Uptown News Looks at the Partnership between Observatory North Park and Jefferson Elementary. Also SING ALONG WITH GREASE

 (Here's a teaser from the San Diego Uptown News article about The Observatory North Park, its partnership with Jefferson Elementary, and the Sing Along With Grease fundraiser. To read it on the Uptown News site, click this link.)

 Theater Addresses Concerns, Community Breaks into Song

Image from Observatory North Park

You are certainly aware of the buzz surrounding an upcoming event at the iconic Observatory North Park (formerly North Park Theater), wherein people nostalgic for the late seventies/early eighties participate in a boisterous homage to that era’s nostalgic notions about the fifties. You’re not? Oh. No, that’s fine; you probably just don’t get out much, what with the kids and work and all that. All the young scenesters are talking about it.  

Anyway, Friends of Jefferson Elementary, the non-profit community group that supports North Park’s neighborhood public elementary [disclosure: I’m a board member], is throwing a shindig: for ten measly dollars, you can join several hundred of your friends and neighbors in belting out your favorite tunes from “Grease” as you watch the original 1978 movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. Included in the price is your choice of either a) one serving of beer or wine from the theater bar (beer courtesy of the awesome Mike Hess Brewing); or b) two items from the popcorn/candy counter. All proceeds from the in-theater bar and concession stand go to Friends of Jefferson. In addition to the shenanigans inside the beautiful theater, North Park Historical society is arranging for some bitchin’ hot rods to be parked in front of the building for your ogling pleasure. This all happens on Sunday (party people may know this day by its other name: “Funday”), July 26^th. Doors open at 2:00 pm, and the movie rolls at 3:00.

To recap: hot rods. Danny. Sandy. Rizzo. Kinickie. Adult beverages. The song stylings of…you and your crew. All for a lousy sawbuck (that’s fifties lingo for $10 US). [ed note: get your tickets at the Observatory North Park website, or at the door.]

At this point you are probably thinking, boy, that Friends of Jefferson must be a powerful and well-funded organization to be able to have events in such a swanky and prestigious venue!

Powerful? Yes; if by powerful you mean “dedicated to the point of obsession and buoyed by the moral support of the community.” Well-funded? Um, that’s a work in progress.

Having completed the pitch segment of this column, allow me to proceed to the backstory, which is probably more interesting, and definitely has more lessons and morals and whatnot.

The story of the North Park Theater is long and fascinating. It was built in 1928 as a vaudeville theater and movie house, and quickly became a top-performing branch of the Fox West Coast Theater chain. State-of-the-art for its day—the first Fox theater with “Vitaphone Sound” and air-conditioning—it was the entertainment hub of the community. Alas, the sixties and seventies saw a decline in business for the neighborhood movie house as shopping centers and malls took over; and by the eighties, North Park Theater was virtually abandoned.

From 2000 to 2005, with backing by the City, the North Park Theater was resurrected to its former glory. But as an economic enterprise, it still floundered. Its owner, Lyric Opera, could not keep the lights on with ticket sales from musical theatre, and turned the keys over to the David Cohen and the Verant group in 2013.

The Verant group had owned West Coast Tavern, the restaurant in the front of the building, since 2009. The restaurant continued to do well after Cohen took over, and the theater side treaded water with a new format that focused more on bands.

And then, in January of 2015, the whole operation was bought out by Orange County concert venue, The Observatory. This came as a surprise to many, including the manager of West Coast Tavern, Paris Landen, who, along with getting a new employer, gained a new job description as the General Manager of both the restaurant and the theater.

Paris, although somewhat blindsided, took the transition in stride, and told me that in reality, the changes to the business were minor. “We have more shows now,” she told me, “which we have to in order to stay in business—just the electricity bills...(continue reading on San Diego Uptown News)

SING ALONG WITH "GREASE" AT OBSERVATORY NORTH PARK 7/26/15

We are proud to announce our biggest and coolest fundraiser so far! In partnership with Observatory North Park (formerly North Park Theater), Friends of Jefferson invites you to sing along with the 1978 classic "Grease" starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John.

The event is on Sunday (Funday), July 26, just as you are getting done with brunch and wondering what to do with the rest of the day. Doors open at 2:00 pm; and the movie starts at 3:00. There will be old-timey hot rods parked out front for your gawking pleasure, and beer, wine, and concessions (popcorn, candy, etc.) will be available inside the theater. You can buy cocktails in the adjoining West Coast Tavern.

Tickets for the event are only $10, and include one glass of beer (donated by Mike Hess Brewing) or wine at the theater bar, OR two concessions from the candy counter. All proceeds go to Friends of Jefferson Elementary so we can support educational and enrichment programs at North Park's local public elementary school.

So put on your poodle skirts and bobby sox (or spandex and heels if you're a Bad Sandy), and come belt out your favorite tunes from Grease along with the cast and a couple hundred of your friends and neighbors!

Tickets are available at the door, or through the Observatory North Park's website. The event is all-ages; but remember that the movie is rated PG and has some adult-ish themes.

See you there!

