Three years after fighting to keep Daniel Webster elementary school open from SFUSD closures, PREFund successfully opened Potrero Kids at Daniel Webster Preschool (PKDW). The preschool is a critical component of PREFund’s two part plan to increase enrollment at Daniel Webster Elementary. Part one was accomplished by the opening of the Spanish Immersion program for the 08/09 elementary school year. Mission Neighborhood Centers, with over 40 years of early childhood programming experience, is the administrator of the PKDW Spanish bi-lingual program. After raising almost $500,000 to complete construction, PREFund opened the school on September 30 and services 36 students ages 2 years 9 months to kindergarten age. Twenty-five percent of the students are on scholarship. Read more about the program here.

Special thanks to the many businesses that made this community preschool a reality, especially Jackson Liles Architecture and AzulWorks Construction Company. In addition, the project would not have been a reality without significant funding support provided by Low Income Investment Fund, The San Francisco Foundation, and the Eastern Neighborhoods Public Benefit Fund. For a complete list of supporters, please click here.

The preschool currently has a waiting list, so please be sure to apply in advance.

With the latest wave of California state budget cuts in educational programs, PREFund has been working hard to find innovative ways to support the hard-working staff at Daniel Webster Elementary. Through PREFund’s partnership with LYNC-SF, much needed underwriting has been secured from the Louise And Claude Rosenberg Jr. Family Foundation to fund a full 2008-09 school year of on campus “mentors” to serve as recess/lunch time supervisors. These mentors have been trained at San Francisco State’s Pacific Leadership Institute in leadership, team/community building, conflict resolution, and violence prevention. The mentors will be on hand everyday to engage with the students and initiate all-inclusive cooperative games. The program will be coordinated and administrated by Ezra Holland, partner & co-founder in LYNC-SF and Ezra Holland Consulting. He is an incredibly dynamic force and is energized and committed to making Daniel Webster a safe and inclusive environment for all students. LYNC-SF, co-founded by Timberly Hughes, owner of Jay’s Deli, is an important part of the Potrero Hill community which has been supporting our local schools for many years with innovative enrichment programs and food pantries, just to name a few.

Due to an overwhelming demand for Spanish Immersion Programs at San Francisco’s public schools, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) fast-tracked the opening of Daniel Webster Elementary School’s Spanish Immersion Program (SIP). The program, which was originally slated to start at the school in 2009, began this academic year with two kindergarten classrooms, both of which consist of the optimal 50-50 mix of native Spanish speakers and English-only speakers.

Daniel Webster has hired two highly qualified teachers to kick-off the program. With seven years experience teaching Spanish Immersion, Katina Strong moved from Chicago to join the team at Webster. Sunshine Suit, a twenty-year San Francisco resident, transitioned to Webster from teaching high school-level Spanish. Fluent in Spanish and Italian, Suit is also an accomplished Flamenco and West African dancer. The new teachers join a dedicated Daniel Webster staff, many of whom – including Principal Moraima Machado – are bi-lingual in Spanish and English.

The new program has been designated a top priority for SFUSD’s Multi-Lingual Department, with significant resources being made available to Daniel Webster under the supervision of Kevin Chavez. The school is also being supported by Parents for Public Schools, San Francisco Advocates for Multi-lingual Education, The Potrero Residents Education Fund and the pioneer SIP kindergarten parents.

With its initial fundraising target of $485,000 the PREFund Founding Committee is taking one second to celebrate reaching its initial goal. This first round of funding is critical to support its two-part plan to increase enrollment at Daniel Webster Elementary School and make it the best school it can be. Funds have been used to support important initiatives such as…
–The construction and marketing of a year-round, full-time, Spanish bi-lingual preschool for mixed income children onsite at Daniel Webster’s campus
–A Spanish Immersion program at Daniel Webster Elementary School, beginning kindergarten class of 2009
–Maximize community resources to underwrite academic enrichment and achievement programs – i.e. tutoring at Daniel Webster Elementary

In order to continue our work for our local public schools we need your critical support. To see our full list of donors, please click here.

To donate, please click here.

PREFund is honored to have recently received official commendations from both the Board of Education (BOE) of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and California State Assemblywoman, Fiona Ma.

May 27, 2008, SFUSD adopted a Resolution of Commendation to PREFund’s Founding Committee & Community Volunteers for Supporting Daniel Webster Elementary School. “The Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District wishes to commend and offer its sincerest thanks to the PREFund Founding Committee members, Jennifer Betti, Stacey Bartlett, Katherine Doumani, Dena Fischer, Debra Grassgreen, Melissa Millsaps, Laura Mitic, and Mike Lin, who with support from the Honorable Art Agnos, former Mayor of San Francisco, and scores of local volunteers, have taken Daniel Webster Elementary School and its students in the Potrero Hill Neighborhood into their hearts.”

May 2, 2008, Majority Whip, Assemblywoman, Fiona Ma presented a Certificate of Recognition from the California Legislature Assembly to PREFund “for outstanding achievements in our local community and stalwart support of our public schools as demonstrated by the establishment of a new Spanish Immersion program at Daniel Webster Elementary School, thereby benefitting all the people of the City of San Francisco and State of California.”

