At her desk in what was once the nurse's office at Fauntleroy School, Kim Sheridan is in her element.

Children's photographs paper the wall behind her, their faces animated by the bright colors and sounds of the playground just outside the window. Pigeons on the roof coo their "mellow out" advice to the stream of teachers and parents through the room.

For the past 20 years, Kim has been the director of the Fauntleroy Children's Center, a non-profit agency licensed to care for up to 120 youngsters between the ages of one month and 12 years. At any given time, 100 or more area families are using the center for all-day or partial-day care, including before and after school.

The center is fulfilling the vision of Jack Pierce, Roberta Weeks, Bob Sleem, and other community residents who saw a need for quality childcare for West Seattle's working families. They formed the Fauntleroy Community Service Agency, hired a director, and in the fall of 1978 opened the center in rented space at Fauntleroy Church. Since the initial seven children, the center has served more than 2,000 youngsters and their families.

When the school district announced plans to mothball the former elementary school in 1981, the board jumped at the chance to move and expand across the street. The center now occupies the entire north wing, which once housed the school's library, art room, and several classrooms.

"We get a lot of alumni who want to walk through, especially people who moved away and have come back to visit," Kim said. "We enjoy having them."

Stop by the office first, of course. It's down the hall to the right from the former school's main entrance on California Ave. S.W.

Tuition pays the lion's share of the center's operating costs. Parents and guardians are also expected to volunteer in some way - serving on the advisory board, for instance, or helping with the annual community dinner and auction, which this year netted $36,000.

The service agency has a master lease with the school district to manage and maintain the historic building. Profits from sub-leasing to Tuxedos 'N' Tennis Shoes Catering, Seattle Civic Dance Theatre, and other businesses enable the center to lighten the financial burden on parents, especially those who need tuition assistance.

"Ten to 15 percent of our children receive tuition aid, some through state, county, or city programs and others through our own resources," Kim said.

Staffing is the major line item in the budget and a major source of pride for Kim and board members. Nationally, childcare programs loose more than four out of 10 employees a year. Here, teachers and support staff stay an average of nine years and several founding board members are still active.

The board's dedication to high standards is attractive to employees as well as parents, Kim said. The center is the only childcare program in West Seattle currently accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, the country's largest organization of early childhood educators.

"Accreditation requires us to meet criteria that are higher than licensing would impose," she explained. "Parents tell us they are attracted by our reputation, the continuum of care we offer, and the length of time our employees have been here. They sense the commitment.

"The space we have here is also a draw," she said, "and we're lucky to be surrounded by nature and be in such a nice residential neighborhood."

In November, employees of Washington State Ferries received another setback in a difficult year. After operating on severely reduced funding because of Initiative 695 and wondering what kind of system a legislative task force will recommend this coming session, they lost Director Paul Green to a senior position with Los Angeles World Airports.

I well remember meeting him for the first time in March of 1994, shortly after he took the job. Mike Heavey, one of our state representatives then, asked him to attend FCA's board meeting. After an evening of frank discussion, we were all encouraged by the prospect of improved relations with the ferry system.

Subsequently, we began to enjoy good personal and working relationships with many managers and staff in the system. Our ferry advisory committee started meeting regularly with representatives from Vashon and Southworth to work on mutual concerns.

Paul made many positive changes in operations and attitudes during his tenure and he will be missed.

We have an issue now that the state can’t really help us with. It's the ferry queue that on busy days angles down 47th Avenue S.W. from Fauntleroy Way S.W. at the Texaco station onto Lincoln Park Way, sometimes snaking as far as Beach Drive S.W.

In the opinion of FCA board members and residents north of the park who have examined this problem, the City of Seattle has jurisdiction to solve this public-safety problem. As yet, however, no city department has accepted that responsibility.

Residents of that neighborhood have called nearly all of them, including the mayor's office. When Mayor Paul Schell visited West Seattle in late October, we had nearly an hour of his attention around a table at the bakery and most of the discussion focused on this problem.

