October 27, 2023 • 26 mins
What if you could influence the structure of your child's school, ensure they receive a quality education, and foster a vibrant community while doing so? In this podcast, Superintendent Ochoa is joined by Dr. Christian Rubalcaba, Director of School Leadership, Anavela Calderon, a student from San Mateo Park School, and Tania Toala, a parent with children in the district. The four discuss the community schools project and the impact our community makes to create a school that serves their needs.
Together they paint an inspiring picture of parent empowerment and community engagement in the school district, demonstrating the potential for a better school environment through collaboration and open dialogue.
Learn more by visiting the Community Schools webpage on the district website.
Interested in learning more? Check out our recent On the Road to Year 3 Annual Report!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining
us again today.
My name is Diego Ochoa, I'msuperintendent of the San Mateo
Foster City School District andI'm really delighted to be with
you all today on the One SMFCpodcast.
It's a really exciting episodewhere we are inviting parents
and actually students from thedistrict to be on our podcast.
(00:35):
Let's give a round of applausefor today's episode, and I'm
here with three really greatpeople who are going to be a
part of this podcast.
Each one is going to introducethemselves and tell us all about
who they are starting with.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Hello everyone.
My name is Dr CristianneRovalcaba and I'm the director
of school leadership and in myrole I have the great honor of
leading our community schoolsinitiative in our district's
five community schools in themaking.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Hello, my name is Anavela Calderon.
I am a student at San MateoPark School and I am attending
this podcast today.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
That's our school, San Mateo Park School.
You got the big, beautifultrees over there.
I think some of those trees are100 years old and maybe even
older than a hundred.
Do they talk to you about thatat school?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Well, mostly they just like talk about like what
kind of trees?
It is and how old they are.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
But yes, they do talk about that when our families go
there for the first time, I'malways really amazed by how they
react.
The trees are gorgeous, theshade everywhere at that school.
It's a really beautiful placeto be.
When did you start at San MateoPark?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
So I started in third grade.
I moved to San Mateo threeyears ago, I finished second
grade in my old school and thenI started third grade here and
now I'm in first grade and I'mgoing to finish with grade here.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's your last year, the best year.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
But you're not here by yourself.
You have somebody else on ourpodcast.
Introduce yourself for us.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
My name is Tania Toala.
I am a parent in this district.
I have a fourth grader atFiesta Gardens and a seventh
grader at Apt.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So you have the two different schools, the two
different start times, twodifferent end times.
It is complicated some daysyour student over at Abbott has
a lot of teachers.
Yes six or seven differentteachers.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Six, because he's in the motion program.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
So he's got a couple of classes with the same teacher
.
Yes, but you have a newprincipal there.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Yes and we're assistant principals.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yes, and how's it going so far?
Speaker 4 (02:59):
So probably good.
Yeah, we were sad to lose MrFigueroa Mr Figueroa from the
immersion program, but we'rehappy for him and we are
positive that it will make goodchanges for the whole school.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Definitely.
Mr Figueroa taught in theimmersion program last year.
Now he's one of the assistantprincipals.
You also have some newcounselors there Dr Rugal Kaba.
We're here with a student fromSan Mateo Park, a parent that's
representing Abbott MiddleSchool and Fiesta Gardens
International School, and you asa as a director, who's been
(03:35):
monitoring this communityschools process.
You're working with a lot ofdifferent schools.
Help our, our families and ourstaff learn a little bit more
about what schools you've beenworking with.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, no, it's been a great journey.
We started off at the beginningof last school year with year
one of the multi-stakeholderinput process For our five
schools that received thisplanning grant, including San
Mateo Park, fiesta Gardens,sunnybray, laurel and lead and
it's been great.
I think when we started off theinitiative, you know, parents
(04:14):
were showing up to the communityevening events just curious
about what a community schoolwas Right and what the grant was
all about.
As we started meeting moreroutinely right, I would come
out every month roughly we couldstarted to see the crowds
growing right when we startedoff at the beginning of you,
(04:35):
with 20 or 30 parents by the endof the year, where we're
talking like over a hundredparents and that was the case
actually at the end of lastschool year at San Mateo Park,
if you recall.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
That's right.
And those meetings, when youmeet with those families, they
are separate.
So you meet with Sunnybraystaff and families and it's a
different meeting than themeeting for the Laurel staff and
families.
Why is that?
Why do you separate them inthat way?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I think it's important to Understand the
assets of each school.
Every school has differentqualities.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
That these schools are very different from one
another.
It's if you go and spend timeat Fiesta Gardens International
School.
It's really different than SanMateo Park.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
That's right.
Yeah, and I think it's also aswe're looking for feedback from
families.
We want to make sure that thecommunity schools that were
tailoring I mean there will besome similarities because we're
following the California fourpillars model.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
But if you have a meeting because some of these
schools, you'll have 60 or 70people there, right?
