Junipero Serra is my neighborhood school. In fact, we live down the street from the Annex CDC. I called the office on a Thursday and they set me up with an individual tour on Friday. The school is a series of well cared for bungalows. I arrived at the school and immediately noticed the flower filled garden. Some of the TK students were outside their classroom painting a mural with a district art teacher. The classroom itself is relatively small. Because of its size, there are only 18 children. The classroom itself felt well cared for and cozy. Th TK class is very play-based but also immersed in Spanish literacy. Student work was posted and there was a word wall. The students were sitting at tables – doing centers. One table was working with the teacher, another had iPads set to a literacy game, a different group was working with blocks. The class is taught in 80% Spanish and 20% English. I am excited to about this because there is only one other bilingual TK in the district. The teacher is one of the most experienced TK teachers in the district – this is her 3rdyear. The kids get to go outside and garden at least once a week. The play area is lovely and my daughter would be able to see our house J. I know one family that attends this school and they love it.
There is an afterschool program that reserves the majority of the spaces for TK students. It’s on a sliding scale, but for full cost students it does cost over 500 dollars a month. Also, the TK has an 8:45 start time. These time constraints would be very difficult for my family – the afterschool care is relatively expensive and we would have to find morning care to supplement it. I feel like this would be a nice place for my daughter to play and improve her Spanish. If this is the school she is assigned to, we will have to figure out a way to make it work. I do like how close to home it is and the cozy feeling of the class.