Friends School Leaving Castro After Six Years

By Kyla Calvert

At a time of year when most children and educators are looking forward to the end of school and beginning of summer, the community at San Francisco Friends School is already focused on September. That is when the school is scheduled to move from its current location in the Castro to its new, permanent home in the old Levi Strauss building at 250 Valencia St.

Since opening six years ago, San Francisco Friends School has been housed across the street from the Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church at 18th and Diamond Streets. This year the building, originally home to Most Holy Redeemer’s school, was filled with 255 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

As the student body grew each year with the addition of a new grade, teachers and administrators knew they would have to move to a larger facility to accommodate all the classes from kindergarten through eighth grade the school will eventually include.

“We always knew that the Most Holy Redeemer site was a starter building,” said Catherine Hunter, head of the school. “While we are leaving the Castro with great sadness, we feel extremely lucky to have found a permanent home for the school in the old Levi Strauss factory building.”

Located next to the Eureka Valley Recreation Center and down the block from the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, the neighborhood surrounding the Friends School has played a role in contributing to the unique education of its students. With a curriculum in the tradition of Quaker education, Friends students have incorporated elements such as silent reflection, service learning and “seeking simplicity in a complex world” into their classes.

“Here we can look out our windows and see the excellent work Most Holy Redeemer does at their hospice, or with their dinners for the homeless,” explained Hunter, who has been with the school since its inception. “In the Castro, our children have gotten real life lessons in how people can work together to improve the world around them. This has been the most ideal start home for us.”

The new location will allow the Friends School not only to grow to its complete size with classes from kindergarten through eighth grade, but allow it to maintain a central location in the city.

“Our children come from all over the city, so being smack dab in the middle of San Francisco has been important for serving all of our families,” said Hunter.

While the Most Holy Redeemer community is also sad to see their neighbors leave the Castro, they are looking forward to starting a new relationship with a new organization that will continue to serve the neighborhood.

“The Friends School has been the best tenant and an excellent community group,” said Nick Andrade, parish council president at Most Holy Redeemer, which still owns the building that the Friends School will be vacating in the fall. “Right now there are four or five different organizations interested in the space. We are really hoping to keep it a school.”

The Castro’s loss will be a boon to the Mission, which will be getting a new, active member in their community.

“We are very pleased to find such a wonderful new potential owner who plans to return the building to productive use and contribute to the neighborhood,” said Philip Marineau, Levi Strauss & Co. CEO and President when plans for the sale began in 2005.

A portion of Levi Strauss & Co.’s proceeds from the sale will be earmarked for donation to the Levi Strauss Foundation. The foundation plans to reinvest the money into the neighborhood where the company operated its original factory.

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