Visitacion Valley Middle School (VVMS) received national recognition by President Bill Clinton and Secretary of Education Richard Riley in a new publication from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE).

Featuring VVMS as an example of how to improve public education, Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: A Guide for State and Local Leaders is available on the Internet at www.ed.gov/pubs/turning or by calling the USDE at (800) USA-LEARN.

OFF TO A GREAT YEAR
VVMS is off to its best year. All students had their class schedules within the first hour of school. Each grade level held an assembly to set expectations for the year and textbooks were distributed to students during the first week of school.
Best of all, student behavior has been outstanding with almost every student in uniform the first day. Students are ready to accept the challenge of high academic and behavior standards that have become a tradition at VVMS.

A Parent Action Team also had its first meeting and is ready to begin contacting parents on how they can be involved with the school.

KEY-SEC MEETING
Next parent meeting is scheduled for Oct. 14 at 5 p.m. in the Beacon room. Elections for School Site Council, School Advisory Committee, and Bilingual Advisory Committee will be completed at this meeting. Call Gene Barressi at 469-4590 for more information.

FAMILY MATH NIGHT
Family Math Night has become a tradition at VVMS. On Oct. 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. students and math teachers will display what is happening in VVMS classrooms in the area of mathematics.

PARENTS CONFERENCES
Parent conferences will be held on Oct. 22 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. as an opportunity for teachers to meet parents and guardians to discuss progress of their students.

MAYOR'S OUTREACH MEETINGS
The Mayor's Office is holding its annual community service and family outreach meetings at VVMS from 5 to 9 p.m. These meetings are sponsored by the Beacon Center.

SATURDAY MATH WORKSHOPS
Carol Mobley, 8th grade math teacher, has scheduled two Saturday math workshops for 8th grade parents on Oct. 31 and Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. These workshops will present what is currently taught in classes and how to help 8th grade students master math skills needed for high school.

VVMS OCTOBER DATES
12: Indigenous People's Day (no school); 20-23: Ropes Course for selected students with Richard Meyers; 22 Honor Roll Assembly for 8th Grade; 23: Honor Assemblies for 6th and 7th Grades; 30: Halloween Dance, 3:15-4:30 p.m. in cafeteria. 

Making Visitacion Valley Safety a Priority

In recent weeks, Valley merchants and residents concerned about neighborhood safety have voiced their opinions to new outreach members Esther Blanchard and Frank Mok working with the Safety Committee Project through the S.F. Enterprise Community Program.

Both have been utilizing a Safety Strategic Plan approved by the Visitacion Valley Task Force to determine community safety needs. Blanchard and Mok have been finding ways to address those needs, including documentation, publicizing, and referrals before reporting weekly to their project coordinator and presenting a monthly report to the Task Force. Mok recently left the project to assume a full time role as Youth Program Coordinator with the Valley Community Beacon.

In the meantime, Blanchard continues to visit with Valley merchants and community based organizations to get opinions and evaluate needs in making the neighborhood a safer place to live.

"I like the vision the neighborhood leaders have," she said in evaluating the positive response the community has shown for the project's efforts.
Blanchard is also working closely with a proposed One Stop Police Resource Center planned for Leland Avenue, along with the new police substation in Sunnydale to coordinate and improve police and community relations in Visitacion Valley.

Project goals also include establishing Drug Free Zones, and setting up and coordinating an education program with information to be distributed at schools, community meetings and fairs.

"I think this will put more presence and visibility in having community policing here in the Valley," she explained.

Emerging Artwork from Valley Artist

Visitacion Valley artist Kristine Mays will be opening the doors of her workspace at 529 Raymond Ave. to the public the weekend of Oct. 17-18 as part of Open Studios. Bright vivid images in oil pastels will be shown  from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. along with her latest wire sculptures.

Kristine's work deals with the human condition through facial expressions. "I am continually people watching. I've noticed that it really doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, or what walk of life you come from, we all essentially feel and experience some range of emotions."

The overachiever of her family and a graduate of Lowell High School, Kristine's goal of pursuing a degree in adolescent psychology was overshadowed by her drive and compulsion to create art.

