Jose Ortega Elementary School

What is Umoja? It is the Swahili word for “unity”. On March 5, 2010 Jose Ortega students participated in our annual Umoja Day, which is a day of celebrating cultures.

During an assembly of multicultural performances, classrooms sang songs in English and Chinese. Students played piano and violin, performed lion dances, Irish stepdancing, and student choreographed dances. They sang solos, recited poetry, and performed karate and capoiera. The show ended with the humorous and energetic annual lion dance performance by Mr. John, our custodian.

After the performance, parents brought food to share in an international feast. The dishes ranged from homemade sushi to lumpia, from Swedish blueberry soup to chicken biryani. Some of the parents were so inspired by the feast that they decided to compile an international, unity in diversity cookbook with the recipes from families’ Umoja dishes. The cookbook will be for sale at the Umoja Carnival on May 22, 2010.

Gopher Hole Productions shot this video of Jose Ortega Elementary School in the Fall of 2009. Watch the video to learn about our school — includes info about plans to revitalize our play structure, greening efforts at the school, art at Jose Ortega, parent testimonials and much more.

Jose Ortega Master Greening Plan and Recent Greening Grants

Our school community is very excited about the recent unveiling of our Master Greening Plan. Our ambitious plan, created with the assistance of Friends of the Urban Forest, will transform our large asphalt play yard into a park that includes a greenhouse, additional edible gardens, a native grass meadow, a meandering crushed-granite track, an amphitheater, a tree grove, picnic benches and quiet areas all without losing valuable space for our students to learn, play and exercise. The plan also includes installing a native garden with teaching areas in front of the school, installing a water garden and refurbishing our many planting areas. The Master Greening Plan will aid us in writing and receiving greening grants.

Jose Ortega was selected to participate in the SFUSD Green Teams program. With the help of the SFUSD Sustainability Department and a PG&E Bright Ideas grant, the Green Teams are supported by Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI), an environmental non-profit based in Marin that empowers schools to reduce pollution and save money through resource efficiency and clean energy. SEI will work closely with our schools to:

• improve waste diversion to at least 85%,
• provide us with monthly utility and diversion data,
• help us create monthly newsletters, and
• make sure we have the resources we need to be a successful, sustainable green team.

Our school will become a certified “Green School” after completing the program.

In addition, Jose Ortega is the recipient of the “Tap the Sky” grant from the city of San Francisco. In late summer or early fall 2010, rainwater collection cisterns will be installed at the school. Harvesting and recycling water will be incorporated into our science curriculum and help us reduce our gardening water consumption.

We also have on-going community gardening days where our families meet at the school to trim shrubs, pull weeds, play in the dirt, plant flowers, and help implement the pieces of our greening plan.

photo by Alexi Taskaev

On February 27, 2010 Jose Ortega Elementary once again participated in San Francisco’s Chinese New Year parade. Fifty children from kindergarten through fifth grade marched in the event.  They carried tiger-striped umbrellas and tiger themed posters, all of which were  decorated by student volunteers.  With assistance from parent Alex Hosmer, the children also created the mascot’s tiger mask, which began its life as a bicycle helmet.

photo by Alexi Taskaev

Parent Jeanne Hughes organized and choreographed the parade routine, which included a special role for the school’s “Shining Star Dancers”.

photo by Alexi Taskaev

It was an absolutely fantastic experience for students, parents, and teachers alike.  The school’s participation in the San Francisco Chinese New Year’s parade is becoming an important and cherished Jose Ortega Tradition!

The song “Do Re Mi” could be heard echoing down the halls of Jose Ortega as the kindergarten students learned about musical scales. Parent Alicia Yang, who leads the kindergarten music enrichment, used boomwhackers, tuned plastic percussion tubes, to walk the students through playing scales.  Ms. Yang is a professional violinist who plays with the SF Symphony and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, among other ensembles. She also teaches violin.

Ms. Yang says, “Having already taught Music Time sessions at my daughter’s preschool, I was comfortable volunteering to do something similar when she entered Jose Ortega last fall. Since the SF Symphony’s AIM program, of which JOES is a participant, doesn’t include the Kindergarten grade level, it was a natural niche to fill. I’m so glad to be able to contribute to Jose Ortega Elementary by teaching a monthly music time for all the K classes. Music instruction can build self-esteem, improve spatial concepts, and improve reading ability.”

Her goals for the music time are “for the children to get to hear live instrumental music and participate in music-making themselves. I introduce basic concepts of rhythm and pitch, and get the kids to compose for each other and work as a team. I want them to observe the natural materials instruments are made from and show how they work to create sound.”

What have been the children’s favorite parts? “All of it! Getting to try a violin, and using the Boomwhackers sound tubes.”

