Presidio Knolls: The Progressive New Chinese Kid on the Block

I've chosen not to review private schools or popular non-immersion public schools like Clarendon and Rooftop.   I'm making an exception for Presidio Knolls because it's a new Chinese immersion private school that isn't on many people's radar.  The application deadline for next year is Jan 15, so there is still time to apply.

You should consider this school if you're looking for a place with: Mandarin immersion with progressive inquiry-based education; long school day/more instructional time; beautiful new facilities; parents who are risk-takers; a small school that will grow with your child; a slightly less expensive independent school

The Facts 

Web site: http://www.presidioknolls.org/
Location: 250 10th Street between Howard and Folsom (South of Market)
Grades: K–1, expanding 1 grade a year to K-8
Kindergarten size: two classes of 20 students each
School hours: 8:30-4PM
Before- and after-school program: 7:30-6PM. Before-school care is free. Aftercare  is $50 per day/month. A once-a-week enrichment classes are $180 for 10 weeks, $260 with aftercare (works out to be $8/day for the aftercare)
Tuition: $21,500; 36% receive tuition assistance

Overview

PKS was founded as a preschool by Wendy Xa, who wanted to create an alternative to the traditional curriculum and teaching style that her daughter had experienced at CAIS.  The school aims to combine Mandarin immersion with progressive, inquiry-based education.  The preschool has become very popular and has grown exponentially, from 6 students in 2008 to 140 preschool students this year.  The school was originally in the Presidio, hence the name, but relocated to a larger campus at South of Market in 2011.
As a result of the preschool's tremendous successs, PKS decided to open an elementary school. The first class of 16 kindergarteners started in Fall 2012, and they plan to admit 2 classes this fall.  They recently hired a new head of school, Alfonso Orsini, who started this year.

Philosophy

He started by saying that that a sense of wonder is the #1 thing he looks for in a school, and proceeded to outline the difference between PKS's vision and a traditional education.  Here's that chart I copied from their powerpoint presentation.

Traditional vs PKS Progressive

Aspects of Education	Traditional	PKS Progressive
What We Learn	Cover topics and chapters. Emphasis on correct answers, knowledge	Questions/Problem-posing Inquiry, Scaffording for understanding
Process of Learning	Listen, student, test, repeat	Collaborative (group work is a hallmark of progressive education), differentiated, research, reflection, action
Assessment of Progress	Linear, incremental, chiefly paper and pencil tests, one target fits all	Units of exploration Multiple forms of assessment Individual growth
Role of Teachers	Directive, authoritative, give/take	Teachers are interactive, guiding, prompting, give/go
Curricular Structure	43 minute subjects, "core content"	Integrated subjects in units of exploration
Character Development	Stay in line Pay attention Conform	Inquiry, analyze, create, present Be caring, reflective, risk-taking

According to the PKS presentation, the cognitive benefits of Mandarin immersion are to accelerate development of executive function including/through.

• Ability to solve problems with misleading cues
• Selective attention
• Inhibitory control
• Sensitivity to verbal and non-verbal cues
• Greater attention to listener' needs

Curriculum

New School

PKS has a few advantages common to all new schools.

• The energy of building a new school, similar to the energy that happens when a group of parents starts to turn a public school around. A community of parents who are willing to take risks.
• Because the school is so new, there are few to no siblings, and less total applicants than established independent schools. However, there is a large cohort of PKS preschoolers, more than the elementary school can accomodate if they all decide to attend the elementary school.
• For the child who will do better in a smaller, more intimate environment now, PKS's attendance will start small and grow with your child.

It has disadvantages as well.

• No older children in the school, so little opportunity to interact with a range of ages in school or in extracurricular activities.
• Tiny enrollment for the first few years.  There will be only 56 students next year if all of the 1st graders stay.
• Like all immersion program, enrollment can be expected to drop in upper grades.  Immersion programs often have higher attrition because of students who struggle academically with mastering 2 languages. They have a hard time making up for attrition because there are few students who can speak, read and write at grade level in both the immersion language and in English in the upper grades. 
      This becomes an issue in middle school, when students are socially ready to swim in a larger pool.  Where other private schools are adding a 2nd class, immersion programs tend to shrink. 
• No established track record of high school placement

More Value for Your Money?

Tuition overall is slightly less than other independent schools, $21,500 compared to $22,600 for CAIS, $23,500+$1000 deposit for Live Oak, $24,250 at Children's Day, $25,000 at Friends, and $26,540 at SF Day.

Long school day = More classroom time for your money. 

The PKS school day is significantly longer than at other kindergartens, going until 4PM. The founder, Wendy Xa, said that they made this choice because project-based, inquiry-based learning takes more time. She pointed out that the long school day means you get "more for your money" with PKS tuition .

The long school day is an advantage for working parents, whose children will be in school until 5:30 or 6PM regardless. Stay-at-home parents may consider it a disadvantage, cutting into precious after-school time to spend time together or to take them to soccer practice, swim lessons, or music lessons. Kids grow up so quickly, and the after-school time with them, while they still want to hang out with parents, is precious.

More affordable aftercare

Where working parents really save with PKS is aftercare. As many working parents have pointed out, the cost of after-school care adds a significant amount of money to the private school budget. With the long school day at PKS, there's less time in aftercare. Afterschool care is just $50/day per month, or $250/month. This is less than public schools. For example, Jefferson and Claire Lilienthal's afterschool programs are both about $450 a month. A 10 week enrichment class at PKS is $180, $260 with aftercare (about $8/day for aftercare with the enrichment class).  

Most schools charge $9-10/hour for after-school care, not including after-school enrichment classes, which often cost $200-300 for 10 weeks.

The disadvantage is that the menu of after-school enrichment classes are limited. In contrast to the broad range of afterschool classes at other schools, this year PKS offered just enrichment classes only 3 days a week for its elementary students, with only 1-2 choices each day: Kung-Fu on Mondays, Gymnastics or Mandarin art on Tuesdays, Mandarin calligraphy or Chinese dance on Thursdays.

Impressive Vision, But Can They Deliver?

The school has a great vision. Will they be able to execute it? There are several successful SF schools that started out as preschools, will PKS be one of them? This is not a school for the risk-averse family.