Jefferson Elementary IB STEAM Magnet Featured on KUSI News

Friends of Jefferson members An Bui and Andy Hinds recently appeared on KUSI News's "San Diego People," to talk about their experiences as parents of Jefferson students, and how and why they got involved in supporting their local school when many parents in the neighborhood were enrolling their kids elsewhere.

The topic of the show was San Diego Unified School District's "Vision 2020" plan, the goal of which is to ensure that there is an excellent neighborhood school in every zone in the district by the year 2020. Other guests included School Board Vice President John Lee Evans, Executive Director of Facilities, Planning, and Design Julie Martel, and IB Resource Teacher Jennifer Sims.

The District's "Vision 2020" plan is meant as a correction to some of the unintended consequences of the "school choice" system in place now, which makes it very easy for parents to choose a school that they perceive as better or more desirable than their neighborhood school. "Choicing out" of the neighborhood school has become so common that almost half of families in the district send their kids to someplace other than the school down the block. When the neighborhood families abandon their neighborhood school, typically the school struggles, loses enrollment, and, in a vicious cycle, becomes even less desirable to the locals, and then is filled with kids from other neighborhoods where the locals don't like their school. It has gotten to the somewhat absurd point where families are criss-crossing the city, often driving right past their neighborhood school as they commute to a school they think is slightly "better." Click here to read some more thoughts about school choice and how it affects neighborhood schools...

Watch the full episode for a pretty good primer on Vision 2020, and how Jefferson has become an example of a neighborhood school that the locals are rediscovering! (An and Andy are in the last segment.)


KUSI News - San Diego, CA

Don't Miss The Friends Of Jefferson Booth at North Park Festival Of The Arts

One of North Park's favorite events is happening this weekend: the North Park Festival of the Arts on Saturday, May 16! If you haven't been before, it's a huge outdoor festival that takes over about twelve blocks in the heart of the neighborhood. It's a sensory smorgasbord, featuring all kinds of visual arts, music, dance, crafts, food, and, naturally, being North Park, craft beer. All proceeds benefit North Park Main Street, the non-profit dedicated to revitalizing the neighborhood's business improvement district.

There will be four stages, featuring a dozen bands and eighteen dance troupes. There's a beer garden where the casual beer drinker can have a couple cold ones; and the Waypoint Public Craft Beer Block for the more serious aficionado. (Get your tickets right now for the deeply discounted price of $20!) Food trucks! Live art events! People-watching!

And naturally, Friends of Jefferson will be hosting a booth in the Kids' Art Block on Grim Street, between University and North Park Way. We will have a big ol' inflatable slide, a fun paper bag hat craft table, and some "stylists" who will turn your kids' boring hairdos into multi-colored works of art. All proceeds from our booth will go toward our efforts to support students and teachers, and bring enrichment programs to Jefferson Elementary IB STEAM Magnet.

Also, keep your eyes out for the artwork of Jefferson students. The image you see on this page is a bookmark we had made from the work of one of the winners of the poster contest held at Jefferson back in February. The artwork of these students will be featured around the festival, and the bookmarks and other items with student art will be for sale at our booth and elsewhere.

If you want to volunteer to help out at our booth, it's not too late! Email us at friendsofjeffersonnp.gmail.com

See you there!

U-T San Diego Recognizes North Park's Reunion With Jefferson!

North Park Residents Return to Their School 

(from U-T San Diego)

Not too long ago, Jefferson Elementary was among North Park’s unhippest spots with locals.

The aging school was lacking in both academic performance and curb appeal. Resident families — particularity white and more affluent ones — chose to bus their children out of a neighborhood they otherwise loved.

Jefferson kindergartener: "I live in North Park. This is My neighborhood"

These days, Jefferson is enjoying a resurgence among North Park’s young families. The school’s revitalization is part of a an emerging movement that is slowly starting to reverse a decades-long trend in the San Diego Unified School District of families forgoing neighborhood schools for far-flung magnets, charters and better-rated campuses.

With the district’s school choice deadline on Sunday fast-approaching, Jefferson has booked a dozen parent tours this week as families shop for schools.

“We are trying to keep up with the neighborhood that has been revitalized... especially since North Park is now one of the hippest neighborhoods in the country,” said Principal Francisco Morga, jokingly referring to the 2012 Forbes Magazine article that listed North Park as one of the nation’s “Hippest Hipster Neighborhoods.” 

“It’s been a journey. We have worked with the community very closely.”

Just three years ago, 39.8 percent of Jefferson’s students were from its attendance boundaries in North Park. This year, 46.6 percent of the students are local.

“It’s good for the community to have resident children attend the school — they can walk to school and they are part of the community,” said Morga, who was hired as principal about six years ago when the school adopted an International Baccalaureate curriculum that feeds into Roosevelt Middle and San Diego High schools’ well-regarded IB programs.

San Diego Unified’s school choice program has been ranked among the best in the nation. The Brookings Institution and the Broad Prize in Urban Education (the district was a finalist for the award in 2013) cited the district’s program as top-notch.

Yet San Diego Unified has been working to scale back its elaborate choice system that was built as an answer to the 1970s court-order to desegregate schools. The goal is to appeal to families by ensuring that every neighborhood has a quality school by 2020 — eliminating the need to commute across the city for a good education.

