and we found that was not happening. she also found some students were not coming to school, and somehow they have fallen through as far as people making false or home visits. this is k-12. they have not focused on kindergarten as much, but they find that is the highest degree of truancies, because you cannot force the parents to bring them to school until they are six. she has also worked on high schools, and we have made several referrals. it is highly publicized. it is known that this is a concerted effort, and parents are responding, and as a result, we are improving attendance theory -- attendance.

>> i think making sure we do improved upon that dropout rate is one of our end goals. we know that has impacted a lot of what you do see in schools. we have to engage our students. we need to make sure there is a readiness to learn. we are making a commitment to make sure we provide opportunities to be successful when they transition graves. we are taking a close look at grading policies. there are a number of safety nets so not only are they gittins into the college of their -- getting into the college of their choice, but they are succeeding post- secondary are there district attorney's meetings, and a flood -- are succeeding pose

secretary. >> are the district attorney's meetings? >> there was a 90% dropout rate in 2007 that has declined to 9% rate over the past two school years, which is outstanding. >> this is not the first year of this effort has been made. the mayor has worked with me, and it expanded to a group that has been focusing on this and a partnership with the police department and the school districts. >> we have had a number of hearings about truancy and new programs that have been opened up. can you talk about the beacon schools in both areas? we have had quite a bit of focus on commission begin, and there was some push and pull -- commission beacon, and there was some fresh and cold, and we

are in the final stages of our review, which i think found that none of the other schools are interested in hosting, so it is going to be going back. there will be of process to see who can operate. it is currently operated on a contractual basis, but this process has also opened a bigger conversation about the awareness other schools have ended area about what a begiacon is supposd to be. i just wonder to what extent it is being incorporated. >> i do not think we have one in

the superintendent zone. there is one atherton high school. revere has an after-school program, but we do not have one. >> are due have awareness over this process, and perhaps one reason the community did not express the appetite, i think if there is an appreciation. it is specifically because we are placing a focus of expanded learning time, so we have an opportunity to enhance these after-school programs for building from scratch, so in speaking to the parent groups or principles, they feel we are

really going to be able to make each site offers robust programming, so you might have seen a lot more interest in competing. >> let me add in the mission context that it feels as if there were expectations that have not been adequately communicated,and hopefully this process where they have decided they wanted to do it, so it is clearly going to go back to everett.

we can communicate what we want the beacons to do i think it has been a building block for improvement that has taken place. it is important to me that there is kind of of frustration that takes place. if there has not been the documentation saying it is attendance numbers, then lay that out and have it signed by the school district and mission neighborhood district, so that is my goal moving forward, that they be more clearly articulated. we have had a robust community

meeting, and the letters were distributed to parents, signed by superintendent garcia, so i do feel there is a much higher awareness of the existence of the beacon and the possibility. certainly, there is going to continue to be programming across schools, but i would like for it to be a model, and i think it is going to take a certain awareness level as to the fact that they can articulate what are the classes and programs they would like to see, because adults can be served as well as children can, so i think there is a tremendous potential. >> we certainly are open to the conversation of having one in the near future in bayview. >> i agree there is an opportunity to work tightly

with all after-school providers, so all of our principals would agree the goals have to also support what we know the students face. that is another opportunity to serve them and certainly to be aware of academic goals. we are going to make it a focus to make sure we connect with whoever the provider is have ever read. >> my last question -- is there -- whoever the provider islam at everett -- is at everett. >> my last question -- we have groups like parents and public schools, chariot ferguson's group, and then you have businesses such as wells fargo

or other stakeholders that are active in the area, so i wonder to what extent can you have a list to understand these are things to enhance success of individual schools or sewn- wired -- zone-wide in terms of the district. >> we can put together a list. i have to say they have had a series of meetings -- one of which was held in the bay view -- of the community-based organizations, who let us know what they were doing, and we documented it currently, and they talked about what they can offer the schools.

