Bert Hsu Academy to Offer Kindergarten to Eighth Grade Classes in Potrero Hill

BY VIVIEN WANG

BY CHAITANYA TONDEPU

Sirens and castaways, drag and modern dance, a shipwreck in a nightclub. We Build Houses Here, performed last May at Oasis, showcased each of these elements intermingling like tidal forces.

“This hits so hard for me,” said Eric Garcia, who directed the immersive theatrical experience. “There is this thing that most (queer) artists go through when you first start, the work comes from oppression, and you speak from a place of minority status. We’ve done our fair share of that, and we have been making a really clear shift with our work to center it on queer imagination, joy, and expansiveness, to show what else is possible with our story. So, this project feels like a beautiful example of that, with shipwrecks disguised as a drag show. It’s glittery and sexy with pop songs, but the show is literally about a shipwreck,”

The play colorfully depicts different experiences of queer community oppression, with the central theme of struggle conveyed through vibrant characters and scenes.

“As a performer, it feels like personal purgatory in some ways too, in the midst of feeling wrecked and being

Garcia and Cole came up with the play’s initial concept three years ago as they were fundraising for Detour, their dance-theatre company that creates work for and relevant to the stories of queer, transgender, Black, indigenous people of color (QTBIPOC). They founded the troupe in 2009 after meeting the previous year as fellow University of San Francisco (USF) students. Garcia, a sociology major, was taking dance as an elective. Cole was majoring in poetry, minoring in dance. When Garcia wanted to make a piece for the student cabaret, Amie Dowling, USF’s dance program director, suggested he meet Cole. Garcia brought a composition book filled with images from his dreams to the assignation, sparking their collaboration.

In Detour’s almost 15-year tenure Garcia and Cole have synthesized drag, contemporary art, social justice commentary, and immersive theater, taking inspiration from their personal experiences.

“That’s the growth too, the company grew as we grew as people,” said Cole. “At first, we were very much influenced by what contemporary dance was, like we were making duets where we were sipping tea. As we slowly figured out who we are as people, we started asking larger questions. We went from focusing on what our relationship was in this duet form to how we can speak to the larger community we want to be a part of. The perspective shifted and grew as our awareness as people grew.”

Over the years, Detour’s work evolved in terms of content, artistry, and size. In 2010 they directed or acted in Drift, a film about the journey of two hitchhikers. Up On High, their latest

SHIPWRECKED continues on page 10

Opening this fall, the Bertrand D. Hsu American & Chinese Bicultural Academy will offer “quality, rigorous, affordable and bicultural education” to kindergarten to eighth grade students. The school will be located at 450 Connecticut Street, a space first used as Saint Teresa of Avila Catholic Church’s elementary school that’s been home to the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine’s acupuncture and herbal clinic for the past 27 years.

Founder and Head of School Ann Hsu worked with a broker to find a space that had an education permit, and which wouldn’t require renovation. While ACTCM is closing it’ll remain open to students who can complete their degree by Summer 2024. The Academy is negotiating with ACTCM on the possibility of retaining access to part of the space.

According to Hsu, the Academy will provide a much-needed option for parents living on the City’s east side to access quality education for their children. Many immigrant families from China move from Chinatown to neighborhoods like Visitacion Valley and Bayview once they can afford to, but children often commute to schools on the City’s west side due to a lack of local options.

Nearby elementary schools include Starr King and Daniel Webster in Potrero Hill; and Dr. Charles R. Drew College Preparatory Academy, Malcolm X Academy, and Bret Harte in Bayview.

Middle schools comprise Visitacion Valley Middle School, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic in Portola, and Willie L. Brown Jr. in Bayview. None of these schools cover K-8 grade levels, which is available at Bessie Carmichael Southof-Market and the independent Live Oak School in the Hill.

The idea for the Academy came to Hsu last January during a strength conditioning class at the YMCA. Over the previous two years, she’d become intimately involved with her twin sons’ schooling during the pandemic. Both at Galileo Academy — one of 11 San Francisco Unified School District high schools — one boy “did fine on Zoom school” while the other was the polar opposite.

