Tag Archives: John Muir Elementary School

Request for Landscape Design services for our public schools

by Lori Shelton

The San Francisco Unified School District’s Proposition A 2006 Bond Green Schoolyard Program allows us to announce that we are accepting Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) for Landscape Design Services for several of our elementary schools. Please review the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Landscape Design Services on the District website. You can link directly to the District website via:
Current SFUSD RFPs

The elementary schools interested in landscape design services are:
- Alamo

- Alice Fong Yu Alternative

- Claire Lilienthal– Madison Campus

- Dr. William Cobb

- Fairmount

- Grattan

- John Muir

Lily Street Block Sale

They say thirteen is an unlucky number, but we hope to prove that wrong this year. April 30, 2011, marks the 13th Annual Lily Street Block Sale! It’s a great time to get together, finalize some spring cleaning, pick up bargains, and help raise funds for the PTA at John Muir Elementary.

Lily Street dead ends at the John Muir schoolyard wall, and from that point down to Franklin Street, neighbors on those four blocks (and adjoining streets) will offer thousands of items for sale at dozens of addresses. A portion of the proceeds will go to the John Muir PTA. For those not participating directly in the sale, saleable items may be donated, and 100% of the proceeds from those items will go to the PTA for their work supporting John Muir.

The sale will include a HUGE amount of kitchen items, furniture, art, clothing, sports equipment, bicycles and parts, antiques, books and much,
much more.

There will be a community BBQ accompanying the sale near the corner of Lily and Buchanan, and more activities will be planned as we get closer to the event.

13th Annual
Lily Street Block Sale
What: Lily Street Block Sale
When: Saturday April 30th, 2011
Time: 9:00 am till 3:00 pm
Location: Lily Street from Franklin to Buchanan.
Cross streets of Buchanan,
Laguna, Octavia and Gough

Planning on selling?
* A $15 Seller’s Donation gets you :
• Advertisement in multiple print and online media
• BBQ lunch
• Help raise Funds for John Muir Teacher Appreciation Day (seeking reusable donations for resale)
• A day to celebrate with your family, friends and neighbors the beauty and diversity of our community.

Not selling?
Mark your calendar and spread the word to others to join us for a day of sustainable shopping, food and fun.

Donations of items to sell benefiting John Muir PTA are needed.
RSVP by April 15th to: cpusf.founded2002@sbcglobal.net or lilystreet@hotmail.com

Spring Cleaning…with all your neighbors!

John Muir Elementary in the news

The Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association has long cared about John Muir Elementary school and the success of its students. We were fortunate to have John Muir’s Principal Rosenberg at our General Meeting in January. Rosenberg expressed much the same opinions and desires about focusing on the families of the students as well as the students. Read more here from the San Francisco Chronicle:

John Muir Elementary School Pre-Kindergarten

Do you have a four year old or a child who will turn four by December 2, 2011? Are you looking for an engaging, explorative and academic school environment for your child? If so, check out John Muir’s Pre Kindergarten program located at 380 Webster Street. As part of Title 1 and the Preschool for All initiative we are currently enrolling. Our program, taught by Ms. Mary Lee Kane, M.A. Early Childhood Education, is free and runs daily from 8:30-12:00pm.

Interested? Please visit the SFUSD Child Development Program at 20 Cook Street SF, CA 94118 and complete an application or call 415-750-8500. You can also schedule a tour of the school site by calling 415-241-6335.

Laticia Erving
Parent Liaison John Muir Elementary,
380 Webster Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
Phone: 415-241-6335
Fax: 415-431-9938

Youth in the neighborhood – Jan. 2011 General Meeting Recap

The HVNA January 27th, 2011 general meeting was busy with five presentations. The first three presentations focused on upcoming opportunities for our youth in the neighborhood with benefits for the community at large.

Rob Connolly, the President of Boys & Girls Clubs in San Francisco (BGCSF), presented the possibility of having a new Boys and Girls Club built in Hayes Valley in the existing parking lot at on the north east side of the intersection at Gough and Fulton. This site and development has BGCSF excited about the possibility of creating a 25,000 square foot facility that would have a regulation-size high school gymnasium and a full-sized swimming pool. This would benefit all the Boys and Girls Clubs in San Francisco. The concept of this new facility is in its infancy, but could be a good addition to the neighborhood. Several neighbors expressed their opinion to encourage housing to be built on this site in conjunction with the possible Boys and Girls Club. The HVNA will keep an eye on this project as it moves forward.

To learn more about the BGCSF as well as to give comments about the project you saw tonight go to this link or call the BGCSF general office line to get connected with someone about your concerns/questions at 415-445-KIDS (5437).

The Hayes Valley Playground at the south east corner of Buchanan and Hayes is entering its final months of construction. A project update was given by Jennifer Isacoff from the Trust for Public Lands, Lev Kushner, Assistant Director for Strategic Partnerships with San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and Jacob Gilchrist, Project Manager, Capital Division from the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. Emily LoSavio, Executive Director of Opportunity Impact outlined a partnership between the Hayes Valley Playground and the eight, nine and ten year olds of Opportunity Impact’s youth. About thirty students will get to be stewards and partners to the Playground from 2-6PM during the week. Opportunity Impact provides a program for students from the forth grade through the eighth grade where they can develop personal skills, academic skills and career skills in a safe and inspirational setting. LoSavio noted that these students are in the program for 1000 hours a year and are encouraged to participate in the program for all five years to really help the individuals grow.