“Our strategy has been not to limit choices but to open up the neighborhood school as a likely choice for families,” said San Diego school trustee Richard Barrera. “What the data are showing, is parents choosing their neighborhood school is not going to happen on its own. The district should be supporting a school in developing programs that are attractive to the community — that’s what’s happening at Jefferson." Continue reading on U-T San Diego...

From SD Uptown News: Neighborhood Schools are the New Charters

I wrote this for San Diego Uptown News, urging parents to at least *consider* their neighborhood public school before applying to every other option available. 

I've included a teaser below, but I can't republish the whole article here. Please click the link at the bottom to read the rest at San Diego Uptown News...

Andy

Neighborhood Schools are the New Charters

This is the time of year when many parents of soon-to-“graduate” preschoolers are quietly freaking out. Until now, the idea of your babies going to elementary school had been like some distant, futuristic fantasy/nightmare. Now it looms large, imminent, and fraught with ramifications that seem likely to cascade throughout your precious progenies' lives.



It’s the real deal. The big leagues. Kindergarten.

Although September is still seven months away, deadlines for school applications are fast approaching. And where to send one’s children to kindergarten can seem like one of the most agonizing decisions a parent must make. There are so many choices, and each one has its potential pitfalls. If he goes to the progressive charter school with small class sizes and yoga breaks, will he be isolated from the “real world” experience of typical public education? If she attends your neighborhood school, will she be terrorized — or worse, recruited — by the wild ruffians you see re-enacting “Lord of the Flies” at the local playgrounds? If you send them to the prestigious private school, can you still afford groceries? If you homeschool, how long can you expect your sanity to hold out?

Let’s assume that you have ruled out private or homeschooling. It’s still not going to be simple. San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) offers a large (and sometimes overwhelming) menu of options, including magnet schools that focus on specific areas of study, typical public schools in other neighborhoods, and charter schools, which are authorized by SDUSD, but are run autonomously and embrace a wide variety of educational philosophies not necessarily sanctioned by the District.
The deadline for applying to a SDUSD school outside of your default “zone school,” is Feb. 15. Unless the schools (you can apply to three) you apply to are magnets or “atypicals” (in which case other hoops may require your timely perambulation), you would then simply wait, perhaps gnawing your fingernails and developing an embarrassing facial tic, to hear back in the spring. Applicants are selected randomly, on a space-available basis, with weight given to considerations such as what the applicant’s neighborhood school is, where his or her siblings go to school, and so forth. Charter schools also use a lottery system to choose who may enroll, but they have a wide range of application windows, as well as policies regarding who is given priority.

But you already know all that, because you are an Engaged Parent who wants to make sure your child goes to the school that is the best fit for him or her. You have studied the District’s “Neighborhood Schools & Enrollment Options” catalog, perused the website (sandi.net/page/902), peered deeply into the abyss of the charter school universe, talked with your friends and neighbors, argued with your spouse or co-parent, and toured so many schools that they have become a blur of social philosophies and pedagogical perspectives.

There is, however, one school to which you have perhaps not given serious consideration. The one down the street from you. Continue reading on SD Uptown News...

 

 

Jefferson Elementary in The New York Times!

Here's a teaser from a piece I wrote about Jefferson for the New York Times parenting section. The editor thought it would be better to leave the school anonymous, but make no mistake--I was talking about our school!

I can't republish the whole story here, so just click the link at the bottom to continue reading.

--Andy

Why I'm Glad We Chose the Local Public School

During the Thanksgiving-ish feast at my children’s school, we went around the table sharing what we were thankful for. When it was my turn, I announced, “I’m thankful for my healthy, happy kids, and their fantastic school.”

Last year around this time, I was still saying to myself, regarding our choice of kindergartens, “Are we really going to do this?”

My wife and I have been involved for the last two years with a group of parents and community members dedicated to nudging the local public elementary into the renaissance of our funky urban neighborhood in San Diego. The school zone includes the best restaurants, coffee shops and brew pubs, the highest density of creative professionals and some of the most jaw-dropping house prices in the city; and yet, for our pride in all things “local,” our little school has been neglected by the population it was meant to serve. Essentially, the “school choice” movement, embraced by our district for decades, encouraged concerned parents to “choice” their children into niche magnet schools, themed charters, or typical public schools in other neighborhoods where the scores were higher and other data less daunting to them.

As a result, the majority of students attending our local elementary have likewise “choiced in” from other, less socioeconomically and ethnically diverse neighborhoods than ours. The most recent statistics show that 80 percent of our students are eligible for free or reduced meals, 48 percent are English learners and 70 percent identify as Hispanic. There are no other numerically significant ethnic groups. I understand how it might be difficult for the savvy school-shopper to see past these demographic data.

When our school-support group first convened, most of our children were preschoolers. None of us had any children enrolled in the school, and few of us even knew any families who sent their children there. We were operating under the premise that, if we all sent our children to the local school, we could affect the culture enough that it would become the kind of school where more people from the neighborhood would want to send their kids. We would disrupt the vicious cycle and convert it to a virtuous one, and the student body would reflect the diversity of the neighborhood. Continue reading on NYT.com...