So if you did that and you putall five schools together,
that's almost 300 people.
How much are people gonna beable to give their opinion if
they're in a room with 300 otherparents?
So I think part of it is alsojust to because for you, that's
(05:59):
five meetings you're holdinginstead of one meeting, correct?
It's more time, right, and youprobably spread it out over
multiple weeks, correct?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yes, and you're absolutely correct.
I think what's really crucialin this process is ensuring that
every family at each site feelsheard and valued, and so their
contributions need to beactively collected at these
meetings so that Part of thedesign includes their voice, and
(06:28):
that's and that's what theempowerment process is all about
is ensuring that families havefeel that comfort right, that
safety, sense of safety to beable to share what it is that
they feel our kids need tothrive right to take us to the
next level and then when youcome across a school where
(06:49):
they're starting to get someideas together.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
This is the year.
Now you have a districtsteering committee and now the
schools are starting to createmuch more specific plans and
much more Clear ideas about whatneeds to change in each one of
those schools.
Is that fair to say?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
That's absolutely fair to say at this point in our
journey.
We've received a lot of input,I mean hundreds of ideas from
each school and the steeringcommittees, which is part of the
shirt leadership pillar.
Their task is really to siftthrough the data.
Right, I facilitate the process, but I don't actually touch the
(07:30):
data.
I don't Manipulate.
You know, no one does right.
What they now do is they comeup with the trends, right, you
know they determine like the top10 or 15 ideas that the
families have at each community.
So it's really, really excitingto see that process.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
And we're joined today by one of our parents and
you have kids at two differentschools and I'm curious to know,
when you think about a schoollike Abbott we have teenagers at
that school what comes to mindfor you about things that we can
do to improve programs andservices for students at Abbott?
(08:07):
What are some ways that wecould do our work better there?
Speaker 4 (08:11):
So I think one of the challenges, though, is that the
schools, the middle schools,are so big.
There are just too manystudents, so it is very hard to
really understand what ishappening because you have so
many personalities and also thefact that the teachers they go
through so many teachers duringthe day is not that you have
someone that can be with themall day long to understand what
(08:34):
these kids are going through.
So I don't know if there is apossibility to have smaller
groups, not necessarily smallerschools, but somehow divide this
existing schools.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Group, the kids together.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Group, the kids.
Yeah, in a different way, sothat kids with specific needs
have one way of doing things,and then other kids that are
more interested in, let's say,sports, for example, they do
something more towards that goal.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Actually, most Abbott students will go to Hillsdale
High School when they leaveAbbott.
I believe that's actually partof what happens at Hillsdale,
where students are part of theselearning groups, these cohorts
of kids, and it's working reallywell for Hillsdale High School
(09:25):
and it's just up the street.
It might be something welearned from them.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
Probably something that could be implemented at the
middle school level as well.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
So that's part of it to make the kids feel more
connected.
But you also have a child atFiesta, so I'm sure you have
some ideas on how to improveprograms and services at Fiesta.
What would you suggest for aschool like Fiesta?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
I think communication is something that needs to be
looked at Because up to thesedays, there are still families
that don't know what is going on.
So the first thing would be tofind other channels to get to
the parents even if it's likeone-on-one communications at
this point and then go throughthe entire 400 families and make
(10:09):
sure that they know what'sgoing on.
That would be the first thing,and I'm sure that that will also
engage more people if they areaware of what the district is
doing.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
I think it's also important to open up, for our
students to be able to tell uswhat school is like for them,
and when we do that, I thinkwe're going to hear it from the
kids who are experiencing it.
When you're at school on aday-to-day basis, what really
(10:41):
gets you excited about being atschool?
Speaker 3 (10:44):
What really gets me excited is also spending time
with my friends and knowing thatI'm going to learn something
different today and knowing thattoday might be better than
yesterday if I had a bad day andalso getting to learn more
about, let's say, now we'relearning about corn, and it's
(11:09):
interesting.
You always have this questionoh, what are we going to learn
today?
Or what else are we going totalk about?
So that's a little bit excitingfor me To be able to question
myself oh, what are we going tolearn today?
Or what are we going to talkabout today?
And sometimes we have a silentreading and sometimes when I
(11:30):
finish my book, I'm like OK,what book should I read?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And you mentioned reading, and your school has
this great library that's right,almost at the front of the
school.
When you go into the library,what books stand out to you?
