Mendolonium

I am afraid to put the words down in print yet, but there are signs; very positive signs that we may be staying put.  I shall say no more as things are not certain yet, but I really do hope so…

Since my last update we’ve:

Plant something (or take care of something you’ve planted):

• Started basil, parsley, and cilantro indoors in pots.  My attempts to direct sow them in the garden this spring have not been successful.  Perhaps the cool, wet weather we have had is responsible?
• Started some additional “Furry Yellow Hog” tomato seeds.  I let Thomas pick out a tomato seed variety this year and he choose an yellow, slightly fuzzy tomato, “Furry Yellow Hog”.  We had several promising seedlings that we transplanted into the garden, but they all keeled over and died, much to Thomas’ distress.  So we are trying again…for a late season transplant.
• Planted some additional beans (Cannelloni) in some bare spots in the garden.

Harvest something:

• Carrots!  First of the season.
• Strawberries
• Raspberries

Preserve something:

• Nothing.

Waste Not:

• Gave away unwanted items for free on craigslist rather than throwing them away to be sent to the landfill.

Want Not:

• Just enjoying the start of a bountiful season of fruit…from our garden, the farmer’s markets, local farms…I love summer.

Eat the food:

• Finished off the last of our preserved bell peppers (frozen) from last year’s crop.  We’ve got lots of flowers on our peppers out back now so in a couple months we will back in peppers.
• After lots of traveling and nights spent agonizing over where to move, I am truly back in the habit of baking all of our bread and buns again.  Even though it is routine, almost nothing is so satisfying as pulling a warm, homemade loaf out of the oven.

Build community food systems:

• Found a neighbor just down the street that keeps chickens.  She told me that she would be happy to give me some Araucana chicks (green eggs!) when I am ready to start with chickens.  I kept Jeff up until 2:00 am the other night reading out loud to him about taking care of backyard chickens.   I might be obsessed.  Thomas is my partner in chicken advocacy and when asked whether he wants a play structure or a chicken coop in a bare area of the backyard will enthusiastically shout out, “chickens”!

It has recently come to my attention that my little boy Thomas is not so little anymore.  He has been convinced for quite some time that he is a “big boy”, however I remained skeptical.  But the mounting evidence now leaves no doubt: he rides his bike to the park, uses words like “fortunate” and “awful” correctly in sentences, rarely naps (no more often than Jeff or I do), can adeptly work the DVD player, knows the difference between mixing and folding when baking, and most importantly pees standing up.  And in just over one year he will be eligible to attend school in California.  Due to his November birthday he has the option of beginning kindergarten in fall 2011 at age 4.75 or in fall 2012 at age 5.75.  We are not sure yet what timing will be best for him.  He is clearly ready academically now (as he enjoys working through 1st grade level activity books), however, it remains to be seen when he will be ready for the social and organizational aspects of formal schooling.  There are many advantages to sending him early if he is ready – making sure he is challenged and engaged and eliminating one year of expensive childcare in particular.  Pasadena Unified School District has “school choice”, essentially a system under which parents may enter a lottery system to opt out of  their zoned neighborhood school to attend a school of their choice.  In our case,  the school that we are assigned to, Jefferson Elementary School, is one of the lowest performing in the district.  It is highly unlikely that we will be comfortable sending our children there.  (I do plan to tour the school;, however, keeping an open mind.)  The lottery for the fall 2011 school year will be held in February 2011 – nine short months away.  As such I have begun the process of touring potential schools to see if one or more might meet our needs for the boys’ education.  There is no guarantee that Thomas will win a lottery spot in  a school of our choice so to hedge our bets we are also considering private school and even homeschooling.  I will likely be touring up to a dozen schools over the next six months so to organize my thoughts I have decided to dedicate a blog post to each tour.  I also hope that this information might be of use to other parents in our situation.  That said, I will preface my thoughts with two caveats:  1) the observations presented here were gleaned from an approximately 2 hour tour.  I did not observe every classroom nor personally interview the teachers (who were hard at work with the students) and 2) every family’s needs are different and that parents considering exercising their choice option should tour the schools for them self.  Without further adieu I present:

Longfellow Elementary School

Longfellow is a relatively large (~550 student), ethnically diverse, pre-K through 5 elementary school, located in Pasadena’s oldest (1912) school building.  It is a large school with classrooms on three floors (1st, 2nd, and a basement) and a separate smaller building.  It is, in fact, so large and enrollment in Pasadena schools has declined such that there are a number of empty classrooms (primarily in the basement).  The classrooms are relatively small, but my historic minded eye enjoyed that they had wood floors, transoms, and some fine molding.  The school was clean, organized, and in good repair.  I can only imagine the school would look spectacular if given a truly historic face lift, stripping off the layers of paint on the woodwork, restoring the auditorium, replacing the lighting with something less industrial florescent.

