strategic direction - San Francisco Friends School

Lead with Light: Our Strategic Vision

San Francisco Friends School is at an exciting moment in our school’s history. When the school was founded in 2002, we were the first Quaker school on the West Coast - and that pioneering and innovative spirit continues to guide us today.

This year, we are embarking on a strategic planning process to reflect on who we are, imagine who we want to be, and create a future vision for our school that boldly embodies our mission. It’s an opportunity to reaffirm what is sacred to our community while exploring ways to evolve and stay relevant in a rapidly changing educational and demographic landscape. As we envision the future of SFFS, we will stay firmly rooted in what makes us an exceptional learning community in the heart of San Francisco.

Strategic planning is a community-wide endeavor; every member of our community is impacted, and therefore every member of our community is considered. Guided by the Quaker idea of continuous revelation, we will tap into the collective wisdom of our diverse and caring community through a survey, focus groups, and an iterative process of sharing and refining our collective understanding of where we are and where we want to go.

Now is our moment to build the future together. During the 2023-24 school year, we completed our California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) accreditation, and that self-study process provided a natural catalyst for this next round of strategic planning and vision work for our school. Partnering with Mission & Data, we have created a thoughtful and inclusive process, defined by five distinct yet connected phases. We look forward to partnering with our deeply connected community!

PHASE ONE: Prepare

We gathered existing input from different constituencies, including the work of the SFFS Futures Committee, the CAIS self-study and accreditation process and existing school data to begin to identify broad themes and potential priorities. In October 2024, we identified the members of our 2024-25 Strategic Planning Task Force, which includes a diverse cross-section of SFFS board members, administrators and faculty. In November 2024, we held a Board retreat to begin the strategic planning process in earnest with our partners from Mission & Data.

PHASE TWO: Reflect

In December 2024, we conducted a community wide survey to glean insights, perspectives, experiences and ideas from our community to inform the task force’s charge to identify the school’s immediate and long term priorities. Using first-hand data from our diverse group of constituents - parents/guardians, students, faculty, staff, alumni and the Board - the task force will begin to identify themes and refine our priorities based on our learnings from the survey.

PHASE THREE: Envision

As key priorities and initiatives begin to take shape, the Strategic Planning Task Force will solicit feedback from our community through focus groups and ongoing community input. Using this feedback, the task force will test and refine these emerging ideas to ensure they mirror the needs of our community and enable us to build an inspiring and tactical framework to meet our school’s goals for building an enduring future.

PHASE FOUR: Plan

In spring 2025, the Strategic Planning Task Force plans to solidify and share the SFFS Strategic Plan and present it to the board of trustees in early summer 2025. The strategic plan will identify the school’s strategic priorities and supporting goals to achieve their priorities. As part of this process, we will define the outcomes and/or metrics used to measure success for each supporting goal.

PHASE FIVE: Implement

Our Mission

At San Francisco Friends School, students learn in a community grounded in the Quaker values of reflection, integrity, peaceful problem-solving and stewardship.

Our teachers challenge students with a dynamic curriculum that inspires curiosity, cooperation and hard work. We teach children to listen to all voices and to trust their own.

We engage with the world around us with kindness and conviction, working toward the Quaker ideal of a caring and just society.

Our Commitment to Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

In service of our mission, we commit to nurturing a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community. Our Quaker testimonies and practices guide us to reflect and deepen our understanding and appreciation for one another's differences while acknowledging we each possess distinct power, privilege, and responsibility to advance equity. SFFS commits to fostering belonging and connection among its members within and beyond our school community. This ongoing, essential work is furthered and sustained through dialogue, reciprocal learning, and engagement.

Strategic Planning Task Force 2024-25

Our Strategic Planning Task Force is made up of current and past members of our Board of Trustees, administrators, teachers, and parents who bring diverse perspectives to this important process.

Camilo Barrera Acosta

Trustee and Co-Clerk of the Strategic Planning Task Force

Seth Brenzel

Trustee and Parent (8th Grade)

Sabrina Brooks

8th Grade Humanities Teacher

Rebecca Foster

Parent (3rd Grade and 5th Grade), Former Trustee and Co-Clerk of the Strategic Planning Task Force

Veronique Kessler

CFOO

Gaby Mishev

Trustee, Parent (5th Grade and 7th Grade) and Co-Clerk of the Strategic Planning Task Force

Yvonne Neira-Perez

Board Co-Clerk, Parent (6th Grade) and Parent of Alumni

Rich Oberman

5th Grade Science Teacher

Lizzie Rogal

Head of Middle School

Nadia Ruiz

1st Grade Teacher

Pankti Sevak

Head of School and Parent (Kindergarten and 3rd Grade)

Patrice Wakeley

Director of Institutional Equity and Belonging

Strategic Direction: Our Pathways

Our last strategic planning process was completed during the 2018-2019 school year. If you're interested in reading more about the strategic pathways and goals outlined during that process, please click here.