she had been working diligently to make sure our community based partners know what we need and what they are doing, but we will put together and ask list. >> it is a timely question. this morning we met with a program, met with a number of -- we were presented with city college, the city, and school districts, getting to that question, and what came back was, can you pull together what is your highest priority? we are actively working on that as well. >> any other questions? >> it is really great to see the report and to get a sense of what the outcomes are and how we

plan to measure the success. it was really great to see, and i assume most of -- much of this is coming through the grant. >> i only have two schools, so i am asking for some additional resources. two schools are carver and paul revere. i have four other schools. we are leveraging professional development so if those schools have professional development they conducted in a way that the other schools can send teachers or principals to professional development. partners and school innovation

is working with them, but we are networking so they can do it, but we find they need additional resources, although i do have a wonderful team there is very powerful in doing some interventions and professional development. >> is that what is the mission came to hire, or is it that they were developed differently? >> the powerpoint presentations were developed differently. however, i have two coaches her school but not coaches from the grant, and i did not include that in the grant. the district does have seven schools, so they get two coaches, english, two masked,

survey and up with seven times do -- two omath, so they end up with seven times. >> how does a community outreach happen? >> i think it is a great, but when you only have seven of them funded by the sagig. >> they can be family positions? >> part of our logic in our application base reorganization, so part of that central theme needed to include this director for community outreach as well as a project manager and a couple of necessary fiscal analysts to deploy and manage the resources, but that is one way we are able to fund our small team.

the rest are reallocated from the district, so our teachers on special assignment are working in another department, so our area teams have a similar number of personnel. >> the director does focus on the schools, but she does also visit the other schools. >> we really do appreciate the focus on restorative justice. thank you very much. >> commissioner mendoza? >> i want to give a sense -- get a sense of how they are moving along, if we are getting strong candidates. >> i have my director of community outreach, but for each of the schools, that is coming along very well. it is a slow process, because we have so many applicants, and we

wanted it to be a transparent process. there is paper screening for well over 100 candidates. after that, there will be a central office level going to those candidates and entering the ones that past. then those will come to the assistant superintendent. the interview process has not come up yet, but i think they are close to that. i have not had a chance to see if that did begin. >> do you know when there will be bringing them on board? >> each of the coordinators' as well as the director are hoping that after the break our schools were beginning the process. our hope is by the end of january the directors and community coordinators are in

place. we discussed yesterday their entry plan, some things that we believe would be really important, so our hope is that a month or two from now, we are well under way. i also wanted to ask about teachers. when i went to the first meeting, there was a large turnout of teachers, and that was telling and encouraging. i wonder if we could speak a little more about a teacher response, a teacher input, things that reflect their perspective on what would make the superintendent zone succeed in ways that you feel there is a positive by end -- buy-in. >> there are multiple examples of how their voices being heard. we're going to continue expanding on that. i mentioned our leadership

network, where we are bringing together not only the administrative team but teacher leaders as they talk about strategy. wheeler also putting together instructional design teams made up of our best price -- we are also putting together instructional design teams made up of the best people to talk about the survey topics, -- about specific topics, so we are trying to get input, and there is certainly opportunity to continue to do more of that. >> i have given a few teachers surveys, so we can see what kind of things are important to the teachers. >> colleagues, any additional questions? we will open this item to public comment.

opportunity to bring forward a lot of the positive work we're doing together. i just want to thank you supervisor dusty because oftentimes when we are dragging our feet and don't feel like we're prepared to have these meetings you have reminded us how valuable and important these meetings are and your leadership has been tremendous. we have managed to meet at least once a month.

and i think sharing of information like this really builds on the partnership that we have. and we will continue to strengthen the relationship between the city and the school district. so thank you so much for the last couple of years that you served as the chair for this committee. it's been really wonderful. >> thank you. all right, colleagues, with that we will adjourn the meeting. i will thank my colleague supervisors as we are all nearing the end of our terms and madam, i thank you for leading us through this. and with that we are adjourned.

