WAYS WE ENGAGE WITH OUR CITY

San Francisco Friends School has long focused on community and connection. With COVID restrictions lifting, SFFS students, faculty, and staff have eagerly renewed established partnerships with numerous community organizations, while also forging new ones. Read on for some examples of how we are partnering with our Mission District and San Francisco neighbors.

Refuse Refuse

This relatively new community group is focused on keeping SF streets clean, with regular neighborhood trash pick-ups taking place from The Marina to The Haight. The faculty and staff of SFFS kicked off their opening meetings in August with a group clean-up of the blocks surrounding our Valencia Street campus, and Middle School advisory groups and buddy groups (including the 3rd and 7th Grade Buddies seen in the photo above) continue to head out in the community regularly with their trusty trash-pickers and bright orange trash bags. Additionally, Director of Community Engagement Guybe Slangen and Director of Collaborative Curriculum Jennifer Stuart are working with Refuse Refuse founder Vince Yuen to create a unit that can be used by schools around the city focused on waste removal, local government, and civic engagement.

Creativity Explored

This local nonprofit collective helps adults with developmental disabilities to pursue successful and fulfilling careers as artists. The Creativity Explored studio now represents 130 artists, who have seen their work sold and exhibited widely in museums, galleries, and art fairs. Our 7th and 8th Grade students visited the art center this fall, and have welcomed Creativity Explored artists to our campus, as well, where they created together in our studios and bonded over their shared love of art.

The Gubbio Project

A longtime partner with our school, The Gubbio Project has reopened its doors to our unhoused neighbors in San Francisco, giving people a safe place to sleep, grab a meal, and recharge within a warm and caring environment. In support of this organization’s mission, our 8th-Graders, faculty, and staff have returned to its location at St. John the Evangelist Church throughout the fall to clean sleeping mats, wash dishes, and help Gubbio

Project employees and volunteers put together hygiene kits for clients with essential items like socks, soap, and deodorant. This is a treasured partnership that, like so many, we envision lasting for many years to come. •

Many thanks to our SFFS parents Maren Caruso P ‘20 & ‘25 and Rachel Levin

P ‘23 & ‘26, who have spent this fall documenting the community partnerships our school is building in San Francisco.

Revenue & Expenses 2021–2022

Each year, the Board of Trustees carefully balances the fiscal and programmatic needs of the school, while attending to the vitality of our Quaker values, our staff, and our school community. Our operating budget reflects our school’s priorities and culture, and we are proud to lead the way among Bay Area schools in our Adjustable Tuition and Friends Community Scholars programs.

As an independent school we depend on the tuition and the philanthropic support of our community to sustain our programs and strategic priorities. We are grateful for the generosity of our community, and for the careful stewardship of our budget, to allow us to remain in a strong financial position.

* Please note that the Revenue chart below does not reflect restricted funds raised for the Friends Forward endowment campaign or non-operating revenue PPP loan forgiveness.