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Admissions
and Enrollment
Q What is
the San Francisco Friends School (SFFS) admissions schedule?
A SFFS follows a similar admissions calendar
to many other San Francisco independent schools. We are now accepting
applications for children entering kindergarten, third, fourth,
fifth and sixth grades in the Fall of 2008. Please contact Yvette
Bonaparte, Director of Admissions, for more information.
Q How old
must children be to enter kindergarten?
A SFFS requests that children be five years old
by August 1 in the year they enroll.
Q Will SFFS accept the application forms we have
completed for other schools?
A SFFS requests that you complete the forms specific
to our school which are included in the admissions folder.
Q Will parents have a chance to meet with the
admissions team?
A Yes, SFFS feels it is important to understand
parents’ perspectives and educational philosophy. The admissions
team will schedule a half-hour meeting with each applicant’s parents.
Q What should children expect when they have
a School Visit?
A Kindergarten applicants will spend about an
hour and a half at SFFS in a supervised playgroup. Activities
will include drawing, singing, listening and responding to a story,
and free play. Your child will also spend about 20 minutes of
this time meeting with a teacher individually, and will engage
in a variety of verbal, auditory, and written tasks appropriate
to his or her level of development.
First through sixth grade applicants will spend part of a day
visiting classes, participating in group activities, and meeting
with a teacher individually.
Q Will SFFS give preference to Quakers or children
of alumni of other Friends schools?
A SFFS will consider each child individually,
regardless of faith or family educational background. However,
SFFS is committed to enrolling students whose families embrace
the basic tenets of a Friends education.
Q What kind of child will thrive at SFFS?
A SFFS seeks children who are developmentally
ready to engage intellectually and socially in a challenging program.
Our teachers will encourage each child to develop his or her individual
abilities within or across any discipline, whether that affinity
is writing stories, painting, analytical thinking, or physical
coordination. SFFS is committed to supporting students and families
who reflect San Francisco’s cultural, racial, ethnic, religious
and economic diversities.
Q What kind of families does SFFS seek?
A SFFS strives to enroll students whose families
understand our mission and will support the values of simplicity,
mutual respect, peaceful problem-solving and service in our school
community. We welcome parents who will actively participate in
the SFFS family and help to create a vibrant school culture.
Q How many children does SFFS enroll each year?
A Our goal is to enroll approximately 44 children
in each grade, (K-5 in the 2007-08 school year) balanced between
boys and girls.
Q What is San Francisco Friends School’s sibling
policy?
A Siblings of currently enrolled students receive
special consideration in the admissions process. Each family of
a sibling applicant is asked to follow the same admissions procedure
as new family applicants. Customarily, about half of our Kindergarten
class is comprised of siblings of older students.
Curriculum
Q What is
included in the SFFS curriculum?
A Service and stewardship are at the core of
a comprehensive program in language arts, mathematics, sciences
and social studies. Beginning in kindergarten, Spanish is an important
component of the curriculum, as are the performing and visual
arts, physical and outdoor education. Additionally, SFFS is building
a classroom-based technology program that enhances and supports
curriculum.
Q Does SFFS support children with unique strengths
and/or challenges?
A SFFS is dedicated to nurturing the individual
abilities of each child and to providing appropriate enrichment
and support within a rigorous academic environment. Teachers help
each child to make the most of his or her unique talents, while
also presenting learning strategies so that individuals may tackle
particular challenges.
The school staff includes a Developmental Support Coordinator,
and two Educational Therapists who work together with teachers
and parents to assess students learning strengths and weaknesses.
Our Educational Therapists work with students in small groups
during and after school hours. Some students also receive support
from tutors and occupational therapists outside of school. Professional
Development funds are used to keep the teaching staff trained
in the latest understandings of cognitive development, and help
them provide innovative short and long term support for their
students with learning struggles. Children with particular academic
strengths – early readers, strong mathematicians, able young scientists
– are supported by our “spiral curriculum”; teachers mindfully
create curriculum that balances challenges and successes for all
students.
Q How do
students learn about and use technology?