What do you want to read whenyou go in there?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Well, in my opinion, my favorite books are usually
like mystery books, chapterbooks or fantasy books, because
I really like them, because it'ssomething that you can actually
imagine in your mind and it'svery entertaining for me because
you can imagine it in your mindand you can pretend to be
(12:09):
somebody you're not, or pretendto be in the book, like you can
pretend to be the main character, and for me it's like being in
a play, so you read your role,and the best part for me reading
a book is that you can inviteother people so you can
basically also make a play, likesomebody can have their role
and you can have your role, andit's super fun.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
And then when you're in class with your teacher and
with the rest of your classmates, what activities in class with
your teacher stand out to you,what really works for you in
class.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Well, something that works for me is like working
with a partner, working with agroup, because, in my opinion,
you can actually like share youridea with other people so they
can hear it and it feels likeyou're actually being heard.
So it's very exciting and alsoa very popular game in my class
(13:13):
is Silent Ball.
So whenever people play that,like everyone gets so excited
about playing it and I feel likethat's also really fun, like
actually playing with yourclassmates and actually making
more friends.
So you can like Be playing withother people, even though, like
, you don't really like like itthat much, but like you'll warm
(13:34):
up to you have to explain thegame tell me.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Now you got me excited.
I want to play this.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
What you do in my class.
You sit on your desk andthere's a you have to be like
silent and it's basically in thename a thousand teachers.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
That just said oh my.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So you Like you have to be totally silent, like if
you talk you get out of the game.
So there's a couple of ruleslike no talking, no throwing the
ball, like really hard, nogetting caught chaotic.
And and like no like jumpingoff on the desk or anything like
(14:20):
that.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
So most of the rules are about not Hurting your yeah
and then what do you?
How does the?
What is what happens in thegame?
Speaker 3 (14:28):
So you have to throw the ball, like sometimes the
teacher said, like okay, onesecond hold.
So you have to.
Like you can only hold the ballfor one second and then you
have to throw it okay, soUsually like people are like so
excited and like wheneversomebody loses it, like kind of
like hot potato.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Yeah, kind of okay like mostly like hot potato and
if you're holding it at the end,are you winning or are you out?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Um, so kind of like, if you hold it more than one
second, if the teacher says thatyou're Out, so you have to be
really fast with your reflex,like you have to have like
really fast movements, andsometimes people just hit the
ball with their hand and it goesflying out of the classroom so
(15:11):
somebody has to go get it andthen the person that hit it like
gets out.
Um, it gets a bit chaotic in myclass, but usually, like it's
super fun to play well, and, andwe want, as a teacher, we want
kids to have fun in class.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
So sometimes these games, they add a little bit of
fun To break up the day, to givekids something to look forward
to.
When, when, as a parent, yousend your, your child, to fiesta
or to Abbott, what are theevents that the school puts on
that you look forward to as aparent, because you know there's
(15:44):
some special events that happenthroughout the year?
What?
What are those events that youreally look forward to?
Speaker 4 (15:50):
So yeah, so I'd be a specific.
We do have several Eventsthroughout the year, like fiesta
is fine.
Now, for example, we have thecarnival at the end of the year.
So all those events, they theyget the kids excited because
they know that they are going tobe at the school, but it's
completely unstructured time sothey are free to roam and play
(16:10):
as much as they can.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
And for parents, it gives the opportunity to connect
with other families you know,and and establish more closer
relationships so if the schooldistrict is moving towards
community schools and you are ata school that already has two
events that are very powerful tocreate community, then those
(16:33):
are examples for a school likeSan Mateo Park that doesn't have
fiesta hispana, but there are alot of Latino students at that
school and a similar experiencemight be something that the
families at that school, drUwakawa, through the community
schools process.
This might be something thatthey develop and create.
(16:57):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (16:57):
That is correct and part of the role of the steering
committees at each site, asthey're developing their plans,
their assets list and the thingsthat they wish to use.
The funding for these plans arethen used and shared with the
other sites.
We just assembled a districtlevel steering committee and
(17:19):
part of the purpose of thissteering committee is to have
the different schools talk toone another after the input
process and that's where thoseopportunities come in of sharing
and these ideas that I thinkcan be implemented at other
sites, like fiesta, this Latinokind of infused festival that
(17:41):
would help a school like SanMateo with so many parents who
come from a Latino background.
So that's kind of the ideabehind the district level
steering committee for thecommunity schools.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
And actually one of our middle schools, burrell,
puts on.
They call it an internationalfair.
They have two gymnasiums, onebig one and one smaller, older
gymnasium, and they have thegymnasium set up for three days
and all the parents come in andit's a very international school
(18:16):
.
So there are parents from Korea, japan, australia, Mexico, el
Salvador, all over the worldGermany, russia, poland and they
set up educational booths andthey also make a little bit of
food and they put on this eventthat at that school.
(18:36):
It's a very powerful event andI think it's sort of a great way
for us to ask students whatthey get excited about during
the day in class, but alsooutside of class.
Because it won't be very longhere, you'll be at one of our
middle schools next year.
Have you thought about whatmiddle school you're going to go
(18:57):
to next year?