Many members of the HVNA have been instrumental in getting community support and city support to make this renovation of the playground happen. We look forward to its opening ceremony this spring – hopefully in April or May.

John Muir Elementary School’s Principal Chris Rosenberg came to give a status update of the school. He said the school is continuing to focus on reading. Rosenberg said the school is using the “Balanced Literacy Method”. He is also working hard to get parents involved. He has assembled a group of parents that make up the School Site Council. Rosenberg was asked about the green schoolyard project. He said he has waited on that to get other more pressing issues worked out, but the greening of the schoolyard will now begin to take place in the spring.

Rosenberg encourages potential parents and students to visit the school and see what they think of the feel of the teachers, students and space in the classrooms. If you would like to get involved with the parents’ group or get more information on the school call 241-6335. Contact LaTisha Irving.

Michael Schwartz and Rachel Hiatt from the San Francisco County Transportation Authority came to present the current status of the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit Proposal. Draft environmental studies and engineering should be completed by this summer. Then the SFCTA would like to return to the HVNA to present their findings on the various options of bus and traffic configurations presented at tonight’s meeting. For more information visit Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit Proposal. The project’s are to improve the speed and efficiency of the 47 and 49 SF Muni buses as well as the Golden Gate Transit buses and to increase ridership and use of mass-transit while making automobile traffic run just as smoothly as it runs today.

Jason Henderson, Chair of the Hayes Valley Transportation and Planning Committee, emphasized the importance of improving mass-transit and increasing ridership through improved efficiency and easy of use. Improving transit is a critical part of the Market/Octavia Neighborhood Plan. If you would like to give comments on this project you can email Henderson at planning@hayesvalleysf.org.

District Five Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi dropped into the meeting to outline some of the issues he is addressing in the neighborhood and throughout the city. He discussed two-way Hayes, John Muir Elementary, a circulation study he would like to see on Fell and Oak from HV all the way to the western districts, U.C. Campus and the America’s Cup. Mirkarimi said he is concerned about neighborhood safety and invites all to attend a Public Safety Meeting on February 7th at 7PM at the Korean American Community Center, 745 Buchanan Street. You can contact his office at 415-554-7630.

A note to our blog readers: Any blue text is a link to a website where you’ll find more information on whatever the blue text reads. Just click on that blue text within the document and learn more. Enjoy.

A Letter from John Muir’s New Principal [August-September 2010 print edition]

By Chris Rosenberg

Greetings to the Hayes Valley Community, My name is Chris Rosenberg and I am the new principal of John Muir Elementary School. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help lead this wonderful school, and it is my sincere belief that through excellent teaching we will be able to significantly improve the achievement levels of the students. For the past 14 years I have worked at Starr King Elementary School in Potrero Hill, both as a teacher and principal. Prior to that work I taught middle school in West Oakland, recruited teachers across the country, and taught high school history in the Bronx. My experiences have taught me a great deal about school reform, and I feel invigorated and prepared to do the work necessary to improve academic achievement at John Muir. While I plan to make some changes at Muir, I also know there have been good things happening there already, and I am excited to continue many of them.

The work ahead at John Muir will center around the classrooms. The children are our top priority, and nobody is better able to support them in their learning than the classroom teachers. I feel fortunate that there were already many wonderful educators on staff, and I have tried to add to that list with several outstanding new hires this summer. Our focus as a staff will be the teaching of reading, as well as the other core subject areas. We are all committed to helping significantly improve achievement levels at John Muir. That work will require a great deal of effort and focus from the staff, and may mean that some traditional extra-curricular activities and partnerships be placed on hold while we get ourselves deeply into our work of teaching reading. I know the community has been extremely supportive of John Muir, and I look forward to that support, even if it may look a little different than it has in the past.

I am excited to be a part of this school and community, and look forward to learning about the many wonderful people and activities happening in the Western Addition/Hayes Valley neighborhoods. John Muir is lucky to have such an involved community that is committed to helping the students be as successful as possible. I plan to be writing a follow up article next fall celebrating the success of our first year together.

Sincerely, Chris Rosenberg

Youth Opportunity [August-September 2010 print edition]

By Barbara Wenger

CommunityGrows, an environmental education program serving high-needs youth through gardening, cooking and green-jobs training, has been very busy this summer in the Western Addition. Thanks to our great partnerships with Mo’Magic-Western Addition groups, Hayes Valley Apartments, and other summer programs, we were able to serve over 300 youth this summer.

We built gardens at Hayward Recreation Center, Opportunity Impact and Booker T. Washington Community Center. We took field trips to many places, including Green Gulch Farm and Alemany Farm. We cooked every week at Hayes Valley Apartments Community Room on Wednesday afternoons, with each week being a fun experience of hands-on learning. Our Seed-to-Mouth cooking program, in its fifth year, had youth harvesting vegetables from the Koshland Learning Garden, prepping and preparing a three-course dinner and sharing it together.


Lajaiyah Watkins enjoys a delicious and heathy meal.

This fall we will be continuing our work with the students of John Muir Elementary School and starting a gardening program at Rosa Parks Elementary School. CommunityGrows will host a workday on September 18th in Koshland Park from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M., and we will have a garden fundraiser on October 16th from 1:00 to 4:00 P.M. in the Koshland Garden. There will be live music and fresh local food. Tickets are $20.00 and can be purchased from CommunityGrows, 300 Page St, San Francisco, CA 94102. We look forward to seeing you!