Kristine has shown her work in San Francisco, the East Bay and in various Northern California cities. Her list of credits include artwork for a CD, illustrations for a book, an animation project, and several T-shirt designs. 

Bazaar at St. James Presbyterian

St. James Presbyterian Church at 240 Leland Ave. will sponsor a whole-day fund raising bazaar on Oct. 10 at its social hall.
Featured will be a White Elephant sale, barbecue sale, baked goods, food baskets, and a raffle for prizes. 

Adult Computer Classes at Beacon Center

Visitacion Valley Community Beacon is offering free Adult Computer Classes on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at 450 Raymond Ave., Room 101.

There will also be Citizenship and Job Readiness classes being offered by the Beacon. Call 452-4907 for further information. 

New Meeting Dates for Valley Task Force

Visitacion Valley Task Force (VVTF) has rescheduled its Oct. 24 meeting for Saturday, Oct. 17, 10:30 a.m. at the Community Center auditorium at 66 Raymond Ave. Future meetings this year will be held on Nov. 21 and Dec. 19. 

Candidates Forum at Community Center

Pacific Islanders Democratic Club will join with the Visitacion Valley neighborhood in sponsoring a Candidates Forum on Saturday, Oct. 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Community Center, 50 Raymond Ave. 

Street Tree Planting in Visitacion Valley

You are invited to plant a tree in front of your home for as little as $25 with Friends of the Urban Forest through a special funding with the City of San Francisco.

Trees in our neighborhood can increase your property value, beautify our community, and are healthy for the environment.

The planting date is scheduled for November 21st. If you are interested in signing up for a tree or have any questions, please contact Jeanette Tolentino, Neighborhood Coordinator, at 467-6159. 

Traffic Calming Study Approved

S.F. Supervisor Leslie Katz recently announced the release of a Strategic Analysis Report (SAR) on Traffic Calming in San Francisco.

"We need to be more responsive to the growing number of requests by residents to calm traffic on their neighborhood streets," explained Katz. "The current piecemeal approach to individual requests needs to be replaced with an informed, proactive citywide policy on traffic calming."

Traffic calming techniques can reduce speeding and cut-through traffic on residential streets, and increase pedestrian and bicycle safety and access. Possible techniques include passive controls (such as stop signs), access restrictions (such as street closures), or displacement devices (such as speed bumps and traffic circles).

Random implementation of these techniques, however, can have significant impacts on the overall mobility of automobiles, public transit vehicles and emergency vehicles. San Francisco has had mixed results in the past with traffic calming, whereas other cities with comprehensive traffic calming programs, such as Portland and Seattle, have had greater levels of success using a variety of traffic calming techniques.

Earlier this year, Katz successfully fought to retain City funding for a traffic calming study of Bernal Heights where there had been a dramatic increase in complaints by residents about fast moving traffic on residential streets. 

Halloween Celebration at S.F. Zoo

Boo at the Zoo, a special daytime Halloween event for little ghosts and goblins, will be presented by the S.F. Zoo on Saturday, Oct. 31 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Costumed kids can visit trick-or-treat stations around the Zoo, dare to venture into the haunted Nature Trail, participate in a costume parade and contest, and even meet a vampire at a Bloodmobile station.

Animals at the Zoo will also celebrate Haloween with scheduled pumpkin presentations--some pumpkins even include hidden treats. Watch the African elephants, polar bears, ring-tailed lemurs, rhinos and others, receive their pumpkins, and whether or not they smash them, chew them up, or carry them around, the presentations are very entertaining and not to be missed.

Boo at the Zoo is free with paid admission to the Zoo. The S.F. Zoo is located on Sloat Boulevard at 45th Avenue near the Pacific Ocean. For more information, call 705-0761. 

Benefit for Conservatory of Flowers

Where can you go yo hear buffaloes moan about mating, see fish carp about their gene pools and meet the Mayor?

At a benefit for the Friends of Recreation and Parks, where funds will help restore the storm-damaged Conservatory of Flowers. The event takes place on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 5 and 6, at the Russian Center, 2450 Sutter St., where FloraFauna Follies: A Fable of Old and Great Park will bring the San Francisco Chronicle comic strip Farley to life.