A We use
a broad definition of technology; we are not only introducing
computers, but microscopes, digital cameras, solar energy panels
and other tools of science and the arts. Our students are introduced
to basic scientific tools in kindergarten and first grade (magnifying
glasses, binoculars and the like) and to simple computer skills
in second grade. In second and third grades, students are introduced
to on-line resources to support their work in science and social
studies. Third and fourth grades include a formal keyboarding
curriculum and students begin a two year process to master this
central skill. We are exploring a laptop program for our middle
school. Technological resources are available in the classroom;
media literacy and technological learning is integrated with curriculum
across the disciplines. For example, fourth graders study energy
and explore different ways that energy is created and conserved.
Q How
often do the students work withspecialists in art, music, drama,
physical education, Spanish and library?
A Students
generally visit the library once a week, see their art, music,
and drama teachers twice a week, and work with their physical
education and Spanish teachers three times each week.
Q Will San Francisco Friends School children
take standardized tests?
A Yes. Our faculty includes assessments across
the disciplines, and appropriate standardized tests in the upper
elementary program.
Q When do students start having homework assignments,
and how much time are they expected to spend on homework?
A Kindergarteners
and first graders do not have homework, although we strongly urge
parents to join their children in reading and storytelling each
evening. Second graders are asked to read for one-half hour, and
receive additional writing, science or math work to complete.
Third and fourth graders receive homework four evenings a week;
all of our teachers ask that parents set the stage for academic
independence by letting students complete their work by themselves,
limiting their work to a reasonable amount of time.
Q What is
the San Francisco Friends School’s outdoor education program?
A San Francisco
Friends School begins outdoor education in the primary grades.
We believe that field trips to natural sites should be thoroughly
connected to classroom study, and our science curriculum is heavily
dependent upon fieldwork. Favorite Bay Area field trips include
Crissy Field, the Arboretum, the Conservatory of Flowers, the
Marin Headlands, and Tilden Park. Students have their first overnight
camping trip in third grade; the fourth grade social studies unit
on California history ends with a two-night camping trip in Gold
Country. Nine years of outdoor experiences are sequenced to include
particular skills, experiences, and habitats in a well-designed,
inclusive program that culminates in a back-packing trip in middle
school.
Q What is
the role of community service at SFFS?
A At SFFS, as at all Friends schools, we believe
that active involvement in a community teaches respect for others
and builds significant self-esteem in young children. Hence, service
projects are not extracurricular activities; curriculum is built
around community service. Young children care for their classrooms
and become familiar with our immediate neighbors, while older
children initiate individual and class projects which invite relationships
with a broader community.
Q Is San Francisco Friends School accredited?
A The school
was recently accepted into the Friends Council on Education (FCE),
an organization providing support to over 80 Quaker schools across
the country. Our teachers and trustees attend workshops and conferences
through FCE, and visit other Friends schools to learn about the
particular ways Quaker educators respond to educational challenges.
In the 2007-08 school year, we will begin the accreditation process
for the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS),
which is part of the National Association of Independent Schools
(NAIS). We hope to become CAIS members in the 2008- 09 school
year, when our oldest students are in 6th grade.
Quaker
Education
Q
Is SFFS administered by a religious body?
A SFFS is an independent, not a parochial, school.
We look to the Society of Friends (Quakers) for guidance and wisdom.
We are also part of a supportive network of Friends schools around
the country, which allows us to share ideas, experiences, resources
and Friends values. However, the school is separately incorporated
and financially independent of any religious body. It is a non-profit,
tax-exempt corporation managed by an independent Board of Trustees.
Through the Board’s Quaker Life Committee, representatives of
the school and San Francisco Friends Meeting members share information
about events and speakers of mutual interest, and reflect upon
the spiritual dimension of the school.
Q Where can I learn more about Quaker Education?
A The Friends Council on Education website at
www.friendscouncil.org has
many resources and downloadable publications for parents interested
in Quaker education. Additionally, our school library and the
San Francisco Friends Meeting Library has books and pamphlets
for loan.
Faculty
Q What kind
of teachers does SFFS seek?
A SFFS Head of School Catherine Hunter has recruited
a skilled, compassionate faculty with the firm belief that the
faculty’s energy and diversity are critical to ensuring a superior
and nurturing education. The SFFS faculty is balanced by gender,
over one-third people of color, and represents a broad array of
perspectives from independent, public and charter school settings;
collectively they have worked with children and youth from preschool
through 12th grade. Their work is enriched by professional development
through the Friends Council on Education, and other national programs
and institutions.
