The Urban School of San Francisco

- Salkind Center Gym
- Rooftop Activity Area and Garden
- Multiple Student Commons
- Alumni Blues Lounge
- Oak Street Cafe
- Classrooms
- Parking Garage
- St Agnes Gym
- Workout Facilities
- Classrooms

- Multiple Student Commons
- Classrooms
- Page Street Cafe

South Campus: 1563 Page Street
San Francisco, California 94117

Oak Street Campus - Mark Salkind Center

Page Street Campus -

The Urban School of San Francisco is an innovative, independent coeducational high school located in the historic Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, California.

"The Urban School of San Francisco seeks to ignite a passion for learning, inspiring its students to become self-motivated, enthusiastic participants in their education—both in high school and beyond."

Urban was founded in 1966 by a group of Bay Area parents and was innovative in many ways. It was the first coeducational SF private high school, it was the only SF high school of its time to not include letter grades and it pioneered a nuanced blocks schedule system. Today Urban has grown from its original 22 students into a highly selective school with a student body of more than 400, but it is still guided by its founding core values.

Urban's grading and evaluation system discourages competition and comparison. The school, up until 2011, did not show students letter grades until their senior year. Now it provides letter grades at the end of each course, but the primary focus is on written teacher evaluations. Urban teachers write two thorough reports each term for each student, providing comprehensive feedback on student achievement and setting specific goals and strategies for improvement. Students are also asked to reflect on and formally evaluate their work.

Urban organizes the school year using a three-term system rather than a conventional semester system. The schedule divides the academic year into three, 12-week terms: fall, winter and spring. Students take four classes every term. These classes meet for 70-minute periods with one 2-hour+ period per week. (Urban will introduce a slightly revised schedule in the 2017-18 school year including more opportunities for teacher-student tutorial time, school day activities such as fitness, and a later start time each day.)

Urban's schedule allows for more concentrated, less fragmented learning than does a traditional high school schedule. It enables students and teachers to focus on each area of study in greater depth and approach the material in a variety of ways: in-depth discussions, independent and group projects, films, research and field trips into surrounding communities and environments.

In addition, students take electives such as Jazz Band, Urban Singers, or Newspaper, or participate in physical activity or study halls during a shorter period. There is also time for advising, grade-level meetings, all-school meetings, and consultation periods for students to meet individually with teachers within this block schedule.