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Well, actually I am in a program called Peninsula
Bridge, so they give you theoption if you want to go into
something called the ChoiceProgram.
It's kind of where you choosewhat private middle school you
want to go to.
So right now I'm in the ChoiceProgram and I'm still looking
(19:19):
for schools that I want to go to, and some of the schools that
I've thought of going is likeCastilea, sacred Heart and other
schools kind of like that, likeNueva and Menlo.
And I'm actually really excitedto try to go to the schools.
(19:39):
I actually went to the Castileaschool a couple of days ago to
go see what it's like and I hada tour guide, like one of the
students show me around theschool and it's actually a
really cool school.
So I've been thinking of goingto one of those schools because
I feel like it's a very bigopportunity for me to go to a
(20:01):
private school because I knowthat some other kids don't have
that.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
And to bring it back to both Fiesta and Abbott and
Laurel and some of our otherschools, the program for
Peninsula Bridge.
It actually starts in fourthgrade, so it started last year
for you.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
And the program provides afterschool instruction
and college counseling andsummer program and it follows
the student until they finishcollege.
So they start when they're 10years old, when they're in
fourth grade, and they have thisgroup of people follow them and
(20:44):
meet with them for over 10years until they graduate
college.
And part of the program is whenthey hit middle school.
The program gives them theoption of going to any school
they want and it's an example ofhow that might be something
that some of our other communityschools say we need to bring
(21:08):
Peninsula Bridge to our schoolbecause it's at Somatale Park.
So where can we pull programslike that?
And there are other programsPeninsula Bridge, the people
that work there are amazing.
They're very lovely people.
We just created a new program atHighlands and at Laurel for
Peninsula Bridge, so I'm excited.
We have 40 kids who started theprogram this year and it didn't
(21:30):
exist last year.
But I think we have alreadyinvolved those very Partners
like Peninsula Bridge and otherswho are ready for us to step up
and say bring our kids to yourprograms.
And I think the communityschools process is gonna help us
get there and if we giveparents that voice and that
power, it Ends up serving thecommunity.
(21:52):
So what I want to end with andI want to give each person an
opportunity to share, and I'llstart with you, tanya is Give us
a message about the importanceof parents getting involved in
their child's education.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
I think it is super important that parents to start
from the very beginning, notonly because they will
understand how their kids aredoing and then they can advocate
for them and make sure that,first of all, that their
families are getting their needs, their needs met, but also to
to develop this sense ofcommunity with other families,
(22:30):
but also with the teachers.
It's important to have thispartnership with the teachers
throughout entire schoolexperience and then, because you
know they, we cannot leaveeverything just to this school.
Definitely, education starts athome and then what the school
will do is they will just workwith you on that.
So we cannot let, we cannotjust expect that everything is
(22:54):
going to happen during the hoursthat the kids are away.
So that's why we need to be inconstant communication and
understand what's going on.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Really wise words from one parent to all the
parents that are gonna listen tothis podcast.
We have our student here, andOne thing that I always want
kids to to share with oneanother is what.
What has been the best thingfor you about being at school?
What has helped you the most atschool?
Speaker 3 (23:24):
I think the Most part that has helped me in school is
probably like knowing thatyou're not alone in this, like
you can actually ask for helpand you don't have to feel like
you're answering this on yourown and Like nobody's gonna help
you.
Like you can actually know thatlike oh yeah, you can ask the
teacher for help if you needhelp, or if the teacher night
(23:45):
there, you can ask a friend.
So I feel like that actuallyhelps me a lot in school, like
knowing that I'm not alone andknowing that I can ask For help
if I need to and knowing thatI'm not gonna be judged.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Well, really, equally , equally powerful message.
Dr Wakaba, you are one of manyschool administrators in this
district and you get.
You're lucky to be able to beat all these schools and to see
their school communities Cometogether.
What's your biggest hope forthe community schools process?
When it's all said and done,what's your biggest hope for
(24:21):
community schools?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
I would say my biggest hope Is to see and I'm
already starting to see thisParents fired up about their
schools.
I know the kind of communityschool initiative process.
The approach that we that wetook was, you know, one in which
(24:43):
we were opening doors forfamilies and inviting them to
come to the table in a processthat Doesn't always
traditionally happen right inschools, whether public or
private.
Right, it's usually educatorsand folks on the inside right
who Organize and plan and justmake decisions, and we kind of
(25:04):
we turn the model upside downand we're now opening the doors
for families to have opinions,to analyze data, to Really look
at priorities and this, makedecisions and decide on these
priorities, and so, like my hopeis to see just an even greater
explosion of parent empowermentand engagement at our schools,
(25:27):
not just at their own sites, butlike getting involved in
district level committees, right, and looking at things more
globally, because, you know, Ifirmly believe that when one
child wins, they all win right,and so just want that's happen
as a result.