The supper show features many of the strip's most popular characters, who will sing and dance as they complain and resolve the situation in the park, while creator Phil Frank (as Farley) narrates. 

Calling All Camera Hounds

Enter the San Francisco SPCA's annual Humane Education Photo Contest and you might win some super prizes and have your winning photo published in Our Animals magazine.

Each photo submitted should feature at least one animal subject. but people in the picture are okay, too. Entry fee is $5 per image and must be either a color transparency (slide) or a color or black and white print no larger than 8-by-12 inches Matte size is limited to 11-by-14 inches.

Deadline for entries is Dec. 15, 1998. Make checks payable to the San Francisco SPCA but note "photo contest" on check. Mail or drop off entries at switchboard desk in care of: Photo Contest--Education Department, The SF/SPCA, 2500 16th St., San Francisco, CA, 94103. For more information, call 554-3065. 

S.F. School Volunteers Host Annual Luncheon

San Francisco School Volunteers will celebrate its 35th anniversary during its 14th annual Back to School Lunch on Wednesday, Oct. 14 in the Grand Ballroom of the Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Square. A reception will begin at 11:15 a.m. Call 274-0250 for more information. 

Conference for Breast Cancer

During Breast Cancer Awareness Month , Healing Choices/Bridging Communities, a symposium for breast cancer and integrated medicine initiated by breast cancer survivors and advocates dedicated to the memory of Susan Yoachum will be held Oct. 24 at Cole Hall, University of California from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration fee is $10 with a continental breakfast with box lunch and childcare provided.

Scholarships are available. Seating is only available for 400 and atendees must pre-register to receive lunch and childcare. Call 248-1332 for more information. 

State Income Tax Rates Set for 1998 Tax Year

The California personal income tax brackets will be indexed by 2.3 percent for the 1998 tax year, according to the Franchise Tax Board. Californians whose taxable income is unchanged from last year will pay lower state income taxes when they file tax returns next year. Taxpayers whose income increased and generally kept pace with inflation will pay approximately the same amount of taxes that they paid last year.

Indexing takes the rate of inflation into account and adjusts tax rates and certain credits to ensure additional taxes are not paid from year to year due solely to inflation. Items affected by indexing include the filing requirement thresholds, the standard deduction, personal and dependent exemptions, tax rates and various tax credits and income deductions.

The filing requirement threshold amounts are $8,498 of adjusted gross income (AGI) and $10,623 of gross income for single or unmarried individuals. For married couples, the amounts are $16,996 of AGI and $21,246 of gross income. The standard deduction will increase for single or separate taxpayers from $2,583 to $2,642 and for joint, qualifying widow(er) or head of household taxpayers from $5,166 to $5.284. The personal exemption will increase for single, separate or head of household taxpayers from $68 to $70 and for joint or surviving spouses from $136 to $140. Due to tax law changes, the dependent exemption credit increases from $68 to $253.

Tax credits affected by indexing include the Joint Custody Head of Household Credit, Dependent Parent Credit and the Qualified Senior Head of Household Credit.
The indexed values are computed based on the inflation rate as measured by the California Price Index for all urban consumers from June 1997 to June 1998. 

SLUG Explores Cultivating Herbal
Therapies in Bay Area Backyards

An herbal renaissance is underway. More than one-third of all Americans routinely use some form of complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM), and visits to CAM practitioners now outnumber those to primary care physicians each year. With billions of dollars spent annually on alternative therapies, CAM--which was virtually ignored by U.S. corporations until a few years ago--now has the attention of big business, a development that promises to change the practice and not necessarily for the better.

"People need to know where these therapies come from and how they are grown," said Kami McBride, a health educator who teaches at universities and presents at conferences throughout Northern California. "There is more and more unethical cultivation of wild plants and over-harvesting is becoming increasingly common. Given the trends, alternative medicine could suffer the same fate as our food: row crops covered with pesticides and devoid of its original value."

Fortunately, there is still hope and Bay Area residents find themselves in a particularly good spot. Long growing seasons and ideal weather support year-round cultivation of any traditional therapies. Thousands of area residents, for example, already grow some of their own medicine--Echinacea, St. John's Eort, Valerian--in their backyards. "How we cultivate these therapies now will have a tremendous impact on the future of herbal medicine," explained McBride.

