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As promised, the San Francisco Unified School District is rolling out a new school assignment process this year, with more weight given to where a child lives and, for elementary schools, where a child went to preschool. The changes are expected to support the new/old trend of kids attending neighborhood schools, as kids within a school’s “attendance area” are all but guaranteed a seat. But parents can still tour and apply for any school they wish.

With school tours for next year’s students beginning at the start of October, the district has launched a website that might make the process a bit easier. Visit sfusd.edu/enroll, choose the level of school you’re looking for (elementary, middle, high school), and then narrow the results using any one of seven variables, including neighborhoods, ZIP codes, start times, school hours, and other factors. Play around with it a bit and eventually you’ll be directed to a list of schools with links to each school’s website.

You’ll have to get really specific then, as each school has its own touring process. You may have to make an appointment or just show up for a group tour on a certain date. But the SFUSD site at least has more information on the assignment process to help the (justifiably) confused parent.

A study published in this month’s issue of medical journal Pediatrics confirms what parents have been worriedly noting for some time: girls are going into puberty younger than ever before.

The study looked at 1,293 girls aged 6 to 9 in East Harlem, Cincinnati, and the Bay Area. Each group was made up of 30 percent each whites, blacks and Hispanics, and 5 percent Asians. Girls were measured to see if their breasts were beginning to develop, which the study theoretically considered the beginning of puberty. The results? At age 7, 10.4 percent of whites, 23.4 percent of blacks and 14.9 percent of Hispanic girls were developing breasts. At 8 years, the figures increased to 18.3 percent, 42.9 percent and 30.9 percent, respectively.

Lead researcher Frank Biro, who is director of adolescent medicine at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, told the New York Times that his team blames the result on obesity (body fat produces estrogen that triggers breast growth), as well as on environmental triggers: “‘It’s certainly throwing up a warning flag,” Dr. Biro told the Times. “I think we need to think about the stuff we’re exposing our bodies to and the bodies of our kids. This is a wake-up call, and I think we need to pay attention to it.”

Biro also told the Times that his research team was now looking at the girls’ hormone levels and doing lab tests to measure their exposure to certain substances.

Whooping cough, one of those amusingly named childhood diseases you thought you didn’t have to worry about (see also: mumps, foot and mouth disease), has made a comeback in the nation and in Cali: this year there have been 910 confirmed cases reported, more than four times as many cases as had been reported at this time last year. State officials declared a pertussis epidemic last week.

Thankfully, the disease, which is characterized by coughs followed by a distinctive “whooping” inhalation (click here to hear what it sounds like), is usually not fatal. Only five deaths have been attributed so far to the outbreak; however, all of those deaths were of infants younger than three months, so parents of infants and pregnant women will want to take special care.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health lays out the recommended vaccination schedule for children and adults; children are particularly vulnerable as immunity is not complete until the last pertussis booster is given between 4 and 6 years of age. Health officials recommend that anyone living in the house with a child under age 1, particularly postpartum women, receive a pertussis booster. Any private doctor will do this, or the San Francisco Department of Public Health Adult Immunization Clinic offers them on a drop-in basis for $67. Pregnant women are advised to get immunized immediately after birth, as well.

The State of California released its annual Academic Performance Index figures last week, and now parents can do a search-and-find and either be en-smuggened or horrified by what they find. The link to the school reports search form is here. Enter the first 3-4 letters of the school’s name and clicken-ze-click-click.

Every school in Cali is ranked under the system, based on comparison with schools with similar demographics, as well as the schools as a whole. Spring 2009 test scores also factor into the ratings. What you want to look for on the report is the “Base API” score, and the 2009 statewide rank. The Base API should be well above 700; anything 800 or above is outstanding. The statewide rank goes from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest.

API scores and rankings can be compared over time. Just select the option to see API rankings for 2008, 2007, and so on. If the scores are going up, you have an improving school on your hands, and vice versa. Also instructive is looking at the “List of 100 Similar Schools” for each school. There you can see how your school tracks against others. Happy submitting.

Redwood City’s Counsyl has a new testing kit for prospective parents: They each spit in a tube, mail it back to Counsyl, and the company screens for more than 400 genetic mutations, including those for sickle cell anemia, Tay-Sachs, and cystic fibrosis. If each sample shows a marker for a mutation, the parents can consider their options, which include IVF and testing of the resultant embryos. The Counsyl Universal Genetic Test is $350.

Geneticists point out that the test has its limits–there are many diseases not covered, and some are so complex that couples may go through IVF (an expensive and arduous process) for nothing. Possessing a genetic marker for a disease doesn’t necessarily mean you will develop it. But since previous genetic tests required a blood sample and are generally looking only for a specific disease (such as one that affects a family member), this is a significant stride forward. Is it worth $350? Nervous parents-to-be, your guess is as good as mine.

One thing’s for sure, the test is easy to get. Unlike blood-sample genetic screenings, which require a trip to a clinic, Counsyl is available online.

A recent column in the Washington Post, “With rising child-care cost, many parents are paying to work,” brought to light a parenting issue that many keep to themselves: for some middle-class families, the cost of daycare is more than one of the parent’s salaries.

“I really thought it wouldn’t get much worse than the unpaid college internship. I raced from that gig in my duct-taped car to make it to my paying job as a waitress. I barely scraped by,” writes Post columnist Petula Dvorak. “But 20 years later, I’m horrified to realize that my ramen days were more lucrative than the illogical mess I’ve got going today. Because right now, most weeks, I actually pay to work. And I’m not the only one.”

So why work at all? The Post spells it out.