“I asked myself how many of the BERT HSU ACADEMY continues on page 9 the places, but those spaces are not usable. You sit down and a menu shows up,” Barbone pointed out. “Here, you can read your magazine, book, or work if you want.”

Barbone mentioned that the parklet will be “gently” modified to meet regulatory requirements.

“The structure is going to stay the same; open space with the little cubbies. It’s here for the long run,” he concluded.

Blooms Saloon

Blooms Saloon intends to replace the parklet on 18th Street.

“We’re completely rebuilding it,” Barbi Tice, Blooms Saloon co-owner, said. “We’re waiting for (the City) to tell us exactly what they want us to do and not want to do. This was never built to be permanent, so it’s not to the standard that we want it to be.”

Tice added that the bar welcomes people to the parklet.

“We get the sunny side of the street. People from Farley’s come over sometimes because their side is cold. So, we’re together to keep it for the neighborhood.”

Papito

Papito’s commercial parklet, built as part of the pandemic-era Shared Spaces program, faces complications under the new regulations, though the restaurant hopes to continue using it.

“The City said that we have to take it out, probably in a couple of months. So, we don’t know yet about that,” Luis Barrera Papito manager said. “We want to keep it open outside forever.”

Chez Maman

The parklet and seating outside Chez Maman will require modifications to meet the new regulations, but the restaurant plans to keep it open.

“We’re going to redesign it because we need to get it up to code. We’re just waiting for the approval process,” Brandon Petry, a restaurant manager, PARKLETS continues on next page said. “We’re going to (make) it a little bit smaller, and a little bit more ADA friendly. It gives people an opportunity to enjoy outside. Previously we only have six seats outside. We’ve been able to expand, and people can take in the great view.”

Mochica schools is a marriage of Chinese and American education, beyond language skills.

Mochica plans to continue operating the restaurant’s parklet on the corner of 18th and Connecticut streets.

“I believe we’re going to update some parts of it,” Kathleen Ramirez, a restaurant hostess, said.

Similar to other 18th Street establishments, the parklet has allowed the eatery to provide diners with more seating options.

“It brings in more customers, especially during the sunny days. People just want to spend more time outside,” Ramirez said.

“Today what’s happening is creativity and critical thinking in a vacuum, without a core base of knowledge. Too much feeling, not enough thinking. The Chinese approach focuses on knowledge acquisition and skills mastery, memorization and repetition. While good, it’s not an approach you want for the rest of your life. The American approach focuses on critical thinking and creativity; but, if you don’t have a core base of knowledge, it’s hard to think critically,” said Hsu.

Hsu attended middle and high school in Erie, Pennsylvania after finishing elementary school in Beijing. She brought her sons to Shanghai for elementary school, reproducing her own academic experience.

50,000 students in SFUSD are like this? I Zoomed into school board meetings, and saw lots of parents wanting to open schools, but the school board was not discussing that, or any other solution to address the Zoom school issue. Instead, they were discussing renaming schools, removing Lowell’s merit-based admissions criteria, and painting over the George Washington mural,” she said.

Hsu got involved with school board issues. She served as the Parent-Teacher Student Association (PTSA) president at Galileo Academy, and chaired the District’s Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, which is charged with review and oversight of public-school bonds. She played a prominent role in last year’s successful recall of three San Francisco Unified School District board members who were accused of neglecting priorities and budgets, amidst a delayed return to in-person school, leading outreach efforts to Chinese and other Asian voters for the pro-recall side.

Post-recall, she was appointed to the Board by Mayor London Breed, but lost her seat in last November’s general election by a margin of 0.6 percent, about 4,100 votes.

“After November, I took a few months to fill in my background knowledge of education and politics,” said Hsu. “And what we’re doing is not working in the public schools. The environment for students, administrators and teachers has been going downhill. SFUSD is like the Titanic; huge and sinking. Adults like me are advocating for students, trying to get the water off. The kids are in the cabins, and the lifeboats are $40,000 to $60,000 a ticket. We’re left with parents who don’t know better or who can’t afford it.”