Daniel Webster Elementary School received a much needed facelift in April. PREFund’s Stacey Bartlett led the application process that resulted in the school being selected by Rebuilding Together San Francisco (RBST) out of more than 100 applicants for rehabilitation services. RBST relies on volunteers from Bay Area corporations and community groups to repair, remodel and clean-up community facilities and homes for low-income and disabled people. RBST volunteers will return next year to paint the school’s classrooms and fix appliances.

RBST fielded more than a 100 volunteers from Ernst and Young, Charles Schwab and DreamWorks Animation, who worked alongside PREFund and Daniel Webster families. The dedicated volunteers painted the school’s exterior and created a beautiful neighborhood-oriented mural. DreamWorks artists designed the colorful painting, which can be seen from Texas and 20th streets, and depicts children playing on lush green hills complete with Potrero Hill’s historical goat mascots.

The much needed face lift compliments the rapid progress PREFund and Daniel Webster’s administration have made over the past three years to improve the school. Earlier this year Daniel Webster received approval to host a Spanish Immersion program starting in 2009. And in partnership with Mission Neighborhood Centers, PREFund has raised sufficient funds to open a Spanish bilingual preschool this fall on Daniel Webster’s campus that will serve as a natural feeder into the elementary school. The preschool already has a waiting list of Potrero Hill families that want to keep their children in their neighborhood and are hoping to do the same for elementary school.

We are pleased to announce that we have sent acceptance letters to applicants for Potrero Kids at Daniel Webster, an MNC Preschool (PKDW).

Letters went out Friday, March 21.

We have had an overwhelming response to our call for applications and there is indeed a waiting list. We do, however, encourage all families to apply as there are applications already in for fall 2009.

We have 36 spaces available for what we plan to be a September 2, 2008 opening. Contingency plan in place should construction of our new facility delay us. We, of course, will keep everyone posted if this date shifts. 25% of these slots are reserved for scholarships.

Acceptance letters were sent to those families that met a combination of the following criteria:
-Date of application
-Full time spaces received priority with only a few available part time spaces
-Appropriate mix of age and gender balance
-Age of child must be 2 years 9 months by September 2
-Potrero Hill residents

Letters were also sent to the next set of applicants on the waiting list that met the same criteria.

The first round of applicants have until April 4 to confirm their space with a non-refundable deposit of $150 that will be credited to the first month’s tuition.

If we do not receive a deposit by April 4, letters will be sent immediately to the next families on the wait list. Applicants that turn 2 years 9 months later in the fall and beyond will be admitted to the program as space becomes available.

PKDW will be housed in the 3 bungalows in the southwest corner of Daniel Webster Elementary School. These bungalows will be substantially renovated for PKDW use. Our construction timeline is currently on schedule and we feel confident that the school will open on target.

We are pleased to offer tuition at $1150 per month, full-time, M-F, ($800, part-time, MWF) or ($530, part-time, T/Th), 8:00am – 6:00pm, including all fees and services as well as hot, healthy meals and snacks. (Applicants may, of course, opt out of the meal program, but we cannot offer a tuition break for opting out. Our philosophy is to offer all the children healthy meals and snacks and encourage exposure to new foods and socialization.) The tuition is inclusive of all fees, and after a survey of similar preschool programs in San Francisco, we feel that inclusive tuition offers the most benefits and convenience for working families, while also eliminating the need to fundraise to cover basic school operations. In addition, a tuition break may occur after the school is up and running and the operating budget becomes finalized.

Although PKDW is not yet open, you are welcome to visit MNC’s newest facility in Mission Bay. To arrange for a visit, please contact MNC’s Director of Family and Children’s Services, Heidi McClaughlin, at heidimclaughlin@sbcglobal.net (415.206.7752).

For additional questions, please contact our enrollment coordinator - Karen@prefund.org.

Thank you all for your continued support.

The PREFund committee has been working tirelessly for the past two years to implement a two-part plan to save Daniel Webster Elementary from closure. Opening the Spanish bi-lingual ‘Potrero Kids at Daniel Webster’ preschool is just phase one of the plan. We are thrilled to announce that as of January 3, we have received official confirmation from SFUSD that the kindergarten class of 2009 at Daniel Webster will be able to enroll in a Spanish Immersion program. This is a great coup as we feel it will benefit the students attending the school and ensure increased enrollment at Daniel Webster for years to come with this highly desirable magnet program.

On October 23, we officially launched our plans to the community for both the preschool at Daniel Webster and our aggressive fundraising campaign.

If you are interested in applying to Potrero Kids Preschool, you may download an application and read more info here.

In order to meet our aggressive goals of infusing Daniel Webster Elementary with critical programs for this school year AND open the preschool in Fall 2008, we need your support. Our fundraising goal is $485,000 and we are thrilled to announce that we have met this goal thanks to our generous donors. Please help us with these critical urgent needs by either volunteering or making a tax-deductible donation.

Over 30 Potrero Hill residents, garden club members, parents of toddlers, and teachers at Daniel Webster Elementary pulled out their gardening tools for two weekends in August to make the campus a little brighter, just in time for the return of students for the 2008-09 school year.

The greening project was organized and partially funded by the PREFund group with support from local merchants through the Potrero Chiropractors summer fundraiser and a generous donation of over 100 plants by Pacific Nurseries (wholesale to the trade) in Colma.

The group was aided by many two and three year olds who hope to be future students at Daniel Webster.

For more information on how to help keep this garden green throughout the year, please contact: deb@prefund.org.