John Muir Elementary : Programs and Sponsors

Project ACE ( Academic and Cultural Enrichment )

Project ACE is a year-round academic and cultural enrichment program for youth that is housed at John Muir. The curriculum includes math, reading and writing as well as African and African-derived dance, poetry, music, art and history. All instructors bring years of experience and expertise in their respective fields. Most of the African diaspora is represented in the staff with teachers from Brazil, the Congo, North America, the Caribbean and everywhere in between.

Academy of Art College

The Academy of Art College offers a unique environment of working professionals who are dedicated to passing on their knowledge and expertise to the artists and designers of tomorrow.
Not only is the Academy of Art College's San Francisco location both beautiful and exciting, but strategic in its proximity to the centers of many creative industries.
The Academy's Career Services program helps students establish connections to these companies where they hope to be employed. Susan Pelosi was instrumental in providing the services of two talented students, Sarah Figueroa and Fred Leisen to design and implement the John Muir Site.

AT&T

AT&T is proud to assist the teachers at John Muir School as they work with the future teachers from San Francisco State in using communications technology to enhance teaching and learning. "Thank you AT & T!"

BASRC (Bay Area School Reform Collaborative)

The Bay Area School Reform Collaborative was established with funding by the Hewlett-Annenberg Challenge and local matching contributions. As a members of a BASRC leadership school, the John Muir staff are provided grants and coaching assistance to further our literacy efforts - to help us to evaluate and to learn from these efforts.

Counseling Center

The Counseling Center here at John Muir provides therapeutic and educational services for both the children, parents and staff as needed. The Center is structured with a variety of interventions - primarily for the children - allowing them to recover emotionally and re-focus on learning. These include a Sandtray area, a dollhouse, a variety of games, a small library and a quiet work space to work if needed. The goal of our Center is to provide emotional guidance and support that will be empowering and restorative.
For more on the behavior management plan.

Galef Institute

John Muir has had a successful partnership with the Galef Institute for the past 3 years. The goal of the institute is to collaborate with educators in creating and implementing programs that will help children develop positive attitudes toward learning, school, and themselves. Under the direction of Linda Adelman, the Galef team developed Different Ways of Knowing (DWoK) to help improve classroom practice and increase student achievement. The arts are integral to learning in DWoK classrooms, with teachers applying the visual and performing arts as strategies for learning and tools for self-expression.

John Muir Community Learning Garden

Many teachers from John Muir bring their classes into the John Muir Community Learning Garden and integrate their students' garden experiences with classroom literacy, mathematics, science, history and language arts instruction. Located in Daniel E. Koshland Park, our garden has generated support and assistance from the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners, the Center for Ecoliteracy, the Recreation and Park Department, the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, the San Francisco Zen Center, the Koshland Family, and John Muir Elementary School.

Currently, the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks Group employs two part-time garden mentors to work with teachers and students in the garden. Sam and Bridget organize educational opportunities for students and the community, provide outreach for the participation of parents, neighbors and interested volunteers, oversee a sustainable composting program for organic waste from school lunches, work with neighborhood organizers to create events in the park, and offer various garden training.

The John Muir Community Learning Garden catalyzes an effort to make life in our neighborhood safer, more beautiful and nourishing by demonstrating the many benefits of urban gardening. For more information, please contact the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks Group via Barbara Wenger (415) 502-5217.

Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks Group (HVNPG)

The Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks Group has been instrumental in improving the well-being of our neighborhood. They have worked with the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services in securing school crossing guards, obtaining latchkey funds from the Recreation and Park Department, and developing a drop-off zone for parents to use at John Muir.

Most notably, however, is the group’s work with three park and recreation spaces in our area: the Daniel E. Koshland Community Park, the Rose-Page Mini Park, and the Hayes Valley Playground. The HVNPG helped mobilize the entire community to work with the Northern Police Station and the Recreation and Park Department to network with numerous service agencies, churches, schools and merchants in our area. They have held work days in the parks, designed two park plans, and secured over $900,000 for park renovations. Many thanks to HVNPG for their efforts in building a vital community, enriching the lives of the John Muir community in the process. For more information, please contact the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks Group via Barbara Wenger (415) 502-5217.

The John Muir Alternative Teacher Education Program (MATE)

The MATE Program
at the John Muir Campus of San Francisco State University
380 Webster Street San Francisco, CA 94117

What happens when you bring a cohort of teacher education students into an urban school? A lot happens to change a University Teacher Education Program, and to change the school - in this case John Muir School in San Francisco.

At John Muir, the MATE Program has been a real gift to us. We have 30 interns to help maximize the learning potential for children, and in helping us teach the children, they learn to teach. A very simple idea? Maybe, but profound in the change it makes for us at John Muir and at San Francisco State.

Our interns are our curriculum assistants, providing mini-group instruction in our classrooms - our idea partners, assisting us in thinking about better ways to educate our students. They are there to provide one on one instruction and interventions to students whenever a different approach is needed. They are story tellers, game teachers and writing assistants. Sometimes they become the teacher and the teacher assists. Along practical lines, they are our substitutes when our teachers are doing professional development. Our interns are making a huge difference at John Muir School. We can boast that we have had the highest reading score gains of any school in San Francisco in the past three years, and we know that this is in part due to the work of the interns. The interns are also becoming a real part of our faculty, and learning what it takes to become an outstanding elementary school teacher.

This year we had the honor of receiving the prestigious "Quality of Education Award" given by the California Council of Teacher Educators for distinguished service to children and to teacher education. This was the first time San Francisco State University received the award. We are the only "shared governance" school in the United States, having both a school district principal and a university principal. This Co-Principalship allows our administrative team to really reflect about the school and about the program, ensuring a dynamic, changing program.

We are grateful that we have had this partnership between San Francisco State University and John Muir School for four years now and we have recently received funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation through the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative. Hopefully, other schools and universities will learn from this grand experiment. Each of us is responsible for the success of the other. If you would like more information on the MATE Program, please call Cecelia Wambach or Viriginia Watkins at (415) 241-633 or come to visit us at the John Muir Campus of San Francisco State University. Also, you can view the M.A.T.E. philosophy.

If you're interested in a partnership, contact us!