Leadership High School is a small, public charter school that has been serving the diverse students of San Francisco since 1997. Recognized throughout the country as a model, Leadership provides a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum and extensive leadership development in a small school setting.

Description:
Leadership High School’s mission is to serve the diverse students of San Francisco by providing an excellent education and by developing effective community leaders. We believe that we will achieve our mission by ensuring that every student is known well by at least one adult and by fostering a learning community that, based in inquiry, is focused on equity and achievement.

Leadership High School is committed to preparing all its students for college. We believe that rigorous high expectations, coupled with support and care, will lead to achievement.

We also believe in the importance of preparing students to be leaders in their own lives and in the community. To that end, Leadership has designed its program around four core concepts, known as the School-Wide Outcomes or “SWOs,” that define what every graduate must know and be able to do:

Social Responsibility: To effectively work and lead in groups, families, and communities by actively demonstrating respect and accountability to others and their differences.

Personal Responsibility: To be self-aware; to identify, access, and utilize skills, knowledge, and resources toward development as a life-long learner; and to be accountable to one’s self.

Critical Thinking: To draw conclusions, solve problems, or create through analysis, reflection, interpretation, reasoning, and evaluation.

Communication: To understand and clearly and confidently express ideas, opinions, information, attitudes, and feelings to and from diverse audiences, through a variety of media.

Through our program, we expect students to learn to be leaders for positive change in their own lives and in the community. We expect students to develop not only a social consciousness so that they may imagine a more just, equitable, and healthy world but also concrete skills so that they may bridge differences and act as allies to others. We believe that strong students understand how knowledge and information are constructed and that they use their minds well in order to navigate our complex world of information. We are committed to graduating students who have the tools, knowledge and experiences to be self-sufficient and empowered life-long learners.

History:
Leadership first opened its doors in 1997 on the campus of Golden Gate University in downtown San Francisco. As the first charter high school in San Francisco and the first start-up charter high school in California, LHS has been a leader in school change in since its beginning, demonstrating that personalized learning in a diverse, small-school setting can transform the lives of youth.

Leadership has now graduated more than 500 students, with over 95% of graduates going on to college. Leadership has been commended by the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education and by an independent Consent Decree court monitor as being an exemplar in the district for preparing all students—regardless of ethnic or socio-economic background—for college.

LHS has also earned national acclaim in its work to close the achievement gap. In 2006, Stanford University’s School Redesign Network selected Leadership as one of five schools in California to be studied as a model for policy development. Since 2004, the Coalition of Essential Schools has recognized LHS as a Mentor School in its Small Schools Project; through this project, LHS faculty and students travel all over the country coaching new small schools and facilitating professional development.

Leadership’s strong and well-developed academic program has earned LHS a six-year accreditation through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. In spring 2007, the San Francisco Unified School District endorsed the school’s program for a third term, renewing its Charter through 2012.

Contact people:

David Donahue, Board Member, (phone), (email) Elizabeth Rood, Principal, (phone), (email)

Main office number: (415) 841-8910
Office fax number: (415) 841-8925

Address:

241 Oneida Street, Suite 301 San Francisco, CA 94112 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.leadershiphigh.org

Directions:

Leadership High is within walking distance from Balboa BART station. It is located on the third floor of the Denman Middle School building   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: Balboa BART,   Walk distance (in minutes): 5

Miscellaneous Information

Besides English, which languages are spoken at your agency?
	Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish
What is the minimum age for volunteers at your agency?
	18
Is your agency wheelchair accessible?
	Yes
Does your agency have the capacity to host groups of more than 10?
	Yes
Does your agency have the capacity to host groups of more than 20?
	Yes