RECAP: June 5, 2020 Meeting

What a conversation!

As we all work together building momentum around social justice and racial equality for our students, our community, our Nation and beyond, I hope you have time to listen to this recording. 

Come Together Coffee Conversation

It starts with amazing photos from Gina Risso of our MC Peaceful Protest. Then heads into an incredibly illuminating conversation around racial equality. Pls take time to watch/listen if you can. I know I learned a lot to help bring the change we all want to see in our world. Thank you to everyone for your honest, raw, real voices in this discussion. Special thanks to Paul and Jahmeer for helping to light the way.

ATTENDEES: Paul Austin, Jahmeer Reynolds, Laura Cox, Dr.Itoco Garcia, David Finnane, Liz Darby, Gina Risso, Bonnie Hough, Damian Morgan, Theresa Vreeland, Kirstin Thomas, Chris Durbin, Barb Killey, Jamie Whittington, David Suto, David McGrane, Yasmine McGrane

While hard to summarize a conversation like this one, here it is. Plus an announcement at the end.

RECAP (start time in bold)

• How MC Peaceful Protest came about 3:08

• Listen how Paul Austin created change in Tiburon, How do we do more? 

• MC march photos 12:40

• EMPOWERING EQUALITY CONVERSATION - must listen, I can't summarize these words

• Time to pick a side, what's right is right, what's wrong is wrong

• Let's shine more light on real 94965 collaborations

• Get back to building bonds across community before go to HS

• Use term "family" maybe instead of community, represents unity

• Need to come together as a school community 25:36'

• People of color shouldn't have to do the emotional labor to make this happen

• As Golden Gate Village goes, so goes the community

• As a school district, are we willing to put ourselves in the places that are uncomfortable until they become comfortable? 

• Use terms: togetherness, unity, solidarity

• Do family events: softball, kickball, bbq, game nights

• Bring people from the early day 94965 unified school to inspire unification 

• Plan events next year (eg monthly) to help us heal

• David Suto's recommendation around making change in Saus: City Council

• Great example of local inclusion at 54:44 in recording

School Updates + More

• Need to discuss Golden Gate Village housing for MC families next coffee

• BMLK School Update by David Finnane: 101:44

• Bridge the Gap update by Laura Cox: 105:08

• WCA UPdate: 107

• Links to BMLK + WCA Board meeting dates, local unity events, summer kid ideas.. will be added to Yas4Unity next week

• Therese Vreeland is making distance learning film. Any MC family interested in being part of it, email: therese.vreeland@me.com 

Links to BMLK + WCA Board meeting dates, local unity events, summer kid ideas.. will be added to Yas4Unity next week

Therese Vreeland is making distance learning film. Any MC family interested in being part of it, email: therese.vreeland@me.com 

On another note, some of you may have received my announcement earlier this week that I'm running for Sausalito Marin City School Board (if you didn't, it may have ended up in your bulk mail folder). For everyone, pls explore Yas4Unity when you get a chance and pls share with anyone you think who may be interested. I can't do this without you.

RECAP - MAY 8, 2020 MEETING

Thanks for attending our monthly Coming Together Coffee this morning. 

Fantastic gathering - You all are our UnityMakers! And if anyone wants a Happy Friday feel good moment, check out today's Marin IJ: Call them "UnityMakers" for improving the Sausalito-Marin City Community."

For those that couldn't attend here's the RECAP and link to: RECORDING.  Time each topic starts in (blue). REALLY helpful info today for parents, esp around fall school plans..

June Coffee date emailed out next week. 

Attendees: Dr. Itoco Garcia, Alena Maunder, Bonnie Hough, David Finnane, Marijke Smit, Paul Austin, Jahmeer Reynolds, Laura Cox, Damian Morgan, Judi Shils, David Suto, Bettina Ferrando, Elizabeth Cooper, Kirsten Thomas, Claudine Alameda, Ellen Franz, Barbara Jaffe, Chris Durbin , Teri Lang, Jamie Whittington, Julie Myers, David + Yasmine McGrane

RECAP (F-Follow Up)

1. SMCSD & WCA Settle Prop 30 Lawsuit (4:55)

• Puts Wind in the Sails of Unification

• Best way to desegregate is not loosing WCA families

• Agreement provides stability to community (see dets in recording)

• > visibility to SMCSD on WCA campus maintenance & modernization needs

• Unification task force meets wkly

• Gary Orfield Ph.D. providing support for our desegration work

• F: ramp up joint fundraising efforts  

2. School Plans for Summer & Fall (22:13)

• Great details for all parents/teachers in recording!