Pros:

• The closet public school to our house, 0.6 miles; a pleasant 15 minute walk.
• The principal personally lead the tour.  She was clearly passionate about working with children and had a great deal of pride for the school.  In particular, I was impressed that she knew every student’s name who we came in contact with.
• The school has implemented a program of “individual learning plans” (ILPs) for each child.  The ILP is modeled on the IEP, used for special needs children.  The ILP sets forth for each student an individualized goal for language arts, math, and other (could be social, organization, communication, etc.).  The ILP includes information on what the student and teachers can do in school to accomplish each goal and what the student can do at home to work towards their goal.  I saw the ILPs taped to each student’s desk and I liked the focus on individual needs in a large school.
• The kindergarten (and pre-K) classes were located in their own small separate buildings.  The building has it’s own separate, brand-new playground which is quite nice with dinosaur themed play equipment, a bike path, bikes, sand, and a cheerful mural.  It looked like a very happy place for a child.
• I was impressed by the writing ability of the students we observed.  Two of the K and the 1st grade class we observed were working on worksheets and I was surprised at the level of the students’ writing (the K were writing simple sentences, the 1st graders words such as “wrong”, “wring”, and “write”).  This is particularly impressive given that approximately half the kindergartners come from homes where English is not the primary language spoken.  It appeared that the school was making a great effort to bring all students up to a proficient level of reading and writing as quickly as possible.
• The school uses a simple, “old-school” phonics-based learn to read approach
• There were clearly some excellent teachers at the school.  In particular, we observed a 2nd grade classroom where the teacher was animatedly reading a story to the class (who all sat comfortably) on a rug on the floor.  The students were fully engaged, asking questions, laughing, and answering readily.  It was a pleasure to watch.
• The school had a small, but lovely inviting library, staffed (even with next year’s budget cuts) 6 hours a day by a librarian.  The library is open at lunch and recess for students to enjoy.  The principal reported that the library is so popular among the students during these times that a sign-up sheet has to be posted to keep the number of students inside at any given time reasonable.
• The school has a GATE program beginning in 3rd grade which consists of “enrichment” work with clusters of students in their regular classroom.
• Special education services (speech, help with reading/learning disabilities) are available in the school.
• In my opinion (I am strongly opposed to large amounts of homework), a reasonable amount of homework: 30 minutes per day at the K/1st grade level (for the average student), increasing to up to an hour a day for an average 5th grader.
• The school is very diverse ethnically and socioeconomically.
• The school offers a “teacher choice” program wherein parents may observe the classes and then request a teacher for the upcoming school year.  The principal said that they are able to grant 80% – 90% of requests.
• Renovation of the cafeteria and some outdoor spaces is planed for next year (using measure TT bond funds).

Cons:

• The nominal school day (Tuesdays – Fridays) is 7:45 am – 2:15 pm.  This appears to be a systemic issue in public schools in California.  Many studies have shown that children naturally operate on a later schedule – particularly as they get older (pre-teen and teenagers).  The early schedule will be a challenge for us.  Rare is the day that Thomas is even awake before 8:00 am.  He and I are not morning people.
• On Mondays school is shortened to 7:45 am – 12:15 pm.  This is a Pasadena-wide policy (apparently other local school districts all have a “short” day).  I think this is utterly ridiculous and extremely difficult for working parents to manage.
• There are some very large class sizes which will be increasing with the reduced school funding for next year.  K will be at 1:25 next year.  4th or 5th grade may go as high as 1:37.  There are no aides.  Again, this is something we are going to find at nearly every public school in California.
• We observed three of the four kindergarten classes (the fourth was in the library) and they looked nothing like the kindergarten of my youth.  The students were all intensively working on reading/writing.  There was not a single toy visible in any of the K classrooms.  The K classes seemed overly academic for a group of five and six year olds.  I asked about opportunities for play and free-choice and the principal said (somewhat sympathetically) that “that isn’t the way kinder is anymore”.   Viewing the kindergarten classrooms left me feeling a bit sad.
• I observed one kindergarten teacher walking around the classroom of students doing worksheets, giving out general praise (“Good job”), but never seeming to stop and actually look at what a student was doing.  She seemed disengaged.  I later saw the same teacher at recess, chatting with another adult on the side of the playground – not engaged with the kids.
• There is no art, music, or PE teacher.  Art, music, and PE are integrated into the regular curriculum.
• We observed one teacher (3rd grade) who was, in my opinion, acting inappropriately.   The students were studying tall tales and as such had their textbooks open to the story of Johnny Appleseed.  Rather than read the story to them or with them the teacher was using a CD to read the story (provided by the book’s publisher I am sure), pausing every paragraph or so to discuss.  It was disturbing how technology was pointlessly taking the place of the teacher.  The stop and start nature of the story would have driven me (and I am sure it would Thomas) nearly mad.  The teacher then went on to illustrate tall tales and exaggeration by making up a story about “Jack Nicholson and Audrey Hepburn siting together at Lakers game.  Then telling the student that a tabloid might use that information to tell a tall tale that Jack and Audrey were dating.  She then went on to ask the students if Jack and Audrey were taking vacations together, would it then be a fact that they were dating.  Using celebrity dating as a teaching example to students is, quite bluntly, uneducated and inappropriate.
• I have concerns about the exact nature of the GATE program.  It has been my experience with different versions of GATE that some are truly enriching, while others just mean more work.  I am skeptical of a program that offers no additional specialized instruction.  If we consider Longfellow, I will need to obtain more information on the specifics of their GATE program.
• No way in hell Thomas will be eating the “hot lunch”.  They were serving sausage pizza, milk, and some sort of treat.  Nary a fresh fruit or vegetable in sight.  It neither smelled nor looked appetizing.  Again, I think this is unfortunately pretty standard for public school.
• The after school care offerings were disappointing to say the least.  There are two programs, “Parks and Rec” a drop-in, rather unstructured program, and “Pasadena Learns” a five day a week, 3+ hour a day program under which students are not permitted to participate part-time (i.e., they must stay the full 3+ hours every day).  Neither of these programs will work for my part-time work schedule and I would not feel comfortable working full time and forcing Thomas into another 15 – 20 hours of what is, basically, low-quality school at the end of every day.  We will have to find another option.

Overall, my first tour of a Pasadena elementary school was better than I had anticipated.  Pasadena is a district with a significant population of students from very low income backgrounds; many of whom English is not their  first language.  Despite this, you would not of know it to look at the Longfellow students and their work; I was impressed by what I saw.    Overall, I felt that Longfellow would provide a solid education in the fundamentals, however, there was a sense of rigidity and institutionalism at the school that gives me pause.  I hope that school will instill in my children not only the ability to read and write technically well, but to think critically, ask questions, and explore their passions.

There’s a Tim McGraw Song, Where the Green Grass Grows, I like to listen to from time to time.  It speaks to a theme familiar in American life since the industrial revolution:

Rural vs. Urban

Homogeneous vs. Diverse

Conservative vs. Liberal

Slow vs. Fast

Safe vs. Dangerous

Grass vs. Concrete

Dull vs. Exciting

Backward vs. Cultured

Open Space vs. Crowded

Country vs. City

Tim wants to live where the green grass grows, watch his corn pop up in rows, and plant his dreams where the peaceful river flows.  Hell, I want that too.  Sounds good.  Sign me up.  But Tim goes on to tell us that he’s from “a map dot, a stop sign on the black top”.  He laments that “there’s concrete growin’ in the city park”, that he doesn’t know who his neighbors are, and that there’s “bars on the corner”.  Well, actually our neighborhood park is pretty spectacular.  I know my neighbors and count them among my closest friends.  And  there aren’t any bars on the corner of our neighborhood, but there is a nice little Italian grocery.  Tim’s song speaks to me on the days I have to take to the freeway and I become a speck on the concrete beast winding its way throughout Los Angeles.   Even after 13 years in Pasadena, I still feel a bit claustrophobic by the relatively close spacing of the houses   When I go outside to  garden I  dream being greeted with silence rather than the sound of leaf blowers, wind chimes, and the dull roar of the nearest freeway.

And then there are the days when the city seems to me to encompass everything wonderful in the world.    Our neighborhood here has shown me just how much I value a home where I can walk to the library, post office, shopping,  farmer’s market, and parks.  I am less than a one mile walk to train station from which I can, quite literally, use as my jumping off point to the entire world.  And it is almost-sitcom perfect, how our tiny street is now home to six boys age four and under.  I smile every time I hear our neighbor’s four year old son shout from his open window across the street, “Thomas!!!” and the top of his lungs.