So I look forward to that.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Well, and we're.
We're a couple of months away,but we're also On the doorstep
of the work starting.
It is going to take thecollaborative efforts of our
teachers, our principles, ourstudents and our parents, and I
have every, every confidencethat we're gonna get there.
And thank you all for joiningme on the one smfc podcast you.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining
us again today.
My name is Diego Ochoa, I'msuperintendent of the San Mateo
Foster City School District andI'm really delighted to be with
you all today on the One SMFCpodcast.
It's a really exciting episodewhere we are inviting parents
and actually students from thedistrict to be on our podcast.
(00:35):
Let's give a round of applausefor today's episode, and I'm
here with three really greatpeople who are going to be a
part of this podcast.
Each one is going to introducethemselves and tell us all about
who they are starting with.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Hello everyone.
My name is Dr CristianneRovalcaba and I'm the director
of school leadership and in myrole I have the great honor of
leading our community schoolsinitiative in our district's
five community schools in themaking.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Hello, my name is Anavela Calderon.
I am a student at San MateoPark School and I am attending
this podcast today.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
That's our school, San Mateo Park School.
You got the big, beautifultrees over there.
I think some of those trees are100 years old and maybe even
older than a hundred.
Do they talk to you about thatat school?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Well, mostly they just like talk about like what
kind of trees?
It is and how old they are.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
But yes, they do talk about that when our families go
there for the first time, I'malways really amazed by how they
react.
The trees are gorgeous, theshade everywhere at that school.
It's a really beautiful placeto be.
When did you start at San MateoPark?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
So I started in third grade.
I moved to San Mateo threeyears ago, I finished second
grade in my old school and thenI started third grade here and
now I'm in first grade and I'mgoing to finish with grade here.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's your last year, the best year.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
But you're not here by yourself.
You have somebody else on ourpodcast.
Introduce yourself for us.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
My name is Tania Toala.
I am a parent in this district.
I have a fourth grader atFiesta Gardens and a seventh
grader at Apt.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So you have the two different schools, the two
different start times, twodifferent end times.
It is complicated some daysyour student over at Abbott has
a lot of teachers.
Yes six or seven differentteachers.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Six, because he's in the motion program.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
So he's got a couple of classes with the same teacher
.
Yes, but you have a newprincipal there.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Yes and we're assistant principals.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yes, and how's it going so far?
Speaker 4 (02:59):
So probably good.
Yeah, we were sad to lose MrFigueroa Mr Figueroa from the
immersion program, but we'rehappy for him and we are
positive that it will make goodchanges for the whole school.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Definitely.
Mr Figueroa taught in theimmersion program last year.
Now he's one of the assistantprincipals.
You also have some newcounselors there Dr Rugal Kaba.
We're here with a student fromSan Mateo Park, a parent that's
representing Abbott MiddleSchool and Fiesta Gardens
International School, and you asa as a director, who's been
(03:35):
monitoring this communityschools process.
You're working with a lot ofdifferent schools.
Help our, our families and ourstaff learn a little bit more
about what schools you've beenworking with.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, no, it's been a great journey.
We started off at the beginningof last school year with year
one of the multi-stakeholderinput process For our five
schools that received thisplanning grant, including San
Mateo Park, fiesta Gardens,sunnybray, laurel and lead and
it's been great.
I think when we started off theinitiative, you know, parents
(04:14):
were showing up to the communityevening events just curious
about what a community schoolwas Right and what the grant was
all about.
As we started meeting moreroutinely right, I would come
out every month roughly we couldstarted to see the crowds
growing right when we startedoff at the beginning of you,
(04:35):
with 20 or 30 parents by the endof the year, where we're
talking like over a hundredparents and that was the case
actually at the end of lastschool year at San Mateo Park,
if you recall.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
That's right.
And those meetings, when youmeet with those families, they
are separate.
So you meet with Sunnybraystaff and families and it's a
different meeting than themeeting for the Laurel staff and
families.
Why is that?
Why do you separate them inthat way?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I think it's important to Understand the
assets of each school.
Every school has differentqualities.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
That these schools are very different from one
another.
It's if you go and spend timeat Fiesta Gardens International
School.
It's really different than SanMateo Park.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
That's right.
Yeah, and I think it's also aswe're looking for feedback from
families.
We want to make sure that thecommunity schools that were
tailoring I mean there will besome similarities because we're
following the California fourpillars model.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
But if you have a meeting because some of these
schools, you'll have 60 or 70people there, right?
So if you did that and you putall five schools together,
that's almost 300 people.
How much are people gonna beable to give their opinion if
they're in a room with 300 otherparents?
So I think part of it is alsojust to because for you, that's
(05:59):
five meetings you're holdinginstead of one meeting, correct?
