Redwood Heights Neighborhood News

by Denise Davila

Picnic & Walk-A-Thon BBQ

Delicious food, spectacular salsa music, good conversation, crafts, and games all combined to create a wonderful, relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable May afternoon in Redwood Heights.

For the first time, the RHNA and the RHS Dads' Club combined their efforts at picnic making. The Dads' Club did what they do best: BBQ. The RHNA sponsored a free live concert and hosted activities for the kids.

Conjunto Karabali entertained the crowd with their "old school" salsa, bringing a joyful energy and swing to the picnic. At one point, the children got together for a lively conga line that wound its way through the field and around picnic blankets.

Children enjoyed the face painting provided by the talented Rec. Center Volunteers. Butterflies and wizards, dragons and stars appeared on faces and cheeks at every turn. The foam visor crafts proved to be helpful in the hot afternoon sun, and many children were sporting them.

A tremendous thanks goes to the Dads' Club and Mark Collins, in particular, for organizing the food; to the neighborhood volunteers who assisted with set up, crafts, and especially clean up; and to the Redwood Heights Recreation Center for the amazing face-painting artists they provided.

School Enrollment Update

RHNA is pleased to report that neighborhood families who were not assigned to Redwood Heights School have since received assignments at RHS, and their children will be attending their neighborhood school.

Nevertheless, RHNA has continued to hear from affected families and future RHS families that this system is broken and needs to be addressed. In an effort to work on this issue and produce results, RHNA is actively working with the RHS Parent Teachers Association and interested neighbors to demand that OUSD meet with the community and address their concerns, including transparency of decision making, clarifying policy, and instituting a process to verify addresses.

Another meeting with OUSD and school council members has been requested. We hope to report back to the neighborhood with concrete results in an upcoming newsletter.

If you would like to be part of this working group, please contact Mary Dalsin (marydalsin\@yahoo.com). Additionally, Kim Cole (kim\@momspizzadough.com), a member of the working group, is organizing families with young children who will be entering kindergarten after the fall of 2007.

Solar Sign on Redwood Road

Notice anything different? The new radar-speed sign on the westbound side of Redwood Rd. (between Monterey and Jordan) was installed the week of May 1. Directly behind the electronic read-out is another sign: 25 Miles Per Hour. We hope these new measures will lead to safer traffic through the "Crash Curve" area.

The photo was submitted by Jim McCarthy. He says, "Eddie and Angelique McCarthy show their approval of the new speed sign."?