I just came back from SF Jazz’s presentation of the Ellis Marsalis Quartet.

Beside being an outstanding jazz musician, Ellis Marsalis have been a “mentor to many of this generation’s jazz players” (USA Today). Marsalis was the first teacher at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts program in the 1970’s and taught many greats, including Harry Connick, Jr. He was also a professor at the University of New Orleans. And his legacy includes four sons who are outstanding jazz musicians in their own right-Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason who performed with his dad at this year’s SF Jazz festival.

Wynton, the artistic director of the Lincoln Center’s Jazz Program, has continued his father’s work in education by sponsoring several jazz education programs for budding musicians in New York’s schools.

I was at Jean Parker Elementary School this week-and I saw a similar legacy going on there under Principal Janet Dong. Located on Broadway, Jean Parker has traditionally serves recent Asian immigrants living and working in Chinatown and North Beach. An educator for 30 years who spent most of her career in Chinatown, Dong explained that many families are living in one room and without the opportunity to explore the world outside of their neighborhood.

Dong has figured out a way to have three literacy specialists-one working with the Kindergarteners and 1st graders, another to work with 2-3rd graders and the other to work with 4th and 5th grade. Samples of the student’s reading and writing skills were proudly shown throughout the school

Dong also recognized that the emotional toll on the students living in limited circumstances and in a new country can impact their education. So she has found a way to have a part-time specialist work with the students to learn how to safely impress their feelings and work on one-one with students who need additional help.

The staff also arranges field trips throughout the year-to allow the students to explore San Francisco and the Bay Area. The fifth graders were getting ready for a camping trip at Big Basin.

Dong explained that the emphasis on the school is team work-and using teams of teachers to create a better learning environment for the students.

Several blocks south of Jean Parker, Gordon Lau Elementary School is one of SFUSD’s largest schools. According to principal Marlene Callejas who has been a part of the Gordon Lau school for nine years in several roles, it has six kindergarten classes-including Chinese bilingual and Spanish bilingual classes. Lau also has a prekindergarten program and after-school program.

Gordon Lau also has three playgrounds-one for the kindergarteners, another for 1st-4th and another one for the 5th grade. While I was touring the school, one third grade class was studying Taiko drumming while several of their classmates were getting some one-to-one help on their reading. Ms. Callejas explained that each class gets to choose one art activity each year where they get an outside expert to come to teach six lessons to the classroom. Taiko drumming has been so popular that the school is exploring ways of having some of the students continue Taiko drumming for several years.

At that point, I reach the Helen Chin Community Center. Named after a beloved principal who died suddenly, the Helen Chin Community Center consists of the auditorium and cafeteria-allowing to the students to have access to the stage and arts as well as the community to have access to a meeting space.

So just like Ellis Marsalis, Ms. Chin’s, Ms. Callejas’ and Ms. Dong’s legacy continues on.