In March, Ms. Yang’s husband, Amos, joined her at kindergarten music time to demonstrate the cello.  He’s a cellist with the San Francisco Symphony, and he played for the students, using musical games to demonstrate concepts of volume, tempo, and vibrato.  He showed them that a cello can play both very high notes and very low ones, and that it can be both very quiet and very loud.  The students had many musical requests for Amos including “ABC”, “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, and “Spiderman”.  He also chose some of the songs, such as Brahms’s Lullaby, and asked them how each one made them feel.

The students were full of questions for Amos. They wanted to know if a cello is the same as a big violin, why it has a “long pointy thing at the bottom” (the endpin), and whether he could play it like a guitar.  The children had a great time; they were very engaged and seemed to truly appreciate the chance to learn about this fascinating musical instrument.

Jose Ortega’s grades 1-5 participate in the San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music (AIM) program. The PTA provided the funds for instructional materials for kindergarten music enrichment.

On Tuesday December 1, 2009, the school held a ribbon cutting ceremony for our new iMac computer lab.  The student council and principal JoLynn Washington recognized the donor, California Masonic Lodge #1.  The lab, which is located in the library, will be an important resource for our students, making them more productive, supporting online research, and giving them better access to computer-based curricula.  We are very grateful to the Masons for their generous gift.

Members of student council, principal Washington, and Mason representative Lawrence Leon

Click to see more photos from the event

On Saturday November 21, 2009 Jose Ortega families gathered in the multi-purpose room for an art workshop led by artists-in-residence, Aiko Cuneo and Lilli Lanier.  It was a great turnout with dozens of parents and children representing every grade and class.  We all worked together to create a community quilt that will hang in the cafeteria. Aiko and Lilli also taught the children how to create an abstract of their names using pastels and tempera paint, and everyone was able to take home their own work of art.

A flock of nearly 1,000 paper cranes flies across the back of the stage in the Jose Ortega Elementary School cafeteria. The impressive art installation is the backdrop for the school assemblies, class pictures, fifth grade graduation, and Friday morning sing-alongs.

This project was overseen by San Francisco artist Aiko Cuneo, who led the fourth and fifth graders in folding the cranes.

This is one of the many art installations Cuneo has worked on with Jose Ortega students since she started teaching art at school in the late 1980s. Cuneo helped students create the rainforest murals hanging in the cafeteria and the clay panels decorated with smiling children who welcome everyone who walks through the school entrance.

This year Cuneo has returned to the school with her niece Lilli Lanier to teach painting and drawing. Each student will attend eight one-hour classes with one of the artists.

Cuneo likes to teach painting and drawing because it allows for creative expression.

“The students all start with the same sheet of white paper,” says Cuneo. “And then they all create something different. They have to make choices as they create their project but unlike a math equation there’s no right or wrong. And I like that they’re not tested at the end of the project.”

The students will use a variety of materials: temper paint and pastels, markers and water, and water color. They will also go through a “printing process,” by creating stamps with a foam material.

The goal is to get every child represented on the wall in the hallways.

“They’re proud when they see their work on the walls. I remember what it felt like when I was a child, and it felt good. And it’s amazing how the children respect the art on the wall. It inspires children. They see it and they think I can do that too. And they show their parents what they have done.”

Cuneo is the daughter of famed artist Ruth Asawa, whose work is on display in museums throughout the world including the de Young in San Francisco. Asawa is best known for her wire sculptures created in the 1950s, but here in San Francisco she’s recognized for starting the Alvarado School Arts Workshop in 1968. Asawa started by working with students at Alvarado Elementary School, but the program eventually spread to public schools throughout the city.

Like her mom, Cuneo thinks it’s important to bring arts into the public schools, so children from all backgrounds have the opportunity to pick up a paint brush, fold an origami crane, make a self-portrait. “I love being right there with the kids,” Cuneo says. “What brings me so happiness is seeing the joy art brings children. I watch so many children blossom as artists, and these are children who might be struggling in other areas.”

Cuneo has worked at schools throughout the city but she especially appreciates the Jose Ortega community. “It’s one of those hidden pearls,” Cuneo says. “And the principal really values art. That’s important.”

Coming to Jose Ortega Spring 2010…a revitalized play structure

Jose Ortega’s existing play structure is getting an $85,000 makeover. We’ll be refreshing what’s there with a new coat of paint, replacing the cracked slide, and adding additional features such as an extra set of monkey bars and a second slide. We’re also putting in picnic tables. Construction will be complete by June 2010.

California Masonic Lodge No. 1 has been supporting our school all year starting with the PTA work day in August 2008. They recently attended the teacher appreciation assembly on May 4 to present our teachers with gift cards and attended the 1000 Cranes Benefit on May 9 to present the school with a check for $10,000. Thank you to the Masons for supporting public schools! The donation will be used in combination with grants the PTA is seeking to update the computer lab and to supplement art and science programs. Read more here.