• Using Guidelines from Public Health Officer for Marin County

• Creating "Islands of Health and Safety" planning discussions incl:

• 12 student/1 teacher cohorts (family pods)

• No cross contamination, daily temp checks

• Meals in classrooms replaces cafeteria, no MPR

• Cohort recesses, dedicated bathroom schedules

• Immediate closure if + COVID testing, tracing w/cohort

• Staggered specialist, in person teaching

• Considering advantages of year round school, break during height of flu season

• Piloting before Fall

• Childcare for essential workers

• Hybrid/Blended learning models to continue for awhile

• Real focus on project based learning  

• WCA Board + Superintendent mtg wkly

• Community School: created MC Coordinate Team serving ALL BMLK+WCA families (40:36) & (49:16)

• Bridge the Gap: incredible updates responding to COVID& summer plans (45:12) 

3. Online Schooling Update at BMLK + WCA 

• Both schools didn't miss a beat

• BMLK Update (50:16)

• 12 kids coming to school daily in safe cohorts

• Working w/Emily Cox - 8 WCA students possibly come too

• Sharing and implementing best practices daily

• 94965 is model for how schools shift online during pandemic

• Bags of Love: 430 bags created and delivered this week!

• Conscous Kitchen chefs and army of volunteers are our UNITYMAKERS!

4. Mask Drive

• Felecia Gaston leading effort

• Goal: distribute 3,000+ masks across community

• Moms + students breaking out sewing machines!

5. Kids Fitness (56:16)

• Need ideas to get kids active! 

• F: connect w/Paul Austin @ Play Marin if you have ideas/resources

• F: let's do community wide fun sports/play celebration when safe!

• F: Re-cyclery Bikes for MC kids

6. Community Shout Outs & Events

• Tam High student: The Juice Girl! (1:02:14)

• Felecia Gaston for Mask Drive! (1:03:11)

• Tues, May 12: Couch Con fun event! (organizer: Julie Myers, Parks & Rec)

• Sun, May 10: Mother's Day: big hugs to all 94965 Moms!

RECAP: APRIL 11 MEETING

Hi All:

Thanks for Zooming into our monthly Coming Together Coffee Conversation this morning!  For those that couldn't attend, here's a recap. 

RECAP:  F=Follow-up

1. Free Zoom event today 3:00-4:30

SURJ Marin: Racism and Allyship During a Pandemic

2. Schools to remain closed through remainder of school year

• Principals + teachers done GREAT JOB moving school online.

• Current Focus: 1) working with students needing extra help and 2) expanding online programming and best practices.

• Google Classroom's automated wkly updates used by some WCA teachers (e.g. Mrs.St. Denny/5th grade) have helped students/parents keep up with assignments. F: Could this be a best practice expanded more broadly? Yasmine to share the automated updates w/both principals.

3. Coming Together Around Food!

• Food has become a powerful force to bring our schools together during pandemic

• Both kitchens started collaborating Day One! 

• Chef Guillaume helping to oversee efforts, meals distributed weekdays from BMLK serving both school communities. 

• Parent/Community volunteers safely passing out meals with a drive by pick up operation. 

• F= Yasmine to follow up with MC community leaders (Jahmeer Reynolds, Phil Logan, Felicia Gaston...) on how to reach more F/Reduced meals families

4. Bags of Love

• GREAT example of the Power of Collaboration! 

• On March 20, BMLK principal David Finnane reached out to WCA principal Emily Cox and Yasmine about replicating a food drive program he started at BMLK to WCA families.

• Within 3 days, both principals and parent volunteers met on Zoom to get to work!

• Everyone decided not to do 2 separate programs but TOGETHER as ONE. David Finnane, Shannon Kerr, Heidi Wiltsee are program leads.

• Program renamed "Bags of Love". Distributed now to 200 families in need every Wed.

• Bag includes fresh vegetables/fruits from Food Bank along with core household staples purchased by volunteer shoppers. 

• A compassionate message in each bag telling families they are in our community's hearts with contact info of both Principals should they need assistance. 

• Inspiring video documentary by Felecia Gaston.

• F: need $25,000 donations to keep program going through August. Pls donate! Link at bottom of this GREAT Marin IJ article 

5. WCA Funding + UNIFICATION!

• SMCSD + WCA boards have come together too!

