My child will be entering kindergarten in the fall and we registered her at our neighborhood school, Sunshine Gardens. We also looked at Buri Buri and Ponderosa, but we were most impressed by Sunshine Gardens. The principal gave us a personal tour and spent an hour with us describing the program and answering our questions. She grew up in South San Francisco, but makes the commute from Marin county. That in itself demonstrates her commitment to the South San Francisco community and schools. She could certainly choose to be at a public school in Marin.

As a former teacher in private schools, I was especially struck by the access to technology - at least one class per grade has a Smart Board. It's hard to find that in a San Francisco private school classroom at the elementary school level.

Until my daughter starts in the fall, I can't speak to the reality of day-to-day life as a Sunshine Gardens parent, but I look forward to sharing the details.