His interest and concern were encouraging and he assigned representatives from SeaTran (Seattle transportation and engineering) to work with us.

An engineer and planner came out and we walked a large portion of the area. I couldn't tell if they grasped the situation correctly but they concluded that the queue is a community problem. We could apply for city matching funds to build a curb bulb, for instance, or to stripe more driveways (something city crews did before), they said, but SeaTran doesn't have funds, even to replace traffic barriers where 47th meets Fauntleroy Way. And, they said, management would not be reviewing their decision.

I cannot comprehend how a long line of slow-moving cars that neither originate nor terminate here, that block traffic lanes, driveways, and at times access for emergency vehicles, is a problem this community has to solve, at community expense.

I'm sure you share my strong frustration about this decision, as well as the attitude behind it. We were left feeling that the city is ignoring us - because that's exactly what is happening!

We are committed to helping solve this problem and to helping residents of this community help themselves. But it looks like we have a long way to go if we are to have the kind of "let's see what we can do together" relationship with the city that, to everyone's benefit, we had with the ferry system under Paul Green's leadership.

The FCA Board meets at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month (except summer) in the boardroom of the former Fauntleroy School. Meetings are open to all members. Call the president about the agenda.

FCA's mailing address is P.O. Box 47087, Seattle 98146-7087. Our Web site is www.scn.org/neighbors/ fauntleroy.

To suggest a topic for this newsletter, call editor Judy Pickens at 938-4203.

This year's return of Coho to Fauntleroy Creek got off to a brisk start on October 28, then slowed to a crawl for more than two weeks until late-November rains raised the water level and drew in the fish.

With just the conditions they needed to make a run for spawning gravel, they began to stream in on Thanksgiving, often a dozen or more in the fishway at once. The count reached 100 (last year's total) on Dec. 1, with more coming.

"Several of them looked a little long in the tooth compared to most that came in earlier," observed volunteer Tom Linde. "Looks like the rain came just in time."

Watch coordinator Mark Yoshida marshaled some two dozen fellow volunteers to participate in the annual countywide salmon watch to count live and dead fish and note spawning and other activity of interest.

This year, volunteers initiated an additional dimension to the watch that, over time, should help students and others examine local factors affecting the return. Backed by David McNulty, Tom regularly monitored air and water temperature, water level, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. Gail Hlavacek is collating these data with barometric pressure, rainfall, and tide levels during the return period.

Out of the 500 youngsters who visited the creek this year on organized field trips, 220 of them came between Halloween and Thanksgiving to see and learn about spawning salmon.

Seattle Public Utilities is following up on concerns that many of the Coho returning to the city's creeks, including Fauntleroy, died before they could spawn.

Do you have an interest in birds, trees, clouds, or some other facet of our natural world and a willingness to help organize an evening nature program for the neighborhood?

FCA plans to host the third annual Fauntleroy Nature Forum sometime this winter, perhaps with a social emphasis as well. Bob Best has agreed to get things rolling again but he will need three or four other volunteers to share responsibilities.

If this is a contribution you might like to make to the community, call Bob at 923-2906 to discuss the possibilities.

DRAFT WATERSHED PLAN BEGINS REVIEW PROCESS

The draft of a comprehensive guide to continued restoration of Fauntleroy Creek, as well as education and stewardship in the watershed, has begun the review process.

Drafted by a consultant and Friends of Fauntleroy Creek Coordinator Judy Pickens, the plan follows the city's construction two years ago of the fish ladder to eliminate the first barrier to returning salmon.

"That public investment in the creek gave us the optimism that further restoration would be feasible," she said. "We've also made enough progress to be encouraged about the potential for enhancing education and community stewardship as well."

The draft is circulating for initial comment by community advisers and agency specialists who might assist in implementing the projects called for. A strategizing meeting in January will clarify agency roles. The schedule calls for a revised draft to be ready for public review during March and April.