• An agreeing has been reached to sustain WCA and move both schools toward unification.

• Press release due out this week :-)

• F= Yasmine to follow up with WCA Board to see if board mtgs can be now be recorded since on Zoom.  

6. Other discussions

• Wifi Hotspots have been provided at both schools for students without wifi access to utilize. F= Diana Lopez to follow up to see how much they're being used.

• Marin Promise Partnership has been instrumental in helping students. Also helping MC Tam High students (via Anne Matherson, Elizabeth Cooper, JC Paul).

• Other groups rallying around with donations, inc. Paul Mowry with Sausalito Presbyterian.

BTW, we are thinking about moving our Coming Together Coffee to a weekday. The idea is to potentially allow for our school administrators to attend, as during COVID we really want them to have more of their weekends to relax a little. I'll send out a Doodle Poll as we get closer to the date to gauge openness to moving and get input on the best midweek days/times. And if anyone wants to be on the cc (vs bcc) list to share ideas/updates after our monthly coffees, email me direct: yasmine@maisonreve.com.

Thank you all again, coming together in this way is SO inspiring.

Y.

More detailed BMLK Update by Principal David FinnaneBMLK teachers have been busy supporting online learning. We’re continuing with two online platforms the kids use daily at BMLK - Dreambox Math and iRead/System 44/Read 180 ELA. We’re also using Epic! Reading.  TK-3 teachers are reading with kids 2-3 times a week using Epic! and FaceTime. 4-8 classes have daily Zoom meetings as well as regular schoolwork in ELA, math, history and science. We are utilizing our student success coaches (paras) and BTGap staff to support the kids who have been least engaged in learning since the crisis began. They will have contact two times a day starting Monday. I am also making daily visits to homes to touch base and encourage kids and parents who have not been engaged in learning.We’re currently considering how we might facilitate MAP assessments in late May. Things are going reasonably well but it’s a daily challenge to keep all of our kids on track from home. 

RECAP: March 14, 2020

Thanks to those that could make our Coming Together Coffee today!  It was fun to just sit and be together more informally. 

Next one: Sat, April 11 @ TBD

We all agreed, now more than ever, it's important to keep our community connected and united. 

For those that couldn't make it, recap below:

Purpose of our casual coffees is to get together as a community and share school updates/perspectives, harness the collective power of our community in finding solutions that best serve all kids in our district, and get to know one another as neighbors and friends. 

In order to do this, it's important we create a safe space for people to open up. We all agreed to stay curious. Refrain from soap boxing or being aggressive (e.g. no 'us' vs 'them' language). Share openly with integrity. Sprinkle kindness - it actually gets others hearing our point of view more :-) 

Attendees: Damian Morgan, Nathan Scripps, Kurt Weinsheimer, Jackie Nuno, Emily Cox, LeShawn Holcomb, Alex Cantin, Susan Knowles, David McGrane, Yasmine McGrane.

Recap (Q = question, F = follow up):

1. Comprehensive Education Plan for unified school:

• 1st draft is out: PLAN 

• 300+pg document, Unification Vision starts on pg 55

• Provide input to school leadership

• Q: Many questions on origin and challenges of dual language Spanish 

• F: Yasmine to get clarification from Dr. Garcia and share

2. Retention of Students in district: 

• SMCSD/WCA boards in confidential negotiations

• News expected in next few days

• RETAINING all families in 94965 is top priority to come together in ONE school  

• F: Kurt to share update

3. School Closures:

• Hard work by both schools to deal with Covid-19

• WCA + BMLK collaborating on CK healthy meals program (great e.g. of us working as ONE school community)

• While it's a challenging time, good opportunity to bring us together

• Need to serve our most vulnerable neighbors

• F: Yasmine will activate this volunteer group based on requests from school leadership

4. Breaking down Racial Barriers, Systemic Racism:

• We all want to learn how to break down barriers

• Important to find actionable ways locally

• With pandemic, good opportunity to take action 

• F: Reach out to our most vulnerable members across the community

• F: While we're stuck at home, explore website: Courageous Conversations

5. Bond Measure

• Yasmine to get more info from Dr.Garcia

6. Preschool

• Many families of young children want to stay in town

• Big pre-school opportunity thru unified school

• Sausalito Mamas (large active moms group in town) meeting with Dr.Garcia