With its initial fundraising target of $485,000 the PREFund Founding Committee is taking one second to celebrate reaching its initial goal. This first round of funding is critical to support its two-part plan to increase enrollment at Daniel Webster Elementary School and make it the best school it can be. Funds have been used to support important initiatives such as…
–The construction and marketing of a year-round, full-time, Spanish bi-lingual preschool for mixed income children onsite at Daniel Webster’s campus
–A Spanish Immersion program at Daniel Webster Elementary School, beginning kindergarten class of 2009
–Maximize community resources to underwrite academic enrichment and achievement programs – i.e. tutoring at Daniel Webster Elementary

In order to continue our work for our local public schools we need your critical support. To see our full list of donors, please click here.

To donate, please click here.

PREFund is honored to have recently received official commendations from both the Board of Education (BOE) of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and California State Assemblywoman, Fiona Ma.

May 27, 2008, SFUSD adopted a Resolution of Commendation to PREFund’s Founding Committee & Community Volunteers for Supporting Daniel Webster Elementary School. “The Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District wishes to commend and offer its sincerest thanks to the PREFund Founding Committee members, Jennifer Betti, Stacey Bartlett, Katherine Doumani, Dena Fischer, Debra Grassgreen, Melissa Millsaps, Laura Mitic, and Mike Lin, who with support from the Honorable Art Agnos, former Mayor of San Francisco, and scores of local volunteers, have taken Daniel Webster Elementary School and its students in the Potrero Hill Neighborhood into their hearts.”

May 2, 2008, Majority Whip, Assemblywoman, Fiona Ma presented a Certificate of Recognition from the California Legislature Assembly to PREFund “for outstanding achievements in our local community and stalwart support of our public schools as demonstrated by the establishment of a new Spanish Immersion program at Daniel Webster Elementary School, thereby benefitting all the people of the City of San Francisco and State of California.”

Daniel Webster Elementary School received a much needed facelift in April. PREFund’s Stacey Bartlett led the application process that resulted in the school being selected by Rebuilding Together San Francisco (RBST) out of more than 100 applicants for rehabilitation services. RBST relies on volunteers from Bay Area corporations and community groups to repair, remodel and clean-up community facilities and homes for low-income and disabled people. RBST volunteers will return next year to paint the school’s classrooms and fix appliances.

RBST fielded more than a 100 volunteers from Ernst and Young, Charles Schwab and DreamWorks Animation, who worked alongside PREFund and Daniel Webster families. The dedicated volunteers painted the school’s exterior and created a beautiful neighborhood-oriented mural. DreamWorks artists designed the colorful painting, which can be seen from Texas and 20th streets, and depicts children playing on lush green hills complete with Potrero Hill’s historical goat mascots.

The much needed face lift compliments the rapid progress PREFund and Daniel Webster’s administration have made over the past three years to improve the school. Earlier this year Daniel Webster received approval to host a Spanish Immersion program starting in 2009. And in partnership with Mission Neighborhood Centers, PREFund has raised sufficient funds to open a Spanish bilingual preschool this fall on Daniel Webster’s campus that will serve as a natural feeder into the elementary school. The preschool already has a waiting list of Potrero Hill families that want to keep their children in their neighborhood and are hoping to do the same for elementary school.

We are pleased to announce that we have sent acceptance letters to applicants for Potrero Kids at Daniel Webster, an MNC Preschool (PKDW).

Letters went out Friday, March 21.

We have had an overwhelming response to our call for applications and there is indeed a waiting list. We do, however, encourage all families to apply as there are applications already in for fall 2009.

We have 36 spaces available for what we plan to be a September 2, 2008 opening. Contingency plan in place should construction of our new facility delay us. We, of course, will keep everyone posted if this date shifts. 25% of these slots are reserved for scholarships.

Acceptance letters were sent to those families that met a combination of the following criteria:
-Date of application
-Full time spaces received priority with only a few available part time spaces
-Appropriate mix of age and gender balance
-Age of child must be 2 years 9 months by September 2
-Potrero Hill residents

Letters were also sent to the next set of applicants on the waiting list that met the same criteria.

