seventh grade parents…I look forward to working with you during the next two years. Finally, a heartfelt welcome to our new middle school parents, including those who are only moving upstairs and those that are new to PHS

Karen Amaker
Middle School Dean

Drama Update - Janna Sobel

Development Update - Dedee DeLongpre

Well, I am adding my voice to the chorus of “I can’t believe its almost over!”s that are singing around the school these days. I find myself staring at all of my students these past couple of weeks with a mix of amazement, surprise, pride and disbelief. Being June now, it suddenly seems to me like they have all gotten bigger! And braver. Funnier… more cooperative, more confident… more relaxed… more curious, more excited, and proud. I am so proud of all of them. It has been an amazing year of growth.

Next week is a week of performances for PHS. At 6 p.m. on June 1st, a collection of lower school students will participate in the timeless art of Storytelling; sharing stories of their own, and those passed along by family and friends; and a pair of 5th graders will debut original plays that were created with me, and will be performed by their classmates. Also on the 1st and the 3rd, at 1 p.m. on both days, the 7th graders will be performing scenes that they have been working on for many months. It’s all very exciting to me.

Production weeks are times that I love, not just because they are times when people’s dreams and visions start to actually look like they’re going to get realized, but because magic happens around those times. Things that seem impossible become possible. Theater artists, whether they are directors, actors, or designers, pull together and MAKE THE PLAY HAPPEN, regardless of the obstacles. This is because of love. It is because they LOVE what they are doing, and sharing with others, even while they complain about it, all the way along.

Young as they are, your kids are no exception to these universal rules and rhythms of the theater. Theater is an art form wherein you are never “on your way” or “almost old enough” or “almost qualified enough” to be an artist. People of all ages can be, and are, actors and playwrights. And your children are some of the finest young actors and playwrights around. They are cooperative, they are enthusiastic, they are professional, they are wildly creative, they are very talented, and they certainly do pull it all together and make the magic happen during a production week. Of course, I hope that you will continue to support your kids as long as their interests in theater continue.

One way that I would love to encourage you all to support your children this summer, is by taking them out to see some shows. San Francisco has everything to offer from amazing improv to political theater to dance theater to comedia del arte in-the-park to story theater to Hip-Hop Theater to Shakespeare to Broadway to experimental theater. Take them to see Joe Goode, take them to see Bay Area Theater Sports (PLEASE!!!), take them to see Word for Word, take them to NCT and ODC and ACT! Take them to see The Lion King even! Just take ‘em. You’ll love it. And they’ll love you for it. And so will I. There is NOTHING like a trip to the theater to remind a student of acting what it is all about, and remind them why they work so hard at it.

Thank you all for your support this year. PHS is an amazing community of people and I am proud and grateful to be a part of it.

Love, Janna

Thanks to everyone who came to the annual development committee retreat on Wednesday night, we got a great start on the planning for next year’s development and volunteer-related activities. Parents spent the beginning of the meeting sharing stories that reminded them of why they chose to enroll at PHS – the unique aspects of the school that make it such a special learning community for kids and adults alike. We focused our thinking and conversation on how our fundraising efforts can best reflect and support the mission of the school.

The annual retreat is an important planning meeting for the committee. At it we set our goals for the following school year, graduate a few volunteer leaders, and invite some new parents to step up into leadership roles. The retreat is also the culmination of a year’s worth of community feedback on how we can refine and reshape our plans to best serve our community’s needs and interests.

Some say that the only constant in life is change. Others say that nobody likes change except a wet baby. Personally, I see thoughtful change as an opportunity for renewed energy and sparked imagination. It is with this optimism that I would like to share with you some changes we have made to the calendar of events for the 2004-2005 school year.

After three full years of discussion, we are finally ready to develop a new signature fundraising event to replace our traditional auction. In thinking about this new event, we went all the way back to our deepest roots – back to our founders Helen Salz and Flora Arnstein, a poet and an artist. We loved the way the strategic plan honored these roots by recognizing arts as integral to the learning experience in the Vision and Values statement. We wanted to develop an event concept that was as unique as Presidio Hill School. To this end, we crafted a plan that focuses on children, celebrates art, gives us the chance to enjoy our beautiful new building, and raises money for the school. Is your interest piqued?

On Saturday, February 12, we will host Presidio Hill School’s first community art showcase and silent auction. In the weeks prior to the event, we will display our adult community’s artistic talents in the annual Parent and Staff Art Show. For the culmination of the show, we will add a variety of forms of student art, which we will auction off in a blind/silent auction. You may be thinking, “Oh no, how will Adra do it all?” Not to worry - Adra has been involved in developing the concept and is excited about it. We also hope that other adult artists in our community will want to work with some classes during the year to produce new and exciting works, including a celebration of the written word as art. We will also look to the many talented members of our community for help with hanging, installation, and lighting.

Moving our annual fundraising event to February gave us the opportunity to rebalance the distribution of our major school events throughout the year. We decided to move the Walkathon to March (with a rain date in April) so that it didn’t come so closely on the heels of May Festival. We will also host the biennial Grandparents and Special Friends Day in May, when spirits are high and the sun is shining.

Whew, that’s enough excitement for one year!

Without the dedicated leadership of parent volunteers, PHS would not be able to host the many great family and child-centered festivities that it does. This thoughtful involvement brings with it the spirit of cooperation and collaboration that reflects the mission of the school. I am grateful to ALL of the parent volunteers who serve the school community in the thousands of small and large ways that they do. Cheers!

-- Dedee

The Friday Archive

Presidio Hill School | 3839 Washington St | San Francisco CA 94118
Voice: 415-751-9318 | Fax: 415-751-9334