F E AT U R E S and applying all that we learned won’t be easy, but I’m very grateful to be equipped with concrete tools and linked to a national cohort of passionate math educators there to support and encourage one another. Thanks to the family who graciously donated to support our work.” CAMPUS RENEWAL We all look forward to returning to campus and recapturing our connection as a learning community. In anticipation of this return, significant work has been completed in key areas of the campus to provide additional space and safety for students, faculty, and staff. Several classrooms have been expanded and improved, new access points and doorways have been created, and changes have been made to
the serving spaces in the Student Center. All of these targeted improvements will ease crowding and offer more flexibility and safety for our community. Again, generous supporters helped make this possible, by providing funds in support of these improvements. STUDENT WELLNESS UHS has long desired a new model for school research, self-assessment, and strategic decision-making that leverages the talents of its faculty and staff while also creating leadership and professional growth opportunities. Thanks to a $250,000 leadership grant from the Edward E. Ford Foundation (secured with matching dollars from our community, for a total
of $500,000), we can provide meaningful support to UHS’s ongoing internal research work. We are studying a complex variety of strategic questions on a range of topics, including student belonging, assessment and grading, culturally responsive classrooms, access and affordability, student and faculty workload, and adolescent well-being. We believe that our work in these areas will transform the way we support individual and institutional growth by placing strategy in the hands of those who work most closely with students, and
this work is especially meaningful at a time when student wellness is challenged to an unusual degree. These are challenging times and important institutions will continue to be tested as we navigate some of the most difficult social, political, and health crises imaginable. But if the last six months of generosity within the UHS community tells us anything, it is that the philanthropic spirit and leadership will rise to meet the challenges. n
The Show(case) Must Go On! — Thelma Garza, Director of Events
T
he first-ever virtual Decorator Showcase is now open to the public. The typical April opening of the annual San Francisco Decorator Showcase, benefitting the UHS financial aid program, was postponed (twice!) because of multiple local and global crises. The story of what it took to bring you the 43rd Decorator Showcase demonstrates the resilience, creativity, and generosity of our community. After shelter-in-place orders were issued in response to the
August 19–20, 2020 UHS launches Fall 2020 Virtual Orientation, opening the 2020-2021 school year officially on August 21 with continued distance learning.
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U H S J o u r n a l | FALL 2020
rising threat of COVID-19, work on the Showcase house, at 22 • 22nd Avenue, was effectively shut down, and the wait began. As all of us at UHS and around the world attempted to adapt to extraordinary circumstances, we started planning for producing a virtual Showcase tour. Thankfully, construction restrictions were relaxed in mid-April; work resumed with new safety regulations in place, and the house was Showcase-ready by the end of July. We eventually made the difficult decision not to open Showcase for in-person tours and hired UHS alum Dan Herz ’85 to create a virtual tour once the house was finished. Filming of the house wrapped in early August, and the long-awaited “opening” of the 2020 Showcase
was finally in sight and set for August 29. A week before the scheduled launch, Showcase was postponed once again, due to key members of the virtual-tour production team being directly impacted by the California wildfires. As UHS development director Shaundra Bason said to the press and the public, “2020 might have slowed us down, but it won’t stop us.” And stop us it didn’t! This year’s Showcase launched on September 5. We are thrilled at the increased public
accessibility to Showcase and the special content that going virtual has offered our supporters and our designers. We would like to share our deepest appreciation for the hundreds of people who stood with us and willed a successful Showcase into existence with their passion and dedication, including designers, donors, advertisers, and our amazing volunteer committee, led by the indefatigable 2020 Showcase co-chairs Elizabeth