It's more time, right, and youprobably spread it out over
multiple weeks, correct?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yes, and you're absolutely correct.
I think what's really crucialin this process is ensuring that
every family at each site feelsheard and valued, and so their
contributions need to beactively collected at these
meetings so that Part of thedesign includes their voice, and
(06:28):
that's and that's what theempowerment process is all about
is ensuring that families havefeel that comfort right, that
safety, sense of safety to beable to share what it is that
they feel our kids need tothrive right to take us to the
next level and then when youcome across a school where
(06:49):
they're starting to get someideas together.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
This is the year.
Now you have a districtsteering committee and now the
schools are starting to createmuch more specific plans and
much more Clear ideas about whatneeds to change in each one of
those schools.
Is that fair to say?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
That's absolutely fair to say at this point in our
journey.
We've received a lot of input,I mean hundreds of ideas from
each school and the steeringcommittees, which is part of the
shirt leadership pillar.
Their task is really to siftthrough the data.
Right, I facilitate the process, but I don't actually touch the
(07:30):
data.
I don't Manipulate.
You know, no one does right.
What they now do is they comeup with the trends, right, you
know they determine like the top10 or 15 ideas that the
families have at each community.
So it's really, really excitingto see that process.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
And we're joined today by one of our parents and
you have kids at two differentschools and I'm curious to know,
when you think about a schoollike Abbott we have teenagers at
that school what comes to mindfor you about things that we can
do to improve programs andservices for students at Abbott?
(08:07):
What are some ways that wecould do our work better there?
Speaker 4 (08:11):
So I think one of the challenges, though, is that the
schools, the middle schools,are so big.
There are just too manystudents, so it is very hard to
really understand what ishappening because you have so
many personalities and also thefact that the teachers they go
through so many teachers duringthe day is not that you have
someone that can be with themall day long to understand what
(08:34):
these kids are going through.
So I don't know if there is apossibility to have smaller
groups, not necessarily smallerschools, but somehow divide this
existing schools.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Group, the kids together.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Group, the kids.
Yeah, in a different way, sothat kids with specific needs
have one way of doing things,and then other kids that are
more interested in, let's say,sports, for example, they do
something more towards that goal.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Actually, most Abbott students will go to Hillsdale
High School when they leaveAbbott.
I believe that's actually partof what happens at Hillsdale,
where students are part of theselearning groups, these cohorts
of kids, and it's working reallywell for Hillsdale High School
(09:25):
and it's just up the street.
It might be something welearned from them.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
Probably something that could be implemented at the
middle school level as well.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
So that's part of it to make the kids feel more
connected.
But you also have a child atFiesta, so I'm sure you have
some ideas on how to improveprograms and services at Fiesta.
What would you suggest for aschool like Fiesta?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
I think communication is something that needs to be
looked at Because up to thesedays, there are still families
that don't know what is going on.
So the first thing would be tofind other channels to get to
the parents even if it's likeone-on-one communications at
this point and then go throughthe entire 400 families and make
(10:09):
sure that they know what'sgoing on.
That would be the first thing,and I'm sure that that will also
engage more people if they areaware of what the district is
doing.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
I think it's also important to open up, for our
students to be able to tell uswhat school is like for them,
and when we do that, I thinkwe're going to hear it from the
kids who are experiencing it.
When you're at school on aday-to-day basis, what really
(10:41):
gets you excited about being atschool?
Speaker 3 (10:44):
What really gets me excited is also spending time
with my friends and knowing thatI'm going to learn something
different today and knowing thattoday might be better than
yesterday if I had a bad day andalso getting to learn more
about, let's say, now we'relearning about corn, and it's
(11:09):
interesting.
You always have this questionoh, what are we going to learn
today?
Or what else are we going totalk about?
So that's a little bit excitingfor me To be able to question
myself oh, what are we going tolearn today?
Or what are we going to talkabout today?
And sometimes we have a silentreading and sometimes when I
(11:30):
finish my book, I'm like OK,what book should I read?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And you mentioned reading, and your school has
this great library that's right,almost at the front of the
school.
When you go into the library,what books stand out to you?
What do you want to read whenyou go in there?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Well, in my opinion, my favorite books are usually
like mystery books, chapterbooks or fantasy books, because
I really like them, because it'ssomething that you can actually
imagine in your mind and it'svery entertaining for me because
you can imagine it in your mindand you can pretend to be
(12:09):
somebody you're not, or pretendto be in the book, like you can
pretend to be the main character, and for me it's like being in
a play, so you read your role,and the best part for me reading
a book is that you can inviteother people so you can
basically also make a play, likesomebody can have their role
and you can have your role, andit's super fun.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
And then when you're in class with your teacher and
with the rest of your classmates, what activities in class with
your teacher stand out to you,what really works for you in
class.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Well, something that works for me is like working
with a partner, working with agroup, because, in my opinion,
you can actually like share youridea with other people so they
can hear it and it feels likeyou're actually being heard.
