CCMIN021709 - Laserfiche WebLink

Fred Oh, Tri-Valley Presbyterian Church, stressed Mr. MacDonald's comments. He said that the Pleasanton School District provides wonderful facilities and resources for its children but cannot offer the same afterschool environment as LIL. The church and school provide an opportunity for a mutually beneficial and symbiotic relationship and he asked the Council what is best for the children. Frank Huang expressed support for LIL. William Huang, Justin Donn, and Soloman Alber spoke together as fourth graders enrolled in LIL. They acknowledged the concerns raised over students' summertime activities and explained that in addition to their regular academic classes, they swam, attended movies, and visited the library regularly last summer. They described LIL's learning program as fun and unique, noted that 20% of the world population speaks Chinese while only 15% speaks English, and explained that the school maximizes opportunity by teaching both. They asked the Council to vote in support of LIL so that they may move into a larger building with more fun activities and learning projects. Stephanie Liu said that LIL offers a program full of quality, consistency, communication, and collaboration. She asked for the Council's support and noted she and the other parents plan to support Ms. Zheng until this is resolved. Gary Kumfert said he initially believed LIL to be little more than a daycare program but soon learned that it is an environment dedicated to learning and enrichment. He explained that his daughter is half Chinese, said that it is natural for children of immigrants to discard their heritage, and that he is pleased the program at LIL has inspired a fascination with Chinese language and culture in his daughter. Her experiences there have given her an opportunity that he hopes will be available for his son when he is of age. Winnie Zhang said that her daughter used to attend the Kids Club afterschool program until she discovered that the program was not enough for her. LIL has provided an impressive opportunity with summer and math reading programs that are excellent supplemental programs to students' regular curriculum, fun and individually catered learning experiences, and resources that school budgets cannot hope to offer. She asked the Council to assist them in improving these programs further by supporting this move. Kevin Yip concurred with previous speakers' comments regarding the quality of LIL's program. He said that Pleasanton's superior educational infrastructure is the core of its retained property values in the present economy and that voting in support of LIL would only add to the community's value further. Xian Wen said that he has recently returned to Pleasanton after three years in China. He explained that he accepted a position in China to give his son an opportunity to learn the language and culture. Upon returning, he discovered LIL's program and is very pleased with the quality of the program and its staff. He acknowledged the concerns raised and suggested that the Council use them as an opportunity to improve what is already an excellent program. Elizabeth Shackelford stated that she is a California credentialed K3 Classroom Teacher who has worked at LIL teaching writing and phonics for the last two and a half years. She explained that the school feels more like amiddle-school than a daycare with a schedule for each child that includes both educational and elective type classes and additional writing and phonics classes that meet weekly. She said that she runs her classes using the teaching standards set City Council Minutes Page 5 of 19 February 17, 2009