According to Hsu, of 120 SFUSD schools only two—Alice Fong Yoo and Starr King—cater to Chinese students, who she considers have “historically been ignored. About 25 percent of the 48,000 students in the SFUSD are Chinese, and that’s not counting biracial kids. Around half are recent immigrants whose parents don’t speak English well; the other half are American-born Chinese, who want their kids to learn Chinese.”

Two private schools in San Francisco offer Mandarin immersion: Presidio Knolls School and Chinese American International School. Tuition at each approaches $40,000.

For Hsu, what’s missing from these

The Academy is named after Hsu’s father, Bertrand D. Hsu, a bilingual and bicultural Chinese American who designed the first car in modern China in 1958, was awarded General Electric Engineer of the Year in 1984 and was a Fellow at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The Academy touts three distinguishing features: integration of traditional direct instruction with creative inquiry-based approaches; American and Chinese bilingual and bicultural education, including Chinese and American history; and a community hub to engage students, parents, grandparents and other community members.

“We want to go broader and deeper,” said Hsu. “We’ll bring the broader culture into the school, so parents don’t need to pay extra for that exposition.”

Chinese martial arts, folk dances and sports will count as physical education; Chinese classical books, Chinese arts, such as calligraphy, and traditional Chinese medicine, will also be studied. By incorporating these classes into the curriculum Hsu aims to alleviate the transportation hassle and cost associated with typical after-school programs. She plans to invite service providers on site, to offer enrichment activities that aren’t included in school programming.

Hsu believes that students should gain proficiency not only with Western attitudes, but with Chinese philosophies like Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, along with Chinese and American history.

“Given US-China tensions, we need to teach our young people about Asian American and Chinese history, and their place in the world. After you drop off the kids, you can stay; either volunteer in the classroom to help with reading in Chinese, chaperone field trips, teach tai chi, or work in the garden,” said Hsu.

The garden was part of ACTCM’s campus and will remain in place at the Academy.

A key partnership will be with the Chinese Hospital, located at in Chinatown.

“Starting in middle school, we’ll bring students to the hospital to visit with seniors, while exposing them to various roles in the healthcare system. In addition to internships and volunteering, we’ll invite the hospital community to come to school to give classes on heart health and other topics, to benefit our school community’s parents and grandparents.”

Bert Hsu Academy’s tuition is $18,000 a year, which includes lunches and summer programming. The nonprofit, K-8 private school can accom-

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VERMONT CLEANERS from front page to me,” he said. “All of the money I give to them is out of my pocket and sometimes I have 16 people living with my family. It’s a lot of pressure and life is tough.”

Despite the challenges, Xu wants to stay at Vermont Street. If he moved the business to another location his customers might not follow. He’d have to start from scratch, which’d be worse than the significant loss of customers he expects when he reopens.

“It’s only the lawyers I’ll have left,” he said, because they’re the most loyal and need dry cleaning regularly.

Xu also wants to stay on Vermont Street because he likes the neighborhood.

“In this neighborhood, we know everyone, and they know us. We’re just like a family, and we like that,” he said. “I hope neighbors will support us when we get our business back and I hope for the best."

ANNEX-TERRACE from front page

Other dangerous events have occurred this year at Annex-Terrace. In late January, a fire broke out at 706 Missouri Number Three Turner Terrace that ended with one adult dying after succumbing to injuries, according to SFist. Less than a week later, on the same block, a 44-year-old Dublin man was killed by gunfire and a barrage of bullets hit nearby homes and vehicles. The San Francisco Police Department said a shootout occurred with multiple guns.

“Officers arrived to find casings, blood, multiple vehicles and residences hit,” Tweeted Deputy Chief of Investigations Raj Vaswani.

SFHA was previously responsible for the public housing complex. However, in September 2022 it relinquished all management to EBMC, which collects at least $200,000 annually in fees, and likely additional revenues associated with repairs and maintenance. The Housing Authority touts itself as a

At last month's "InsectPalooza: The Art and Magical Science of Arthropods" more than 400 people visited the Minnesota Street Project for an immersive, hands-on event that merged art, nature, and science. Featured insects including the Giant African Millipede, Australian Walking Stick and Hissing Cockroach, with homemade mealworm chocolate chip cookies

“high-performing contract management and performance monitoring organization,” according to its website.