Q What is the teacher-to-student ratio at SFFS?
A SFFS is committed to small classes of approximately
22 children in the lower grades. Both veteran lead teachers and
skilled full-time assistant teachers comprise the teaching teams
at each grade level. In addition, the children work with six specialist
teachers in performing and fine arts, physical education, Spanish,
and library arts.
Q What professional development opportunities
are available to SFFS faculty?
A SFFS is deeply committed to individual and
collective professional development, encouraging faculty and staff
to attend workshops and conferences locally, nationally, and internationally.
Our teachers have received state technology grants, have been
the recipients of Fulbrights for study in Japan, and currently
serve on national level science curriculum development committees.
Teachers new to SFFS attend a Friends Council on Education workshop
entitled, “Educators New to Quakerism,” and visit Quaker schools
in the Philadelphia area. Many teachers have attended “Responsive
Classroom” and “Schools Attuned” workshops, programs that are
particularly well aligned with our mission.
Extended
Day Program/Sports Program
Q What are
before and after-school options for my child?
A SFFS happily accommodates a variety of family
schedules. Kindergarten through fourth grade classes begin at
8:30 a.m. Fifth graders begin at 8:20 a.m. Kindergarten is dismissed
at 2:30; first and second grades at 2:45; third through fifth
grades at 3:15. The Extended Day program is open at 7:45 am and
also from 2:30 – 6:00 after school. We provide a relaxed program
of play and structured activities, as well as quiet reading and
study time for older children.
Q Does SFFS offer extracurricular activities?
A Many children are engaged in elective activities
in SFFS’s Enrichment Classes. These classes are offered for a
small additional fee from 3:15 – 4:15 in the afternoon and include
painting, chess, swimming, flag football, Mandarin, music lessons
and crafts. For those families receiving tuition assistance, financial
support is also available for the Extended Day and Enrichment
Class programs.
Q Does SFFS offer a sports program?
A There are a variety of competitive athletic
opportunities at SFFS. Through our enrichment program, an inclusive
after-school sports option, “Sandlot” is available in fall (soccer),
winter (basketball), and spring (baseball). After school practices
and weekend games are designed to be fun and emphasize the development
of skills and the best spirit of child-centered sports. In addition,
parents form teams for soccer, basketball, and baseball through
outside organizations, such as the JCC, YMCA, and Little League,
all of which offer financial assistance. Middle schoolers (5 –
8th graders) will play sports on competitive inter-scholastic
sports teams.
The
Role of the Family
Q
How do parents participate at SFFS?
A Family involvement in the community is central to the
continued growth and health of SFFS; families work together to
help shape a school culture in which their children will thrive.
SFFS parents are as actively involved in the school community
as their schedules permit, assisting with service projects, accompanying
field trips, or supporting parent education initiatives. Parents
participate on a committee with a focus that resonates for them,
whether it is Community Involvement, Diversity, Library, Room
Parent or Admissions. All family members are welcome to attend
a monthly Meeting for Worship and all-school Parent Association
meetings. Families also contribute to fundraising efforts in the
school’s Annual Fund, and at events such as the spring fundraiser.
We are proud that we have achieved our goal of 100% parent, staff,
and trustee participation in the Annual Fund since our school
opened, and we look forward to carrying on this tradition.
Tuition
Q
What does SFFS cost?
A The tuition for 2007-2008 is $20,540. We
are committed to attracting faculty of the highest quality and
recognize that to do so we must offer competitive salaries.
We also believe that teachers are the heart of a school and
that children and families thrive where teachers are treated
with equity and respect.
Q What if the tuition is too expensive for some families?
A SFFS is dedicated to making its education accessible
to students of varied economic backgrounds. We offer varying
levels of tuition assistance based on a family’s financial
situation.Tuition Assistance Applications are available upon
request. Please also refer to the Tuition Information statement
included in this admissions folder, and do not hesitate to contact
Yvette Bonaparte with any further questions, or for support
in the Tuition Assistance application process.
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