Q UALITY M IDDLE S CHOOLS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
July 2011
A. MIDDLE SCHOOL FEEDERS & STUDENT ASSIGNMENT
1. What are middle school feeders?
With the Board of Education’s recent approval of middle school feeders, every K5 school in the
district is matched with a single middle school, known as their middle school feeder. The middle
school feeder for each K5 school are attached and available at http://www.sfusd.edu/en/enroll-insfusd-schools/enrollment-resources/feeder-patterns.html.
2. How will my child get assigned to a middle school? Does she have to go to her middle school
feeder, or can I still apply to another middle school? What are my options?
While the elementary-to-middle school feeders is based on the student’s elementary school
enrollment, the student assignment process for middle school will continue to be a choice process.
This means students enrolled in 5th grade at an SFUSD K5 school will have to submit an application
form ranking their middle school requests to receive a 6th grade assignment.
When submitting their applications, students will be able to request their feeder school, or any
other middle school. All requests will be processed at the same time, and all applicants will receive
a single assignment offer.
Between 2012 and 2016, the choice process for middle school will give younger siblings the highest
preference (known as a tiebreaker), followed by a preference for students enrolled in an elementary
school that feeds into the middle school (it doesn’t matter where in San Francisco a student lives;
this tiebreaker is based on the school the student is enrolled in for 5th grade), and then a preference
for students living in areas of the city with the lowest average test scores (known as CTIP1). These
preferences will be used when the number of requests for a school is greater than the number of
seats available.
Beginning in 2017, students living in San Francisco who are graduating from 5th grade will receive
an initial 6th grade offer based on the elementary school they attend, regardless of their residence,
to their middle school feeder before the middle school choice process begins.
After receiving their initial assignment based on the elementary school they attend, students will
have the opportunity to participate in an optional choice process which will give younger siblings the
highest preference, followed by a preference for students living in areas of the city with the lowest
average test scores (CTIP1). These preferences will be used when the number of requests for a
school is greater than the number of seats available.
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3. How will the needs of students who receive special education services be met in this feeder
pattern?
The Individual Education Program (IEP) team will determine appropriate placement for special
education students. To the extent possible, given the unique needs of students as outlined in their
IEP, the student assignment process used to assign general education students will also be used to
assign special education students.
The elementary-to-middle school feeders provide the district with a structure that will allow us to
deliberately and cost effectively place special education services at elementary and middle schools
so that there is K8 alignment for children receiving special education services.
4. How will feeder patterns meet the individual needs of different students?
Given the large of number of elementary schools represented at every middle school, it has not
been feasible to assess the needs of students before they are assigned to a middle school. The
feeder patterns will provide middle school communities with an understanding of the needs of
incoming students well in advance of their arrival, thereby allowing the district and school
communities to strategically plan and allocate resources to meet the needs of every student.
B. TRANSPORTATION
1. Will the district provide transportation for schools in the MS feeder pattern?
Yes, beginning with the 2012-13 school year we will provide limited transportation for middle school
students in cases where an elementary school feeding into a middle school is not reasonably
accessible to the middle school, taking into account factors including the availability of MUNI routes
as well as funding for transportation.
The following is a list of the types of questions we will explore as we work to develop middle school
transportation services:





Is the distance between the elementary and the middle school more than 3.5 miles on MUNI?
Does the MUNI trip include a transfer?
Is the MUNI travel time more than 35 minutes?
How would the trip time on a SFUSD school bus compare to the MUNI trip time?
Would adjusting middle school start times:
o reduce transportation costs, and/or
o allow SFUSD to include stops beyond the stops at elementary schools, and/or
o reduce the timeframe between when the bus arrives and instruction begins?
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MUNI Information for Non-Contiguous Feeders:
Elementary
School
Middle School
MUNI:
Trip Time
(minutes)
MUNI:
Number of
Transfers
Distance in
Miles between
Schools
Aptos
Presidio
Giannini
Lick
Denman
King
Hoover
Hoover
Lick
Presidio
Hoover
Aptos
Francisco
Hoover
38
42
60
47
31
21
46
38
28
27
40
47
32
27
0
1
1
2
0
0
1
2
0
0
1
2
1
0
5.7
4.1
7.8
4.3
3.1
2.09
4.16
4.1
2.0
3.44
3.99
5.8
2.41
2.1
1. Carver
2. Clarendon
3. Drew
4. Harte
5. Lakeshore
6. Malcolm X
7. Monroe
8. Moscone
9. Muir
10. Parks
11. Serra
12. Starr King
13. Tenderloin
14. Ulloa
Based on our preliminary analysis, transportation services to support the elementary to middle
school feeder patterns would require a shift in routes for middle school but would not require an
increase in resources. The district’s budget crisis, however, may require a reduction in funding for
middle school transportation.
C. QUALITY MIDDLE SCHOOLS
1. Do all middle schools have the same course offerings?
All middle schools in the San Francisco Unified School District offer five core classes (English
Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, and PE; English Learners also receive English
Language Development), and all offer at least one elective course which includes visual and
performing arts, home economics, technology/computers, journalism, yearbook, and/or peer
resources. Elective courses are determined by historical choice patterns, student demand, and site
capacity to maintain a program. There are currently three middle schools that have language
programs: Hoover, which offers dual language pathways in Spanish and Chinese and Japanese
Bilingual Bicultural Program in grades 6-8; Lick, which offers a dual language pathway in Spanish in
grades 6 -8; and Everett, which also offers dual language pathway in Spanish in grade 6 with plans to
expand to the 8th grade.