At an upcoming SLUG workshop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 10 at the Garden for the Environment, 7th Avenue and Lawton St., McBride will explore the basics--and advantages--of growing an herbal medicine cabinet to treat common ailments. Topics covered will include how herbs can be used to stay healthy during the winter flu months and successful cultivation of plants without pesticides. McBride, an experienced herbalist, wildcrafter and teacher, has studied the medicinal and edible uses of plants for 15 years.

Call SLUG at 285-7584 for more information. 

Kid Power T-shirt Design Contest Names Winner

Fourteen-year-old Melia Suguitan had the winning design in the first Kid Power T-shirt Design Contest held by the San Francisco Public Library, in conjunction with the Summer Reading Program.

In the Kid Power program, young people ages 10-16 volunteer to help out at their local neighborhood library, primarily aiding reading club participants. Suguitan is a volunteer at the Merced Branch library.

Over the summer months, more than 450 youth volunteered 8,000 hours while librarians gained their much-needed assistance. 

Fund-Raising Sale for S.F. Historical Society

Thousands of paperback, hardcover, and special edition books, records and used CDs that the San Francisco Historical Society has been collecting for more than three years will be offered for sale on Saturday, Oct. 31 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Mary's Cathedral on Geary Boulevard and Gough Street. Donations and volunteers are still needed. Call the Society at 775-1111. 

Measure Will Provide for
Academic Preparation Programs

Governor Pete Wilson signed a bill Sept. 24 to provide $5 million for academic preparation programs such as S.A.T. preparation courses or after school tutorials developed by local partnerships between school districts, colleges, and private businesses.

Assembly Bill 1292 (Migden, Villaraigosa, and Pacheco) is designed to improve college participation rates by targeting traditionally low performing schools that are below the statewide average for college participation.

Under the measure, regional partnerships consisting of local school districts, higher education institutions, community organizations and businesses may apply to the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) for grants to fund academic preparation programs tailored to their local schools' needs. AB 1292 also requires the regional partnerships to match dollar-for-dollar the grants awarded b the SPI. Both the California State University and the University of California systems have allocated funding to help bridge gaps between their institutions and low performing schools throughout the state.

"We clearly are failing students in certain areas of the state, too few of whom are prepared for college," said Assemblywoman Carole Migden. "This measure is a significant step forward in improving communication between colleges and local schools and ensuring more students are prepared to thrive in the college setting."
In 1996, 72 public high schools in California did not have one graduate enroll at the University of California. Moreover, the California State University system currently is spending more than $11 million annually on remedial education for new students not prepared to do college level work.

BACKGROUND CHECK LAW
Also signed Sept. 13 by Governor Wilson was a bill by Assemblywoman Barbara Alby (R-Carmichael) to create an alternative background check for people who are physically unable to provide fingerprints. This bill contains an urgency clause requiring the law to immediately take effect. 

Amendment Will Allow Automotive UV Protection

Starting in 1999, California drivers will be able to have solar protective window film applied to the front side windows of their vehicles. Prior to last month's signing of Amendment #26708 to the California Vehicle Code by Governor Pete Wilson, the fitment of film to automobile front windows was totally banned in California.

On Jan. 1, 1999, clear colorless transparent material may be installed on front side auto windows providing:

*The material is designed and manufactured to enhance the ability of the existing window glass to block the sun's harmful Ultraviolet A rays.

*The material has a minimum visible light transmittance of 88 percent.

*The window glazing with material applied meets all requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Drivers must also have in their possession a certificate signed by the installing company that certifies that the windows with the film installed meet all vehicle code requirements, and agree to remove any film that tears, bubbles or otherwise obstructs clear vision.

This amendment is most significant because until now drivers could not help protect themselves and their passengers from exposure to dangerous ultraviolet rays while in a car. Untreated glass will reduce ultraviolet UVB rays but will not block the more harmful UVA rays that have been associated with the development of skin cancers, including melanoma and premature aging of the skin.

The California Highway Patrol vigorously supported the amendment to the Vehicle Code because they were aware of the pressing need to make solar protection available for all automobile drivers and passengers in the State.