"This is a very significant step," Judy said. "I look forward to hearing what the creek's many community stakeholders have to say about the draft plan and then to broad involvement in its implementation."

FAUNTLEROY ON SANTA'S ITINERARY

In that wonderfully simple life we led as small children, the Christmas sleigh ride was a major event we looked forward to for weeks.

A clear day finally came when the wind wasn't blowing. While Mother bundled us in our warmest clothes, Dad hitched the horses to our cutter sleigh - the same style that Santa uses - and hung sleigh bells on their harness.

We kids piled in and Dad covered our legs with a lap robe made from the whole hide of a buffalo and lined with boiled wool. Buffalo robes were quite popular in the early 1900s and very warm.

When everything was ready, off we went, skimming across the snow with the sleigh bells making a clear, merry sound in the crisp air. What a thrilling ride it was!

When I was nearly 10, we moved to Seattle and that was the end of our Christmas sleigh ride. I never forgot that Santa Claus and I had a special connection, though, and so in about 1949 when I came across a dandy Santa suit at a garage sale, I bought it.

It came with a shiny belt and puttees, padding for the stomach - the whole works. I had once seen a Santa do a dance, kicking his legs first this way and that, then patting his belly. With a little practice, I was ready to put on a show.

Marjorie Wilson was the first to ask me to come over and dance for her and Joe, who was pretty much homebound by then. On Christmas morning, I came into the yard and got their attention through the window, dancing around out there in the cold.

The next year, Frank and Thora Evans asked to be included, then Ware and Ruth Lantz and my brother, Harvey, and his wife, Betty. Eventually, I spent three or four hours on Christmas morning visiting all the neighbors with young children.

I never thought to take off my birthstone ring so I had it on one Christmas when I stopped at Frank and Thora's house. Their son took a close look at Santa that year and announced, "My neighbor, Morey, has a ring just like that!"

I was Santa Claus for seven or eight years, until the kids got too old and knew that it was Morey. That was quite a special time in the neighborhood.

While most of us are getting ready for Christmas in December, the folks who make essential repairs for low-income homeowners are preparing for Christmas in April.

Christmas in April-Seattle is now accepting applications from homeowners in dire need of a fresh coat of paint, new steps, or other unaffordable repairs.

The 10-year-old nonprofit agency is also enlisting partners, volunteers, funding, and materials for its "Rebuilding Together Day 2001" scheduled for April 28.

To request an application form, offer support, or get more information, call Christmas in April-Seattle at 206-682-1231.

A newly installed kiosk at the S.W. Barton Street entrance is one of several signs of new life over the past several months in Fauntleroy Park.

The structure reflects a signage standard that Seattle Parks is implementing citywide to provide more than just a name. It features an aerial photo overlaid with the park's principal trails, plus a bulletin board for park-related notices.

This fall, an EarthCorps crew under city contract installed dozens of native trees and shrubs to continue filling in the former dirt-bike area and help stabilize slopes on the north side of the creek. Trail and drainage projects done by groups of at-risk teens also addressed erosion and runoff concerns.

Also beginning to be evident is the dent that more than a year of aggressive weeding had made in the English ivy, clematis, and other invasive non-natives that choke out beneficial plantings. The credit goes primarily to the monthly work parties organized by Friends of Fauntleroy Park.

After a hiatus in December, work parties will resume on Saturday, Jan. 6, from 1 to 3 p.m. Typically the first weekend of the month, the next dates are Saturday, Feb. 3, and Sunday, Feb. 4. Find out where to meet and what to bring by calling Friends Coordinator Karen Farnsworth (932-5313) or Luli Weatherwax (938-1567).

In addition to improving the park, these events are great opportunities to meet neighbors, involve young people in community service, and learn more about native plants and erosion control.

In lieu of a work party on Sunday, Jan. 7, those interested are encouraged to attend the Friends steering committee meeting in the Fauntleroy Church library at 2 p.m. Call Karen for details.