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2. How will the district ensure fairness of course offerings (academics/arts/athletic enrichment)
among all middle schools?
a. GATE and Honors
All middle schools serve GATE-identified students and they can be placed in homogenous or
heterogeneous groupings. Some schools group students into more homogenous classes such as
“honors” whereas others have chosen to have heterogeneous classrooms.
b. Language Pathways
In terms of language pathways, the district plans to expand from three to seven languages and from
six to twelve middle schools over a period of five years. The district is committed to continuing to
work towards giving every SFUSD student the opportunity to become bilingual.
c. Athletics and Enrichment
All middle schools have EXCEL Afterschool Programs and interscholastic athletics, which include
Girls’ Softball, Boys’ Baseball, Girls’ Volleyball, Boys’ Basketball, Girls’ Basketball, Co-ed Soccer, and
Track and Field. Middle schools also have a multitude of clubs and athletic intramurals that students
may choose to join.
3. What is the district’s plan to provide a variety of course offerings?
As part of the Quality Middle School Project, the district has assessed where course offerings differ
from school to school and is planning ways to ensure quality and consistency in all of the middle
schools while meeting the needs of individual students. The common core curriculum is being
developed to ensure coherence of content and instruction across the K-12 schools. The district is
also looking at alternative scheduling to allow for additional academic and enrichment
opportunities. Upon entering high school, 8th grade students will be prepared to meet the A-G/high
school graduation requirements so they may opt to enroll in a four-year college or university or
pursue successful careers of choice.
4. Will programs be aligned from elementary schools to the middle schools they feed into? If so, by
when?
One goal of the feeder patterns is to introduce a continuity of curriculum and academic programs
from elementary to middle school and create a community among smaller groups of students and
families for better articulation among the grade levels. This will help to build connections between
elementary and middle school families and students as well as teachers and administrators to
facilitate students’ transition between schools.
D. LANGUAGE PATHWAYS
1. How will elementary dual immersion and elementary biliteracy pathways merge at middle
school? Will English Learner (EL) students have the support they need?
There are many more similarities than differences between the elementary dual immersion and
elementary biliteracy pathways. Both pathways start with approximately 80% of the day taught in
the target language (other than English). The percentage of instruction in English increases from
year to year in both programs until reaching 50% in each language by fifth grade. Students are
expected to exit both pathways with similar literacy levels in English and the target language in
preparation for two target language classes at the middle school level.
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EL students who are not yet English proficient in middle school will receive at least 30 minutes of
English Language Development (ELD) instruction daily, primary language instruction and content
instruction in English using Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE)
methodologies. All classes will be taught by teachers that have the appropriate certifications for
teaching ELs in English or in both English and the target language.
2. Does the district have enough seats in middle school for elementary dual immersion students? For
elementary biliteracy students?
Currently, the district has more than enough seats at the middle school level to accommodate all
students in existing dual immersion pathways. All students who demonstrate proficiency in the
target language are eligible to enter the dual language pathway at the middle school level. In order
to ensure access to all students in the existing enhanced biliteracy pathway, which will be fully
articulated at the elementary level by 2015 (Spanish) & 2016 (Chinese), we will need to maintain,
expand and open new pathways at the middle school level. By 2017 all students moving from an
elementary language pathway will have a seat available in a secondary dual language pathway.
3. How can students who were not in a language program in elementary school learn a world
language in middle school?
Some of our middle schools offer world language programs. Our goal is to increase access to all
students by building teacher capacity at our sites to offer both target language instruction in the
language pathways and world language options to students who did not participate in a language
pathway at the elementary level.
4. If language pathways are geared toward a certain race or ethnicity, it seems likely that it would
result in more segregation. How will this plan impact diversity?
Research shows that students benefit tremendously from learning multiple languages. Our goal is
to provide access to all students and to increase or maintain diversity in all dual immersion
pathways. In the past two years we have been doing outreach to increase student diversity in dual
immersion pathways. We anticipate the transition of various biliteracy pathways to dual language
immersion pathways in the next few years. This will increase access for a more diverse group of
students.
5. If my child is in a language program in elementary school, does he or she have to stay in the
program for middle school?
Continuation in a language pathway is the choice of each family. If the student chooses not to
continue in the language pathway, he/she would still be offered a seat at a middle school.
6. Will teachers lose their jobs if middle schools add language programs at their school site?
Given current staffing conditions and teacher turnover, SFUSD has the ability to strategically recruit
and hire future teacher candidates who will be able to teach target language and content area
courses. Additionally, many of these teachers would be able to offer world language courses to
students who are in a general education pathway. Many site leaders are already looking for
candidates who would be able to deliver target language and English content courses as they build
capacity for language learning at their sites. Also, we anticipate increased enrollment in middle
schools, which would require us to use all sites at their maximum capacities and hire more teachers.
We are prioritizing recruitment efforts to attract qualified personnel who can teach the target
languages and content courses.
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