“‘If you’re leaving the workforce to take care of your kids, that financial calculus may make sense in the immediate year or two,’ said Heather Boushey, a senior economist with the D.C.-based Center for American Progress…. ‘But looking at the long-term economic health of a family, that can be devastating.’ When you step off a work path, you lose seniority, experience, benefits — workforce capital that is difficult to regain once the kids are in school (assuming they go to a free public school, of course).”

Such parents are reluctant to talk about their issue, because they’ll be swiftly (and judgmentally) advised to quit work. But as Amy Graff, a writer for San Francisco Chronicle blog The Mommy Files has it, there are reasons both tangible and intangible: “You might wonder why I worked but our family needed that little bit of money to survive in San Francisco, and I loved my job. Plus, it would have been risky for me to take a break from working at a point when I was young in my career. I had been out of college for only six years.”

Riffing on this, Graff also called daycare centers in San Francisco to see how much they charge to care for infants (prices are higher than for older children). She got back a range of costs, from a low of $1,280 and a shocking high of $1,851 a month. That’s a high of more than $22,000 a year and a vast chunk of family change to drop. Not to mention that many of the centers are difficult or impossible to get into, as San Francisco has a dearth of options for infant daycare and is undergoing a bit of a baby boom. So…good luck with that.

An East Bay school district made national news this week when the Alameda Board of Education voted to replace a curriculum that emphasized tolerance for gay people with a more general lesson about bullying.

The original lesson, a.k.a. “Lesson 9,” became a hot topic due to the national controversy over gay marriage, and became an extremely divisive issue amongst East Bay Parents, sparking weeks of intense meetings, and a lawsuit. Gay parents hoped that Lesson 9 would prevent their children getting grief, while other parents argued that elementary school children aren’t old enough to learn about gay issues.

The new curriculum agreed upon by the board will include six children’s books that talk about stereotypes and how they hurt people, including gays.

A dozen Alameda families sued the school district earlier this year, contending that parents should be notified in advance of the gay-tolerant lessons, so their kids can be excused. The judge in the case sided with the district, ruling that a state law that allows parents to “opt-out” of discussions about human sexuality was not applicable to Lesson 9.

Having heard horror stories about San Fran’s public schools, I’ve been surprised how many nice schools I’ve seen during this fall’s school tour process. Seems like I’m not alone in being pleasantly shocked, if a post last week from SF Gate blog The Mommy Files is to be believed. In “Let’s Face It: S.F. Has Good Public Schools” writer Amy Graff teases out several pertinent nuggets proving her case, such as:

• After nearly 40 years of declining enrollment, the San Francisco Unified School District’s applications went up by 308 in 2008, with 500 more in 2009.
• Enrollment is up so much that a closed school, De Avila on Haight Street, will be open next year.
• Earlier in 2009, “San Francisco schools posted the highest test scores (API) among urban districts in the state, far surpassing even the state average in both math and English.”
• The number of San Francisco public school students taking Advanced Placement tests has increased every year since 2000 and in 2009 increased 20 percent.

Of course, enrollment is still way down compared to a decade or two ago: enrollment in 2009 is about 55,000 students, a decrease from 62,000 in 1995. But after declining for four decades, a blip upwards is very interesting, indeed.

My theory? Housing is so expensive everywhere that parents figure they might as well stay renting in the city instead of splitting for the suburbs. It’s the influx of these parents (PTA membership is also way up in the city!) that are changing the schools, fast.

Let’s put aside the question of whether or not you want to get the H1N1 vaccine because that is one spicy meatball, and for the time being assume you want to get it for yourself or your children. The first few flu-vaccine clinics last weekend were swamped with patients seeking the vaccine, waiting hours on line according to the San Francisco Chronicle. There will be more clinics in November, and only time will tell what the waits there will be like.Vaccine events vary in each city; you can supposedly go to your city’s public health department website (here is a list of California health departments) for more information. Many of the sites are all but useless, with a lot of information on covering your mouth when you cough but not much about where to get the vaccine they keep advising you to get. San Francisco’s site is typical in that it tells you to call your primary care provider and ask about vaccines, but the San Franicsco health department’s swine flu Twitter feed has more up-to-date information, and SF residents can also call 311 for updates. Contra Costa’s public health department site is a welcome contrast from SF’s, with detailed info on upcoming drive-through flu clinics.

Many Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS MinuteClinic locations also have the H1N1 shots; call the stores nearest you to ask. Kaiser patients can phone 800-573-5811 to find out where to go get the shot. Walgreens also has dedicated flu shot clinics. Flu.gov has a ton of information and links that will panic you and make you say “Just tell me where to get the shot! Argh!” Hmm, maybe you’re better off calling your primary care physician after all.

No parent likes to imagine the specter of disposable diapers piling up in the landfills when she chucks another used one into the Diaper Champ, but the eco-friendly options are so unappealing. Washing cloth diapers at home necessitates the touching of lots of nasty things (and probably a malodorous diaper pail in the bathroom); gDiapers aren’t as flushable in antique Bay Area plumbing as they could be; diaper-free can be a full-time job.

Sunnyvale’s Earth-Baby is a nice halfway alternative for the parent who wants to lower her carbon footprint without stress. For $29.99 a month the company delivers compostable disposables, and picks them up weekly when they’re um, full. You still have to pay for the corn-based diapers (about $12 for a pack of 22-44, depending on size) and wipes, but it still works out to be a bit cheaper than cloth diaper services. And everything you hand back to the company is either composted, recycled, or reused.

Earth-Baby serves San Francisco and South Bay/Peninsula cities as far down as Santa Cruz. Call 650-641-0975 or visit earth-baby.com.