Letter to Parents from Andrew Salverda, Middle School Head
July 2011
Dear Prospective Middle School Parents,
We are pleased to introduce you to the San Francisco Friends School Middle School. As the information on the website details, and as we hope you see during your visit, we have been hard at work creating a distinctive program. We aspire to have hands-on and child-centered curricula that inspires our students to lean in to their learning, pursue their passions, and explore their interests. We hope to carve out a space in which the tasks of early adolescence can be met with the guidance of seasoned middle school teachers, a supportive and spirited school community, and the rich tradition of Quaker education.
It is our belief that students, especially middle schoolers, learn best when the journey is as important as the destination, the process as valuable as the product. We hold high expectations of our students, and encourage them to reflect both upon their work and upon themselves as learners. We endeavor to foster a community where students are not only encouraged to meet challenges willingly, but also feel safe and supported enough to do so; our goal is to build the confidence and tenacity to lean into increasingly complex material across the disciplines and the self-knowledge to problem-solve and seek help when necessary. We know that a good work ethic develops from a delight in work and in "the pleasure of finding things out."
In a time in their lives when as many social and emotional challenges meet them as do academic demands, students are asked to be part of a community that makes use of the Quaker testimonies to help guide our behavior. We promote Simplicity, Peaceful Problem-solving, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship and hold them as our core values. In their classes and in their Advisory groups, middle school students are expected to remember that they have both rights and responsibilities, and that kindness and respect underline them all.
We look forward to meeting you and to sharing our school with you.
Andrew Salverda
Middle School Head