The San Francisco School faculty is devoted to inspiring the healthy personal and intellectual development of every student. Teachers are chosen to work at the school based on their teaching experience, talent, and promise; their understanding of learning, curriculum content, and child development; their match with the core school values of mutual respect, diversity, and social responsibility; and their commitment to question and grow in their practice as teachers. Teachers choose to work at The San Francisco School, in part, because the school supports and inspires professional growth; offers leadership opportunities, academic freedoms, and a role in school governance; and is an inspiring community of staff, parents, and students with a common mission and a commitment to the intellectual, imaginative, and humanitarian promise of every student.

The San Francisco School is also committed to a policy of equal opportunity in employment and participation for all of its employees, volunteers, and students. In recruitment, application for employment, hiring, promotion, and training, The San Francisco School acts to ensure that each applicant, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, or physical disability will be accorded equal treatment. Furthermore, The San Francisco School is committed to policies that will increase staff and student diversity, both to reflect the high value The San Francisco School places on a multicultural understanding and for the direct benefit of each student.

The actual selection process includes interviews, school visits, reference checks, and sample teaches. Interview committees include an administrator, other teachers, and for lead positions, a parent member of the Board of Directors. Once hired, new teachers are oriented in summer workshops; guided by written curriculum outlines and developed teaching materials; closely supervised and evaluated by the Head or Division Head; and observed and formally mentored by experienced faculty members.

All teachers participate in the school’s ongoing professional development program. This program includes professional days before school opens in the fall, during the school year, in June after the school year concludes, and during the summer. Teachers work individually, with the Division Head, and collectively. They reflect and evaluate, attend workshops and retreats, take classes, and do independent research. The school provides stipends for mentors, reimbursements for conferences and coursework, honorariums for work during the summer, and sabbaticals for extended projects or study. The core of the professional development program involves regular meetings of small groups of teachers focused on specific questions about student learning. Teachers regularly hone their practice, looking closely at curricular frameworks and current research, at their own instructional approach, and at student work. These conversations about student understanding are the basis of the intellectual vitality that keeps teachers learning and growing, current, and at The San Francisco School.

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