Dammit, I want both…the city and the country.  Why do we have to choose?

As I drove over the Los Angeles river this week and noticed the trees growing up in a soft-bottomed stretch, I realized that the choice between urban and rural is a false choice.  The answer to this “choice” has been given to us as the monstrosity that is suburbia, but this is not the way things have to be.  Why can’t rivers and creeks flow though the city?   Why can’t Pasadena be a city of roses and of mini-farms?  Why the hell can’t city gardeners put down their leaf blowers and pick up a rake? I want the best of both worlds and if modern society doesn’t offer it to me than I suppose we shall just have to go about creating it ourselves?  Want to join me?

I have no idea where we will be living this fall.  The Bay Area is a distinct possibility.  Washington D.C. area has emerged as a contender.  New York City is in the running.  South Carolina is the dark horse.  Then again, we might just stay right were we are.  Why all the possibilities and what are we thinking…moving with two young children?  Primarily, it is the lack of full-time job possibilities for Jeff in Southern California.  Jeff wants to teach at a two year or small four year school and in California, secondary education budgets have been slashed.  He cannot get a job in Southern California when most schools are laying off rather than hiring.   A secondary consideration is that despite our love of Pasadena, our home, and the life we have built here we have concerns about the sustainability of Southern California:  the expense of living somewhere where a “starter” home runs $500K* is huge and we are entirely dependent on imported water for our livelihood.  I have literally spent dozens of hours over the past month constructing elaborate spreadsheets; budgets, scenarios of raises and furloughs,  and commuting vs. rental costs.  I agonize over the spreadsheets hoping that technology will “save” me; will make our decision clear.  But, just like problems facing the larger world, technology will not give us the answer.  We have some hard decisions to make.

Living sustainability means living with a focus on the long term.  Lately, it has been hard to think about our life in the long term, when we don’t even know where we will be living in a few months.   I look out at my strong tomato plants and wonder, “Will I be standing over a pot of boiling water come August, sweltering in my little kitchen, preserving the bounty of the harvest?” or “Will I be  finding my way in a new city, without a job or childcare, but with the excitement of possibility?”  I can think about moving until I think about how that means leaving our home here and all we have built.  It is my hope that if we do leave, another family take what we have made here and use it to build a more sustainable life for themselves.  While I can’t take the dirt with us, I have learned a great deal and that knowledge will come with us to our new home.  Life is uncertain, but it is certain that people need to eat.  So I  weed my beans, plant another crop of melons, carefully guide the blackberry bushes through a trellis.  I am not sure who will be eating all this good food but all the effort shall not be for naught.

So, since my last update we’ve:

Plant something (or take care of something you’ve planted):

• Peppers (“Ace Bell”, “Purple Beauty Bell”, “New Mexico Joe E. Parker”, from seedlings)
• Thyme (from seedlings)
• Mint (from seedlings)
• Marigold (from seedlings)
• Watermelon (“Sugar Baby”, from seed)
• Cantaloupe (“Hale’s Best Muskmelon, from seed)
• Pruned and trellised grapes and blackberries.

Harvest something:

• Leeks
• Strawberries (just a few)

Preserve something:

• 4 half-pints of strawberry sauce (canned)
• 7.5 pints of blueberries (canned)

Waste Not:

• Gave away unwanted items for free on craigslist rather than throwing them away to be sent to the landfill.

Want Not:

• Raiding my treasure cabinet for things to keep the boys occupied during Jeff’s absences and our trips to check out possible new locations.  The treasure cabinet is filled with stickers, books from the library sale, toys from Goodwill, and new crayons and activity books bought on sale.  It has saved my sanity on many occasions.

Eat the food:

• Tried a new recipe for poppy seed cake with lemon frosting.  Two thumbs up!
• Eating heavily from our food storage so that we will have less food to move if we decide to do so.

Build community food systems:

• I am now a certified California “food protection manager”.  This means I took a class on food safety and passed an exam (with a score of 95%, I might add).  This certification was the first step in my teaching food preservation and sustainable cooking classes to the public.  I will be teaching the classes at a local “kitchen incubator”, a commercial kitchen for rent to those starting food based small businesses.

*So it is of course with great irony that the two official job offers Jeff has received have been in the Bay Area and in Manhattan – the two places in the country more expensive than Southern California.  At least it rains there.