High School (9-12)
KNOW YOURSELF, KNOW THE WORLD
San Francisco Waldorf High School’s high school program blends a rigorous college prep curriculum with a distinctly collaborative, hands-on approach to learning. Together we make, invent, research, imagine, challenge ourselves, challenge the status quo, pause, ask questions, propose answers, and listen. Along the way, students discover their voices and ideals, become strong advocates for themselves and others, and meet the world with confidence.
At San Francisco Waldorf High School, we prepare students to lead with curiosity and imagination. Working closely with our exceptional faculty and staff and enjoying easy access to our High School Library, high school students are encouraged to ask questions, think independently, and approach challenges with resilience and heart.
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Be Everything That You Are
Jazz trumpet player. Soon-to-be molecular biologist. Basketball point guard. Film enthusiast. Mandarin speaker. Sibling. Volunteer. There are many sides to who you are—and who you can be. Explore them all at San Francisco Waldorf High School, where a wide-ranging academic curriculum, rich elective offerings, and signature extracurricular experiences produce exceptionally prepared graduates. Learn more about Student Life at our school.
Rigor Meets Innovation
Grounded in the classics, rooted in an understanding of brain research, and engaged in the modern world, our challenging college prep curriculum integrates the arts across disciplines, placing emphasis on human qualities like invention and creativity. Our program brings the same level of rigor to the arts as we do to traditional academic disciplines, with classes in studio and practical arts, music, and theater required throughout all four years of high school.
Individual Growth, Community Spirit
Ours is a welcoming, safe, and inclusive school community, as vibrant as the city that surrounds it. Here, every student is encouraged to express themselves and to reach their highest potential, in and out of the classroom. A reflection of our Bay Area home, we seek diversity in everything we do, so that our students see themselves, their classmates, and the world, mirrored in what they learn.
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Beyond Test Scores
A Holistic Approach to College Prep
The world is changing. Education is changing with it. At San Francisco Waldorf High School, we take a holistic and forward-thinking approach to college prep, helping students develop into engaged learners, critical thinkers, and responsible members of their community. This lays the groundwork for advanced, self-directed study in college and beyond.
Rooted in a deep exploration of the self and grounded by practical, step-by-step advice from our College Counselor, our program guides students through the process of applying to and selecting a college or gap year experience.
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Learn about our high school curriculum, year by year
Ninth Grade: Polarities
In Ninth Grade, we ask the question “What?” What is the world and what can we understand about how it works? Often, answers emerge through the study of contrasts, the central theme of the Ninth Grade curriculum.
Tenth Grade: Processes
The Tenth Grade year is rich in inquiry. Again and again, we return to the question, “How?” How do scientific processes work? How do historical events unfold? How did we get here? How do I learn?
Eleventh Grade: Identities
Eleventh Grade is full of experiences that help you approach the question “Who?” Whose voices are heard and whose are silenced? Who am I in relation to others? Who am I—and who do I want to become?
Twelfth Grade: World Conscious
Seniors are ready to ask an even deeper question: “Why?” Why do people choose the actions they choose? Why are there cycles in history? Why do human beings exist? Why do people take a stand? Why might I choose a certain path over another?
Beyond the Classroom
An Array of Extracurriculars
At our school, you’ll balance academics with engaging extracurriculars and social time with friends and classmates, developing the skills and habits you need to become capable and courageous.
As part of our vibrant Drama program, students produce an all-school theater production each year. Recent productions have included She Kills Monsters, Chicago, Nothing is the End of the World but the End of the World, and The Addams Family
Our students take extracurricular trips; recent examples include visiting Guatemala over Spring Break, traveling to Ashland, and participating in the annual Student Diversity Leadership Conference hosted by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). In 2025, our students hosted their own Student Leadership Conference (SLC), which drew 100 students and adults from 10 schools.
Our Athletics program is an integral part of our commitment to helping students develop into well-rounded, confident people who cultivate relationships and make a difference in the world. Playing competitively in leagues across the city and the region, our student athletes embrace our school tradition of an outstanding sense of fair play, and a competitive spirit. This has propelled our teams to multiple championships.
Through clubs and affinity groups, our students volunteer their time, make friends, learn something new, and make a difference in the world. Most clubs and affinity groups meet on campus during the school day. These groups are student-initiated, varying each year based on interest, and supported by a staff or faculty member.
Our acclaimed performing arts troupe is treasured by students and audiences alike. The troupe produces a showcase in San Francisco each February and performs internationally, hosted by Waldorf school communities abroad. Eurythmy is a movement art unique to Waldorf education, and our troupe performs music, humoresques, tales, and poems across languages and styles. The troupe is both a music elective and an extracurricular offering.
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Beyond San Francisco
A Vibrant Global Exchange Program
Our global exchange program is a highlight of our high school experience. Students gain language fluency and cultural understanding while attending Waldorf high schools around the world. Recent exchange countries include Argentina, Chile, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and Taiwan. Whether or not you choose to exchange, everyone enjoys a rich cultural interplay with visiting students, who become part of the social life at our school.
Interested in living abroad during high school? Talk to our Study Abroad Coordinator.
Living in Taiwan
Arriving in Taipei
Connecting in Santiago, Chile
Traveling to Patagonia
Visiting Spain While On Exchange in Germany
Touring Buenos Aires, Argentina
Exploring Madrid
Hosting in San Francisco
Travels in Spain
We go beyond conventions. See for yourself.