>> as the city of san francisco has grown, there are a number of cultural organizations that have grown with it. the san francisco symphony, the ballet, and ensure we are

celebrating the 75th anniversary of the san francisco museum of modern art's. one of the things many of our viewers may not understand about museums is the way they grow and evolve is really about a broad. his patient and support from many individuals who give their collections -- and broad support from many individuals who give their collections to the museum. this year it will be celebrating and abolishing those individuals through exhibition -- and acknowledging those individuals throughout asia. joining me is janet bishop, the curator. i understand you have been with the museum quite a number of years. you remember its original home on van ness. now you are part of that transition to the center, the

civic center, and of course your museum has been really the anchor of cultural tenants that has helped us transform this area of the city. >> to my mind, it is wonderful to be part of such a rich cultural community. when visitors come to this area, that have so many different options. >> let's talk about the anniversary show, which will be a phenomenal opportunity for san franciscans and all visitors of the city to get a real sense of how the city has grown and the importance of culture. >> we focus on moments where it was involved in pushing the dialogue about contemporary art forward. the jackson pollock exhibition in 1945 is a perfect example of that. our founding director was deeply interested in abstraction and was engaged in dialogue with the

guggenheim about bringing the jackson pollack showed to the west coast. the original price for the painting, $750. are directors thought that was too much of a stretch before the board of trustees, so she convinced them to reduce the price to firefighter dollars. it was just -- to $500. it was what was needed to persuade the board. it is a very subjective history of art. it has been very much shaped by the individuals involved with the museum over the years. in 1935, would start with the gallery with works that came in through albert bender, one of our founding trusties. when we opened our doors in 1935, 181 of the 186 pieces in our permanent collection had been gifted. >> what are the names that pop out as the museum evolved?

>> we have another gallery that looks at the theories that the museum has since the late 1980's. we focus on a particular aspect of that program that developed under one of art curators. he arrived in 1989 and was especially interested in artists. >> are some of the highlights? >> one of the aspects of the museum program that i have been especially involved with have been the exhibitions that stand for society for the encouragement of contemporary art. it is encouraged to honor exceptional bay area artists during their careers. for instance, an early worked who showed here in 1996.

for this exhibition, he has extended an updated it to 2010 with the addition of photographs and other frameworks. >> thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> as we examine the 75th anniversary, we cannot overlook its important role as an educational institution and how it brings public program to all of our citizens in the bay area. try me now to talk about that is dominick, the curator of education and public programs. you are vested with a multifaceted responsibility, with education and also multimedia. could you explain that? >> there are three main areas. we produce education activities for all ages, k-12, and adults,

and we also produce a lot of educational media, a lot of interviews with artists, stuff that we published online, and other galleries. there's also a public program, which include some educational activities, but also live cultural programming for the artists projects. >> what are all the ways that the museum reaches out? >> the latest platform for educational media is launching right now with his anniversary. we have gotten to the point where we could put a lot of the content about artists, the stories behind artists we have had on line, but those on to the ipod touch. >> could you talk about the education role that the museum plays in the city of san francisco? >> we are in the middle of a new

initiative to provide more resources and programs for families and the locality. we are benefiting from a grant from the wallace foundation, and in the last two years many more bay area families have come to the museum, participated in the programs, most of which take place on sundays. we will see more and more different offerings rolled out in the coming months. >> thank you, dominic, for being part of "culture wire." >> the museums are almost like a team sport. there is a tremendous amount of talented staff that puts together patrons to help support the institutions, but they all need a coach. the coach is the director.

neal, could you let the viewers know, you have been director how long? >> we are working on eight years. >> now you have the 75th anniversary. how does that feel? >> we opened this building in 1995. it was bought at that time as a move from the civic center and the veterans building 2 third street, into our new building, a much expanded space, better space. it will be wonderful for the museum for decades to come. and 15 short years we have been amazed by we have outgrown the building. the collection has grown to 26,000 works. >> was a challenging to decide what was going to be put on display during the anniversary year? >> 3 people on our staff spent 2 1/2 years of going through

archives, the storage vaults, honor think all kinds of works that we have not seen -- uncovering lot of works that we have not seen but also history we uncovered about how we presented a television show produced by the museum, in the museum, in 1950. a lot of great stories that the presentation tells. >> the most recent news was the incredible decision on the part of donna morris fisher to give their collection to sfmoma. >> think it is commonly understood that the fischer collection was 1100 works by some of the great contemporary works, one of the great collections in the world. in fact, the collection has not been seen. it has been largely or