While declining to comment on EBMC’s scorecard, the Housing Authority told Mission Local , “The management, inclusive of maintenance, is the responsibility of [Eugene Burger]. The Authority is no longer the employer; as a result, no information about credentials of their employees are available to us.”

SFHA and EBMC declined multiple requests from the View for comment.

PUBLISHER'S VIEW from page 2

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SHIPWRECKED from page 7 flick, focused on queer expansiveness, featuring more than 60 QTBIPOC artists. As they grew as people and as a company, Garcia and Cole sought to support other artists, spearheading the Tiny Dance Film Festival between 2012 and 2021 to showcase local and international dance films.

One of the biggest pivots they made was transitioning into immersive theatre, an artform that encourages audiences to actively participate in the show, oftentimes with spectators directly interacting with actors. Im -

6

12 mersive theatre is increasingly popular around the country. San Francisco has its own unique scene with venues that host regular collaborative experiences. Speakeasy, in North Beach, takes the audience back in time to the 1920s in a three-hour event where participants can engage with characters as if they’re part of the show. Another venue, 13th Floor, employs elements of dance and acrobatics to create immersive stories. Antenna Theatre plays with sound and sculpture to engender a collaboration with audience members.

In 2017, Detour had its big foray into site-specific work with Fugue Audience members were led through the Mission District as part of an hour-long immersive walking tour en route to an imaginary, utopian city that embodied a pre-gentrification San Francisco; unique, artistic, happy, and affordable. A few years later, Garcia and Cole began ideating a new immersive piece, We Build Houses Here, with a directive to lean into queer joy and further explore immersive theatre.

Brian Thorstenson wrote We Build Houses Here, in which multiple stories follow the theme of rebuilding after wreckage. According to Garcia, the tale reflects the queer communities’ struggle to overcome societal adversities while moving towards a brighter future through the vibrant lens of drag and dance. “Queer Maximalism” showcases actors cognizant of their journeys as queer people, who can express their sentiments through drag melded with traditional modern dance. Sirens serve as godlike figures as they observe each of the seven castaways travel through intricate voyages of struggle and survival. The makeup, costumes, and mix of drag and dance provide a sense of grandiosity.

The performance space was an important component of the production. Oasis is a sanctuary for San Francisco’s LGBTQ community and drag artists. Garcia and Cole wanted to support the venue by providing work there and drawing audiences to it. There was also a deliberate focus on immersive theatre, creating a safe space for the audience to connect with the show’s underlying themes by engaging with each character’s story in a deeper way than typically available in a traditional stage performance.

We Build Houses Here sold out almost every night it played before it closed at the end of May. It may be reprised next year, and there’s talk of touring. Meanwhile, Garcia and Cole are involved with other Bay Area projects and groups. They’ve collaborated with the 13th Floor Dance Theatre, The Anata Project, and number 9 dance, among others.

Garcia’s primary interests have been in dance and drag, regularly appearing as Churro Nomi in Clutch The Pearls and Drag Spectacular Spectacular. He’s also the managing director of queer and transgender-based productions and dance companies, as well as a founding member of the Latinx/Hispanic Dancers United.

Cole’s passion for film has led her to act in, direct, and produce movies that have been showcased in festivals around the country. Recently, she served as an associate producer for I’m a Virgo, an Oakland-based Amazon series that premiered last spring. She also co-founded and produced the Black X Film Festival.

According to Garcia, the co-founders want to “keep going down a pathway of creating experiences rooted with expansive queerness, activism, storytelling, and entertainment, where the second someone walks in, to the minute they leave, they feel like they are part of something, while also continuing to explore and depict gender-bending artforms. I feel perpetually new, even though I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and I’m excited to see if there are people in the Bay Area, that are interested to join forces with us to lift up queer artists, and to see how weird we can keep San Francisco.” modate 20 students per grade. The only admission criteria are that students sign a contract to learn, and parents commit to support the student and the school.

The deadline for formal applications was June 16, followed by evaluations and interviews. Students will be accepted on a rolling basis. Open houses and tours will take place in August.