rainbow montessori has been occupying the clubhouse for over 25 years. they provide a quality daycare program on a first come-first serve basis to the general public. over the many years of operation they've been in the clubhouse, they've been an excellent tenant, showing a willingness to be self-sufficient, taking interest and pride in their programs and most importantly for us -- well, as importantly, the premises. although not required in any past agreement, they've consistently maintained the interior of the clubhouse at the highest level, making significant capital investments. they're currently situated in -- the mccoppin clubhouse is currently sitted in the middle of a major construction project involving a library branch and the adjacent playground. a major tree work and demolition was planned to be completed this summer, thereby minimizing interpret ruppings of the school. it was postponed and the work will not begin until this fall. late this spring we spoke to the owner and operator of the nursery school. we spoke to her and approached her abo

i had been a montessori teacher. i have always believed in public education. it is the only place where you can touch every single child. it is our last truly democratic institution. they could grow up learning food values. >> you opened up the first one at mlk middle school. what was the reaction when you contacted the principal, i have an idea, that concrete parking lot, i want to convert it into an edible garden and educate your children of slow food of all things. >> he was very charming and wonderful and open and desperate. desperate. he wanted us to come in and beautify the school. he knew chez panisse had something to do with gardens. he hadn't eaten here. this person could be useful, let her come in and see what she can do. so when we walked around and talked, okay, well with, you know, i'm prepared to do a garden, i'm not sure i'm ready to feed every child a real lunch. he said we better wait a bit. i said it is all or nothing. he said i'll get back to you. it took him 6 months and then he called back and said i have been working with parents and the

i was showing a montessory class there. this is an amphitheatre. it's a wonderful amphitheatre. there was from the sidewalks and they just reused it to create other things. down in menlow park. they built into a caretakers house. the wpa is must more famous. it came after the cw a. it did everything. they put eight and a half million people to work. they built roads. they sewed clothes. they built roads is in san francisco. this one, i have seen them on sidewalks in san francisco. this is on a retains wall in crocket. they are very seldom markers. cw a doesn't. pw a, almost never. not nearly commiserate with what they were doing. that's one of the restrooms in golden gate park. that's a plaque, carefully hidden. the gardeners prune the vine so you can have a chance of finding it. here's one at park and mont clar. they are using a facility that was built by that. finally, the public works is not well known, but should be. they gave grants and loans for dams and sewage. sewage treatment. airports et cetera. hopkins couldn't stand each other. and were constantly battling. they kick

there are montessori schools and all schools in europe and around the world where there is the way the children are fed, food locally produced and food that is ripe and in season. >> you have a book coming out soon, i asked alice if she could share some of the photographs with with you. i couldn't resist the opportunity because you brought them with you. they are right here. perhaps you can just show us photos. pictures are the proverbial of 1,000 words. you can see the faces of children that have had the privilege of these schoolyards. >> i want to show you this one picture. you can't quite believe this is, in fact, a real picture. it is not out of the "wizard of oz" [laughter] i'll show you the one that is, this is what it looked like before. that is the before and the after. >> which schoolyard is this? >> king school. and this is king school. this is a beautiful one and they are setting the table. >> imagine social interaction and sense of community that this is also a powerful point, working together, partnership? >> the 2 things that are most important, um, i believe, that we hav

on the opening of school, everything happened very smoothly with the exception of the preschool at montessori, which i hear now will be reopening. but all other construction actually happened on schedule. where there were some concerns, letters were sent out to parents, and i believe that was at i.s.a., international academy. and in terms of educator housing, which was brought up earlier, we will be getting the same exact prosecutes takes at the committee on the agenda item. next is a report from the augmented curriculum and program committee from september 7th. commissioner fewer? >> we had a very short meeting, thank goodness. the committee recommended -- i mean the committee adopted the recommendation from staff, which was to bring this back to the next crick larry meeting so we could answer questions -- curriculum questions so we could answer questions brought by staff. >> our next report is the augmented ad hoc committee on student assignment, which i heard was a nice and lengthy meeting from yesterday. commissioner wynns? >> thank you. yes, we had a lot of people here. that was really g

i think if you look particularly at schools at -- schools the montessori would feed into, because there will not have a graduating class for a couple of years, it would create a different size for a few years. there were concerns about that, and also how many seats would be open for children and other situations. to comment briefly, we have a number of really large middle schools. they are all on the left side. they are way larger than the number of children who live near it. then we have the other schools that are in areas that have way more kids than they can accommodate, and they are so much smaller. this issue of choice -- when we think about where our students live and where our schools are, while we cannot give any definitive answer, because we have to see how choice patterns change under a new system, just looking at the size of the buildings and the locations of the students themselves would suggest there would be statements -- would be placements at the high-demand schools. we believe that would shift. that is something we get questions about. there were suggestions that we slo

i work full time as a preschool teacher at a montessori school that does not offer insurance to their employees, so i was scared to death, more you know not as much, oh, i've got cancer, what am i going to do? it was how am i going to pay for these outrageous bills that are going to come our way. so then we would have had to go into our retirement fund and use that up and one son in college and one son on the way to college in two years. we would have had to use all of the money we saved for those to pay for my medical bills. when we heard about the high risk pool and that it was in effect, in july 1st, we got right onto it. we called people, we got all of the criteria in order so that we were actually insured on july 1st. my doctor let me wait for three months to start chemotherapy and radiation, and on july 5th i started chemo, and i'm doing radiation now. >> you're hearing some of the stories that the president is listening to, but really highlighting the advantages to the health care reform, it's exactly what he is trying to get across so that not only dot american people realize

montessori schools, waldorf schools, single sex schools. the list is very long. they provide nearly $100 million a year of financial aid and as i say, some of them charge only a nominal tuition what do you see as the advantage over a private school where a lot of these -- the revenues are coming in from the tuition as opposed to coming in from the government or from mandated programs? >> well in the independent schools in this area. you tend to find smaller, more personalized learning environments, commitment to art, music, enrichment, safety is a high priority between students and teachers so the goal is to provide individualized instruction as much as possible. >> at the same time from a public aspect if you are relying on municipalities and governments to provide funding, do you feel like your hands are tied as not having as much say as to what goes into the educational content? >> it's a more complex system i believe. on the other hand the things that tom mentioned that i think every parent wants that for their students. we have to lift them up. we have our p

i worked full-time as a preschool teacher at a montessori school that did not offer insurance to their employees. it was not fear that i had cancer, it was how was i going to pay for the outrageous bills that were going to come my way? we would have had to go into our retirement fund and use all that up. we have one son in college and one on the way in two years. we would have to use all the money we had saved the paper my medical bills. when we heard about the high risk pool and that it was in effect in july, we got right onto it. we call people, we got all the criteria in order so that we were actually insured on july 1. my doctor let me wait for three months to start chemotherapy and radiation, and on july 5 i started chemo. i am doing radiation right now. i am doing great. if it was not for this bill, i would probably not be feeling great, because i would be so stressed out and worried about paying for my medical bills. now i can focus on my health instead of focusing on how am i going to pay to get better. so i personally thank all of you so much. you do not know how this has chan