The difference is extraordinary
There’s something different about San Francisco Waldorf High School. Visit a classroom and you’ll see students who strive for more than just the right answer.
Students who create beautiful, impeccable work. Who try their hands at everything.
Meet a graduate and you know someone who is determined to make an impact on the world.
Like no other high school, we offer an education that is both creative and rigorous. We teach the right things at the right time, and help students discover the intersection of mathematics, humanities, and the natural world. Small by design, we believe that learning is most powerful when people connect. Above all, we look for the unique spark in each individual. Explore the extraordinary difference.
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4
Wilderness Trips: Mount Lassen the Sierras the desert Southwest and more
Cuts from Athletic teams (+18 Championship Teams) Go Waldorf!
Departments with Doctorate-level faculty: Mathematics Humanities Biology Physics
100
Years of Waldorf education – and more than 2 decades at the high school
25
Art and Music Classes – many taught by professional Bay Area musicians, artists, and artisans
12
40%
Students of color
100%
Faculty who know every student
Countries students have lived in during a Global Exchange (and 4 continents visited by our Youth Eurythmy Troupe!)
Building a motor for Electricity and Magnetism “I created a brushless electric motor that also functioned as a generator. The motor used a Hall effect sensor to sense the position of the magnet and a transistor to apply currents to the electromagnets at the correct times.”
Mastering Calculus using the Exeter Method “My favorite courses have been honors math. The way we present problems allows us to address mistakes and compare alternatives. Because these problems often contain brandnew concepts, it is all the more rewarding when we find a solution together.”
Presenting The Canterbury Tales “I was very excited about the final project opportunity. We worked in pairs, discussed the key images in the tale, then presented as a team and answered questions. I thought, now I can apply and show what I know.”
Performing on the Waldorf stage “Passions come in many shapes and sizes and one of my strongest is acting. I’ve been in many productions and our school acting program has a level of professionalism, community, care, love, and connectedness that is rare.”
Reflections in the California wilderness
Making a lifelong friend on a Global Exchange
“I woke up at 5 in the morning and went out on the Peninsula and just meditated and looked out at the wildlife, at the lake, and the water. These trips are calming and peaceful – a place to think about life.”
“Deciding to do an exchange in Cape Town, South Africa may have been the best decision I have ever made. The difference between being a tourist in a country and calling it your home is huge. Jade and I developed an irreplaceable bond.”
Exploring Embryology and Heredity
In the classroom and on the field
“It was unique to have a midwife visit the class and talk about her work. When an expectant mother came we listened to the soon-to-be-born baby’s heartbeat. Biology is my favorite subject and I enjoyed asking them both questions.”
“This is what sets Waldorf athletics apart: the relationships and friendships formed not only through competition, but also camaraderie, trust, and the sense of community that our school sparks.”
10 things every Waldorf student discovers 1. How to observe scientific phenomena 2. Life lessons from Dante’s Inferno and Goethe’s Faust 3. How to make a basket, forge metal, build a generator 4. Waldorf teachers know their students and are great at their jobs 5. Calculus and chaos theory 6. Mandarin or Spanish 7. How to read music, play an instrument, sing in harmony 8. Principles of urban gardening 9. The Pacific Rim, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East 10. Friends here are friends for life
“ I have never been so perfectly challenged with a subject as Honors Modern Physics. The teacher is the most intelligent, caring, interesting person I have ever met.” –Chloe T.
“ My teachers have influenced me in a thousand different and incredible ways.” –Lily W.
“ Coming here as a public school kid, I was worried that I wouldn’t fit in or mesh with the students. But it was the opposite. I made some of the deepest connections I have ever made and will stay lifelong friends with all of them.” –Sadie F.
“Go to Waldorf and discover what you don’t know that you love.” –Max K.
Reflections from our graduates “ The integration of art into everything else at Waldorf is the reason I started out as a double major in art and environmental science in college, and I’m pleasantly surprised by how relevant that background is for pursuing a PhD in biology. Art involves a lot of careful observation and consideration of how information should be presented, which is also very important in the sciences.” Ilana Stein, Integrative Plant Biologist UC Berkeley
“ The STEM teachers prepared me well for the college engineering curriculum. My high school main lesson books are filled with deep preparatory exploration— how to think about physics and the foundations of quantum mechanics.” Dayo Origunwa, Energy Engineering Swarthmore College
“ The teachers know you and recognize something in you... the person that you might become. My teacher identified, correctly and early on, that justice and fairness were essential to me. And I had strong tendencies toward perfectionism.” Olivia Skyaasen, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva Middlebury College London School of Economics and Political Science
Photos: Caroline Alba, Luke Barbee, Scott Chernis, Tara Layman Photography. Š2019 San Francisco Waldorf School. All rights reserved. SFWS is a 501(c)(3), taxexempt, nonprofit organization. SFWS does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin. Printed on recycled paper.
OUR GRADUATES GO PLACES
98% College matriculation to countless liberal arts colleges, a ton of top-notch research universities, an impressive number of Ivies, plus international universities and world-renowned art & design schools.
WASHINGTON
MINNESOTA
Evergreen State University University of Puget Sound University of Washington Whitman College
Carleton College Macalester College University of Minnesota
WISCONSIN Beloit College University of Wisconsin
OREGON Lewis and Clark College University of Oregon Reed College
COLORADO Colorado College Colorado State University Regis University University of Colorado, Boulder
CALIFORNIA California College of the Arts California State University - Humbolt - San Francisco - Sonoma University of California - Berkeley - Davis - Irvine - Los Angeles - San Diego - Santa Barbara - Santa Cruz Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Claremont McKenna College Loyola Marymount University Mills College Occidental College Pepperdine University Scripps College Stanford University Whittier College
ARIZONA Arizona State University Prescott College
INTERNATIONAL American University of Paris University of the Arts London Bard College Berlin University of British Columbia University College Dublin Glasgow University Quest University Canada
MICHIGAN
OHIO
Kalamazoo College University of Michigan
Kenyon College Miami University Oberlin College
*Some of the places our students have studied through the years
PENNSYLVANIA
NEW YORK
Carnegie Mellon University Dickinson College Haverford College Swarthmore College
Bard College Barnard College Cornell University Hobart and William Smith College The New School
New York University Pratt Institute of Art & Design Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Sarah Lawrence College Union College Vassar College
VERMONT
MAINE
Bennington College Middlebury College University of Vermont
Bowdoin College Colby College
MASSACHUSETTS NEW HAMPSHIRE Dartmouth College
RHODE ISLAND
Amherst College Boston College Boston Conservatory Boston University Emerson College Hampshire College Mount Holyoke College Northeastern University Smith College Tufts University Wellesley College
Brown University
MARYLAND Goucher College
CONNECTICUT Connecticut College Yale University
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA American University George Washington University Georgetown University Howard University
VIRGINIA GEORGIA TENNESSEE
FLORIDA
Vanderbilt University
Eckerd College
Emory University Savannah College of Art and Design
University of Virginia
A highly considered education that’s different in the best possible way Learn more. sfwaldorf.org