The first round of applicants have until April 4 to confirm their space with a non-refundable deposit of $150 that will be credited to the first month’s tuition.

If we do not receive a deposit by April 4, letters will be sent immediately to the next families on the wait list. Applicants that turn 2 years 9 months later in the fall and beyond will be admitted to the program as space becomes available.

PKDW will be housed in the 3 bungalows in the southwest corner of Daniel Webster Elementary School. These bungalows will be substantially renovated for PKDW use. Our construction timeline is currently on schedule and we feel confident that the school will open on target.

We are pleased to offer tuition at $1150 per month, full-time, M-F, ($800, part-time, MWF) or ($530, part-time, T/Th), 8:00am – 6:00pm, including all fees and services as well as hot, healthy meals and snacks. (Applicants may, of course, opt out of the meal program, but we cannot offer a tuition break for opting out. Our philosophy is to offer all the children healthy meals and snacks and encourage exposure to new foods and socialization.) The tuition is inclusive of all fees, and after a survey of similar preschool programs in San Francisco, we feel that inclusive tuition offers the most benefits and convenience for working families, while also eliminating the need to fundraise to cover basic school operations. In addition, a tuition break may occur after the school is up and running and the operating budget becomes finalized.

Although PKDW is not yet open, you are welcome to visit MNC’s newest facility in Mission Bay. To arrange for a visit, please contact MNC’s Director of Family and Children’s Services, Heidi McClaughlin, at heidimclaughlin@sbcglobal.net (415.206.7752).

For additional questions, please contact our enrollment coordinator - Karen@prefund.org.

Thank you all for your continued support.

The PREFund committee has been working tirelessly for the past two years to implement a two-part plan to save Daniel Webster Elementary from closure. Opening the Spanish bi-lingual ‘Potrero Kids at Daniel Webster’ preschool is just phase one of the plan. We are thrilled to announce that as of January 3, we have received official confirmation from SFUSD that the kindergarten class of 2009 at Daniel Webster will be able to enroll in a Spanish Immersion program. This is a great coup as we feel it will benefit the students attending the school and ensure increased enrollment at Daniel Webster for years to come with this highly desirable magnet program.

On October 23, we officially launched our plans to the community for both the preschool at Daniel Webster and our aggressive fundraising campaign.

If you are interested in applying to Potrero Kids Preschool, you may download an application and read more info here.

In order to meet our aggressive goals of infusing Daniel Webster Elementary with critical programs for this school year AND open the preschool in Fall 2008, we need your support. Our fundraising goal is $485,000 and we are thrilled to announce that we have met this goal thanks to our generous donors. Please help us with these critical urgent needs by either volunteering or making a tax-deductible donation.

Over 30 Potrero Hill residents, garden club members, parents of toddlers, and teachers at Daniel Webster Elementary pulled out their gardening tools for two weekends in August to make the campus a little brighter, just in time for the return of students for the 2008-09 school year.

The greening project was organized and partially funded by the PREFund group with support from local merchants through the Potrero Chiropractors summer fundraiser and a generous donation of over 100 plants by Pacific Nurseries (wholesale to the trade) in Colma.

The group was aided by many two and three year olds who hope to be future students at Daniel Webster.

For more information on how to help keep this garden green throughout the year, please contact: deb@prefund.org.

Yes, a major initiative of the Potrero Residents Education Fund (PREFund) is to open a Spanish Bi-lingual preschool at Daniel Webster as part of its strategy to turn the elementary school into the best school it can be.

The hope is that the pre-school will not only provide a much needed preschool option to young families on the Hill, but also serve as a natural feeder into Daniel Webster Elementary School, thus increasing its enrollment.

PREFund is organized so that it can support all educational needs in all schools on the Hill, but Daniel Webster is its priority project for the next year.

» Click Here for more information on the Preschool Project