One-of-a-kind school. A refreshing alternative to what seems like a binary solution: Public or outrageously pricey Private schools. A deep and practical culture of collaboration and equality permeates everything the school does, from how students learn and interact with people to how teachers teach, run the school, and interact with their community. Students (my son included) emerge with the life skills and self-confidence they require to thrive as individuals who know how to be an active and engaged part of a larger whole. If anything, Synergy is the gold standard. My son, now ten years on, still holds his K-8 school as the benchmark for how people should collaborate but frustratingly don't - something he witnessed in high school, college, and grad school. What's even more phenomenal is that Synergy has been doing this consistently for 50 years now. Educational trends, fads, methodologies, you name it have been championed, derided, and then revisited countless times in this country; through all that, Synergy has remained true to its core founding beliefs and proven right. Many institutions talk about educating the whole child, but Synergy actually delivers; my son and his classmates are the proof.
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Our son has been at Synergy for 6 years now. We were happy when he got in, but are ecstatic now. Synergy is not just a nice, safe school. It's a nurturing community that relentlessly and remorselessly brings the best out of every child. I don't know how they do it, but they make my child • want to do more than is asked of him • do things, like speak publicly, without fear or being self conscious • feel that he's part of a community, wherein his contributions are required and his uniqueness is valued. What my sons is learning exceeds education. He's acquiring life skills that I had no idea could be taught in school. I think what makes Synergy tick differently than any other school I know, is the fact that the teachers run the school - and manage all administrative functions. Because of this, there is no hierarchy in the traditional school sense, instead there is a refined system of management as a team - and it works extraordinarily well. So well that: overhead is reduced making tuition costs reasonable; diversity (in every respect) is a fact and not a goal; and community is not a catch phrase but a way of participating that is a practical preparation for life. Don't take my word for it, visit the school and talk to a Synergy kid, chat with a teacher, quiz a parent - then you'll know what the Synergy effect is!
Synergy has a long and admirable history in providing quality education for a reasonable tuition. Throughout the school's history tuition assistance has been available to ensure the community represents the diversity of San Francisco. Respect for students and a belief that all students can learn have long been at the heart of Synergy's mission. The school has undergone a change in leadership in recent years and is located in the heart of a rapidly changing community. While it was certainly time for a change in leadership it is disappointing to see that the board, comprised of the faculty and a few mysteriously selected parents and former parents, is failing to move the school forward or to even help it tread water in these rapidly changing times. This remarkable little school is not grappling with the threats and opportunities facing it and other private schools. Board decisions are not transparent to the community. The board is too large to effectively examine and deliberate key issues. There is a lack of transparency and accountability between staff and governance structures. The staff runs the school without reasonable measures of rigor or true accountability to board members who are non-staff. This school needs strong, visionary leadership at the board level (non-staff) and at the administrative level. It may survive another decade or slightly more with the status quo but students, families, faculty and donors would be better served by making changes today.
Synergy School is what we want in a school. Fabulous, caring teachers and staff, a place that is safe for kids physically and emotionally, a place where academics are important but not everything. It's a place where art, music, and drama are taught individually and incorporated in many aspects of the academic curriculum. It's a place where children first figure out things organically before intellectualizing the things that they're learning. Synergy helps kids think about their place in the larger world and about how they can make the world a better place. It's a place where my son asks every day if he can go to afterschool because it's so much fun. The afterschool program is run by Synergy, so it incorporates all aspects of the school's philosophy as well. There is very little teacher turnover. Synergy is like family.