Originally founded in 1943, as the Yerba Buena Children’s Center, Tule Elk Park is part of the San Francisco public school system, with a full-day program for toddlers and preschoolers and an after-school program for kindergarteners through 4th graders.

Like most urban schools, the center was, for most of its existence, a barren expanse of concrete and asphalt, in a neighborhood where even a street tree is a rarity. But in 1990, it began a remarkable process of self-transformation that’s still ongoing.

Last November, 2007, Rex Foundation funded music therapist Christine Stevens of UpBeat Drum Circles in a pioneering program to bring drum circles to northern Iraq for conflict-resolution, peace-making, youth empowerment, and rehabilitation (Drums for Peace).

Their work is based on the understanding that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success and that great leaps in learning can be made when skilled tutors work one-on-one with students.

Easy to Like. Hard to Define. Doo-wop, Philly soul. Jamgrass?

“There were people who yelled at us in the beginning and said, you can’t do all these different styles! And we said, well, this is just what we do. And the reality is, now that it seems to be working, it allows for license!”

- Bob Stirner