West Portal: The Numbers

Posting this review as requested by a reader.

You should consider this school if you're looking for:  Cantonese immersion with a possibility of tracking in K-3, strong neighborhood school.

The Facts

Web site: http://www.westportalschool.com/
Location: 55 Lenox Way
Grades: K–5
School Hours: 8:40-2:30
Before/After-school program: GLO, starts at 7AM, ends at 6PM
Kindergarten size:  4.5 classes of 22 students-3 Gen Ed, 1.5 Cantonese Immersion
Playground: black-top terraces; play structure
Language: Cantonese immersion (1.5 classes)

Overview

I'll keep this brief since there are also 3 prior reviews in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The online school tour packet also has a great overview of the school. 

As noted in prior reviews, the school has experienced teachers who often serve as preceptors for student teachers. The robust student teaching program translates into more classroom staff.

 Also as previously noted, the principal is a proponent of red-shirting. During the tour, he stated that the students born late in the year represent 90% of the students who struggle at West Portal, through the later grades as well.  If your child will be a young kindergartener, this may not be the school for you.

Details of Cantonese Immersion

West Portal has the oldest Chinese immersion program in SFUSD, started almost 30 years ago by the now-principal of Alice Fong Yu. For CIP K-3, there are 1.5 classes per grade: the "half class" represents a combined K/1 and 2/3.  This allows for some tracking, especially in 2nd grade, as the teachers select what students are academically and socially ready to enter a mixed 2nd/3rd grade class.  More practically, 1.5 classes of 22 students in grades K-3 conveniently turns into 1 class of 33 for 4th/5th grade.

For K-1,  the curriculum is 80% Chinese and 20% English, Grades 2-3 are 70% Cantonese/30% English, 4th-5th Grade 50/50%. Mandarin and pinyin introduced early on in songs, but formal instruction does not start until 4th/5th grade.

Parent Involvement, Enrichment and Class Size
For the 2010-11 school year, the parents association raised almost $200k, according to their 2010 tax report at http://www.guidestar.org/organizations/94-3069763/parents-club-west-portal-school.aspx, and spent $140k. This money was used to fund the garden, PE, library, art, music, and perceptual motor, and Chinese performing arts after-school. Also the 5th grade camping trip.

Drop-off
I drive by this school every day, and honestly, drop-off looks like a hassle.  The road behind the school with the traffic circle gets a lot of cars during morning rush hour. and it can get congested.  I'm grateful for the traffic crossing guards who escort the children across this busy street; I'm sure they have saved more than a few children's lives.  This was mentioned in an earlier post.

Diversity
Culturally, the school as a whole feels very Chinese, much more so than other within-school immersion programs like Starr King, Ortega, and Claire Lilienthal. For example, one of their big weekly activities is after-school Chinese performing arts program on Fridays.

The Numbers

2011-2012 K-2 Enrollment by Ethnicity

Ethnicity	WP	SFUSD
Latino of any race	5%	27%
Not Latino or Hispanic:
Asian*	67%	33%
Filipino	4%	4%
African American	3%	9%
White	13%	17%
Pacific Islander	0%	1%
Two or More Races	6%	6%
Not reported	2%	3%

Source: California Dept of Education, Educational Demographics Unit

* Overall K-5 enrollment K-5 is 56% Chinese on SFUSD's CBEDS 2012-13 report.  Of the other students, 11% are listed as Vietnamese for CST testing, and many of these families may be ethnic Chinese from Vietnam.  During the Diversity Index lottery era, when Chinese enrollment was limited at popular SFUSD schools, many Chinese Vietnamese families chose to list their ethnicity as "Vietnamese."

2011-2012 Parent Education Level, Grades 2-5 only*

	WP	SFUSD
Graduate School/Postgraduate	21%	15%
College Grad	39%	22%
Some College/AA degree	13%	21%
High School Grad	16%	15%
Didn't graduate high school	8%	13%
Declined to State/Not Answered**	3%	13%

*CST test takers only. CAPA, CMA and STS not included. CST tests start at 2nd grade.

**For SFUSD, the "Declined to State" group has CST scores close to or slightly below the "Not a high school grad" group.

2011-12 Economic Status,	Grades 2-5* only

Percent of Enrollment Eligible for Free/Reduced Lunch

(<185% of the Federal Poverty Level)

	WP	SFUSD
All students	45%	61%
Latino of any race	67%	83%
Not Latino or Hispanic:
Asian	53%	65%
Filipino	19%	55%
African American (7 students)	57%	79%
White	15%	19%
Pacific Islander (only 1 student)	--	83%
Two or More Races	23%	38%

*CST test takers only. CST tests start at 2nd grade.

2011-2012 CST Scores by Parent Education Level, Grades 2-5 only*

	West Portal		SFUSD
	Score	At or above grade level	Score	At or above grade level
Graduate School/ Postgraduate Education	English 409 Math 427	85% 82%	English 416  Math 455	89% 89%
College Degree (BA/BS)	English 393 Math 427	78% 86%	English 391  Math 428	78% 81%
Some college/AA     grades 3 and 4 only*	English 389 Math 419	79%  97%	English 359 Math 386	56% 64%
High School Graduate     grades 2, 3 and 5 only*	English 366 Math 411	55%  82%	English 349 Math 390	49% 64%

* The California Department of Education only publishes scores for grades with over 10 students in each subgroup. Other parent education levels and grades didn’t have enough published scores for comparison.

The Some College/AA group had only 31 students; the HS Grad group had only 51 students.
Source: http://star.cde.ca.gov/

2011-2012 CST Scores by Ethnicity, Grades 2-5 only*

	West Portal		SFUSD
	Score	At or above grade level	Score	At or above grade level
Asian	English 388 Math 430	75% 85%	English 385 Math 442	74% 87%
White,     grades 3-5 only	English 415 Math 413	88% 88%	English 403 Math 426	83% 80%
Two or more races,     grades 3-4 only	English 386 Math 402	87% 87%	English 390 Math 422	76% 79%

* The California Department of Education only publishes scores for grades with over 10 students in each subgroup. Other parent education levels and grades didn’t have enough published scores for comparison.
The White subgroup had only 45 students, Two or more races had only 39 students for West Portal.
Source: http://star.cde.ca.gov/

2011-2012 CST Scores by Ethnicity and Economic Level, Grades 2-5 only*

	West Portal		SFUSD
	Score	At or above grade level	Score	At or above grade level
Asian, NOT economically disadvantaged	English 400 Math 447	79% 86%	English 401 Math 454	82% 90%
Asian, economically disadvantaged	English 378 Math 415	73% 84%	English 377 Math 435	70% 86%
White, NOT economically disadvantaged     grades 3-4 only	English 411 Math 415	91% 96%	English 409 Math 454	88% 87%

* The California Department of Education only publishes scores for grades with over 10 students in each subgroup. Other parent education levels and grades didn’t have enough published scores for comparison.
The White, not economically disadvantaged subgroup had only 25 students.
Source: http://star.cde.ca.gov/