Directory

Independent · Hillsborough (Peninsula)

Crystal Springs Uplands

“We empower kind, curious learners to thrive together”

Students
~350
Ratio
9:1
Tuition
$69k

What makes this school special

  • A Hillsborough upper school; the middle school sits on a separate Belmont campus
  • Dropped APs in 2012 in favor of faculty-designed honors and capstone courses — students may still sit AP exams on campus
  • The Explorations Program sends students on study trips, cultural homestays, and international internships; the GPS program certifies multilingual scholars with study abroad
  • Tuition is unusually inclusive: daily snacks and lunches, most field trips and retreats, transportation, and the PE uniform are all covered
  • College counseling runs three full-time counselors with caseloads around 30 students

Academics

Curriculum

Faculty-designed honors and capstone courses

Advanced coursework

No AP courses · 32 UC-approved honors courses

See the list filed with UC

World languages

Spanish, French, Mandarin

Schedule

Semester

Signature programs

  • Explorations Program (study trips, homestays, internships)
  • Global Program for Scholars of Languages (GPS)
  • Honors capstone courses

College matriculation

Brown, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, MIT, Northwestern, Pomona, Princeton, Rice, USC, Vanderbilt, Yale

See the full list

UC admissions · For fall 2025 entry

applied
59
admitted to at least one campus
36
enrolled at a UC
6
What these numbers can and can’t tell you

Athletics, arts & activities

Athletics · West Bay Athletic League (WBAL)

Baseball (boys)BasketballBeach Volleyball (girls)Cross CountryFlag Football (girls)Football (boys)GolfLacrosse (girls)SailingSoccerSquashSwimmingTennisTrack & FieldVolleyball (girls)

Arts

CeramicsDanceDramaMusicVisual ArtTechnical TheaterVideo Production

Clubs & activities · 50+

Gryphon RoboticsThe Gryphon GazetteAsian CultureAstronomyBiomedical ResearchBlack Student UnionBring Change to MindChessCrystal Sports MediaFrench ClubGryphon BusinessInvesting ClubMath ClubPre-MedRock ClimbingTEDx
See all clubs

Life there

Food

Included in tuition (daily snacks and lunch)

Learning support

Academic support with a dedicated Upper School Director of Academic Support

Notable alumni

  • Polly Draper (actress and producer)
  • Jack Herrick (wikiHow founder)
  • Daniel Naroditsky (chess grandmaster)

Often on the same list

The Nueva School

Independent

The College Preparatory School

Independent

Lick-Wilmerding High School

Independent

Castilleja School

Independent

Sources

  1. Crystal Springs Uplands School — mission, academics, programs, athletics, arts
  2. Tuition & Tuition Assistance — tuition, what's included, financial aid
  3. How to Apply — the Upper School path's "Key Dates," now printed with years: "Application Deadline: January 5, 2027," "Notification Date: March 12, 2027," "Decision Date: March 19, 2027"; test policy
  4. Experiential Learning — Explorations, GPS
  5. Athletics — Teams — sports by season and gender, WBAL
  6. NCES Private School Universe Survey — faculty; ratio estimated across the full grades 6–12 school (569 ÷ 64.8 FTE = 8.8). The upper-school (9–12) enrollment is carried from the 2025-26 CDE affidavit (350).
  7. Crystal Springs Uplands School | Wikipedia — founding, AP history, notable alumni
  8. Curriculum — semester schedule; Upper School Curriculum — World Languages — French, Spanish, and Mandarin
  9. Mission & Core Values — motto ("we empower kind, curious learners to thrive together," from the school's mission statement)
  10. California Private School Affidavit 2025-26 | CDE — upper-school enrollment (350, grades 9–12, 2025-26 filing; the middle-school campus files separately).
  11. Transportation and the school's 2026-27 US Transportation Schedule linked from it — the CYO bus routes and KidzJet shuttles, the 8:00am Colma BART pickup arriving on campus by 8:35, and the 8:31am San Mateo Caltrain shuttle
  12. UC A-G course list — Crystal Springs Uplands School — the 2026-27 course list the school files with the University of California: 32 UC-approved honors courses

Details checked August 2026