So it's very exciting and alsoa very popular game in my class
(13:13):
is Silent Ball.
So whenever people play that,like everyone gets so excited
about playing it and I feel likethat's also really fun, like
actually playing with yourclassmates and actually making
more friends.
So you can like Be playing withother people, even though, like
, you don't really like like itthat much, but like you'll warm
(13:34):
up to you have to explain thegame tell me.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Now you got me excited.
I want to play this.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
What you do in my class.
You sit on your desk andthere's a you have to be like
silent and it's basically in thename a thousand teachers.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
That just said oh my.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So you Like you have to be totally silent, like if
you talk you get out of the game.
So there's a couple of ruleslike no talking, no throwing the
ball, like really hard, nogetting caught chaotic.
And and like no like jumpingoff on the desk or anything like
(14:20):
that.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
So most of the rules are about not Hurting your yeah
and then what do you?
How does the?
What is what happens in thegame?
Speaker 3 (14:28):
So you have to throw the ball, like sometimes the
teacher said, like okay, onesecond hold.
So you have to.
Like you can only hold the ballfor one second and then you
have to throw it okay, soUsually like people are like so
excited and like wheneversomebody loses it, like kind of
like hot potato.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Yeah, kind of okay like mostly like hot potato and
if you're holding it at the end,are you winning or are you out?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Um, so kind of like, if you hold it more than one
second, if the teacher says thatyou're Out, so you have to be
really fast with your reflex,like you have to have like
really fast movements, andsometimes people just hit the
ball with their hand and it goesflying out of the classroom so
(15:11):
somebody has to go get it andthen the person that hit it like
gets out.
Um, it gets a bit chaotic in myclass, but usually, like it's
super fun to play well, and, andwe want, as a teacher, we want
kids to have fun in class.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
So sometimes these games, they add a little bit of
fun To break up the day, to givekids something to look forward
to.
When, when, as a parent, yousend your, your child, to fiesta
or to Abbott, what are theevents that the school puts on
that you look forward to as aparent, because you know there's
(15:44):
some special events that happenthroughout the year?
What?
What are those events that youreally look forward to?
Speaker 4 (15:50):
So yeah, so I'd be a specific.
We do have several Eventsthroughout the year, like fiesta
is fine.
Now, for example, we have thecarnival at the end of the year.
So all those events, they theyget the kids excited because
they know that they are going tobe at the school, but it's
completely unstructured time sothey are free to roam and play
(16:10):
as much as they can.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
And for parents, it gives the opportunity to connect
with other families you know,and and establish more closer
relationships so if the schooldistrict is moving towards
community schools and you are ata school that already has two
events that are very powerful tocreate community, then those
(16:33):
are examples for a school likeSan Mateo Park that doesn't have
fiesta hispana, but there are alot of Latino students at that
school and a similar experiencemight be something that the
families at that school, drUwakawa, through the community
schools process.
This might be something thatthey develop and create.
(16:57):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (16:57):
That is correct and part of the role of the steering
committees at each site, asthey're developing their plans,
their assets list and the thingsthat they wish to use.
The funding for these plans arethen used and shared with the
other sites.
We just assembled a districtlevel steering committee and
(17:19):
part of the purpose of thissteering committee is to have
the different schools talk toone another after the input
process and that's where thoseopportunities come in of sharing
and these ideas that I thinkcan be implemented at other
sites, like fiesta, this Latinokind of infused festival that
(17:41):
would help a school like SanMateo with so many parents who
come from a Latino background.
So that's kind of the ideabehind the district level
steering committee for thecommunity schools.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
And actually one of our middle schools, burrell,
puts on.
They call it an internationalfair.
They have two gymnasiums, onebig one and one smaller, older
gymnasium, and they have thegymnasium set up for three days
and all the parents come in andit's a very international school
(18:16):
.
So there are parents from Korea, japan, australia, Mexico, el
Salvador, all over the worldGermany, russia, poland and they
set up educational booths andthey also make a little bit of
food and they put on this eventthat at that school.
(18:36):
It's a very powerful event andI think it's sort of a great way
for us to ask students whatthey get excited about during
the day in class, but alsooutside of class.
Because it won't be very longhere, you'll be at one of our
middle schools next year.
Have you thought about whatmiddle school you're going to go
(18:57):
to next year?
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Well, actually I am in a program called Peninsula
Bridge, so they give you theoption if you want to go into
something called the ChoiceProgram.
It's kind of where you choosewhat private middle school you
want to go to.
So right now I'm in the ChoiceProgram and I'm still looking
(19:19):
for schools that I want to go to, and some of the schools that
I've thought of going is likeCastilea, sacred Heart and other
schools kind of like that, likeNueva and Menlo.
And I'm actually really excitedto try to go to the schools.
(19:39):
I actually went to the Castileaschool a couple of days ago to
go see what it's like and I hada tour guide, like one of the
students show me around theschool and it's actually a
really cool school.
So I've been thinking of goingto one of those schools because
I feel like it's a very bigopportunity for me to go to a
(20:01):
private school because I knowthat some other kids don't have
that.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
And to bring it back to both Fiesta and Abbott and
Laurel and some of our otherschools, the program for
Peninsula Bridge.
It actually starts in fourthgrade, so it started last year
for you.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
And the program provides afterschool instruction
and college counseling andsummer program and it follows
the student until they finishcollege.
So they start when they're 10years old, when they're in
fourth grade, and they have thisgroup of people follow them and
(20:44):
meet with them for over 10years until they graduate
college.
And part of the program is whenthey hit middle school.
The program gives them theoption of going to any school
they want and it's an example ofhow that might be something
that some of our other communityschools say we need to bring
(21:08):
Peninsula Bridge to our schoolbecause it's at Somatale Park.
So where can we pull programslike that?
And there are other programsPeninsula Bridge, the people
that work there are amazing.
They're very lovely people.
We just created a new program atHighlands and at Laurel for
Peninsula Bridge, so I'm excited.
We have 40 kids who started theprogram this year and it didn't
(21:30):
exist last year.
But I think we have alreadyinvolved those very Partners
like Peninsula Bridge and otherswho are ready for us to step up
and say bring our kids to yourprograms.
And I think the communityschools process is gonna help us
get there and if we giveparents that voice and that
power, it Ends up serving thecommunity.
(21:52):
So what I want to end with andI want to give each person an
opportunity to share, and I'llstart with you, tanya is Give us
a message about the importanceof parents getting involved in
their child's education.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
I think it is super important that parents to start
from the very beginning, notonly because they will
understand how their kids aredoing and then they can advocate
for them and make sure that,first of all, that their
families are getting their needs, their needs met, but also to
to develop this sense ofcommunity with other families,
(22:30):
but also with the teachers.
It's important to have thispartnership with the teachers
throughout entire schoolexperience and then, because you
know they, we cannot leaveeverything just to this school.
Definitely, education starts athome and then what the school
will do is they will just workwith you on that.
So we cannot let, we cannotjust expect that everything is
(22:54):
going to happen during the hoursthat the kids are away.
So that's why we need to be inconstant communication and
understand what's going on.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Really wise words from one parent to all the
parents that are gonna listen tothis podcast.
We have our student here, andOne thing that I always want
kids to to share with oneanother is what.
What has been the best thingfor you about being at school?
What has helped you the most atschool?
Speaker 3 (23:24):
I think the Most part that has helped me in school is
probably like knowing thatyou're not alone in this, like
you can actually ask for helpand you don't have to feel like
you're answering this on yourown and Like nobody's gonna help
you.
Like you can actually know thatlike oh yeah, you can ask the
teacher for help if you needhelp, or if the teacher night
(23:45):
there, you can ask a friend.
So I feel like that actuallyhelps me a lot in school, like
knowing that I'm not alone andknowing that I can ask For help
if I need to and knowing thatI'm not gonna be judged.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Well, really, equally , equally powerful message.
Dr Wakaba, you are one of manyschool administrators in this
district and you get.
You're lucky to be able to beat all these schools and to see
their school communities Cometogether.
What's your biggest hope forthe community schools process?
When it's all said and done,what's your biggest hope for
(24:21):
community schools?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
I would say my biggest hope Is to see and I'm
already starting to see thisParents fired up about their
schools.
I know the kind of communityschool initiative process.
The approach that we that wetook was, you know, one in which
(24:43):
we were opening doors forfamilies and inviting them to
come to the table in a processthat Doesn't always
traditionally happen right inschools, whether public or
private.
Right, it's usually educatorsand folks on the inside right
who Organize and plan and justmake decisions, and we kind of
(25:04):
we turn the model upside downand we're now opening the doors
for families to have opinions,to analyze data, to Really look
at priorities and this, makedecisions and decide on these
priorities, and so, like my hopeis to see just an even greater
explosion of parent empowermentand engagement at our schools,
(25:27):
not just at their own sites, butlike getting involved in
district level committees, right, and looking at things more
globally, because, you know, Ifirmly believe that when one
child wins, they all win right,and so just want that's happen
as a result.
So I look forward to that.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Well, and we're.
We're a couple of months away,but we're also On the doorstep
of the work starting.
It is going to take thecollaborative efforts of our
teachers, our principles, ourstudents and our parents, and I
have every, every confidencethat we're gonna get there.
And thank you all for joiningme on the one smfc podcast you.
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