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Life Learning Academy

“Every single young person deserves relentless love, accountability, and the chance to make a good life”

AKA: LLATreasure IslandPublic charter

Students
~50
Ratio
8:1
Tuition
Free

Admissions

Application due
Rolling (students can start any time of year)
connect@lifelearningacademysf.org
Visit admissions site

What makes this school special

Life Learning Academy is a 47-student intervention school for young people who haven't succeeded in traditional schools, including system-involved youth, drawing students from across the Bay Area. It is built for students who have struggled in a traditional school — a very different starting point from most schools in this directory.

  • Built in 1998 out of the acclaimed Delancey Street Foundation model: relentless adult attention, accountability, and classes capped at eight students per teacher
  • The only SF public high school with on-campus student housing — a no-fee dormitory for up to 24 students facing housing instability, opened in 2019
  • Work is part of the curriculum: every student starts in the Culinary Academy, can move into a Carpenters Union pre-apprenticeship, and takes paid internships with 50+ Bay Area employers
  • The school reports a 90% graduation rate, and 90% of 2022-23 graduating seniors enrolled in post-secondary education, employed, or both
  • Students can start any time of year, often within days of first contact

Academics

Curriculum

Intervention model: classes of 6-8 students, individualized learning plans, trauma-informed practices, and project-based learning integrated with workforce and life skills

Signature programs

  • Culinary Academy (every student's first workforce training — food safety, nutrition, farm-to-table)
  • Construction pre-apprenticeship with the Northern California Carpenters Union
  • Paid internships with 50+ Bay Area employer partners (6+ hrs/week for two semesters)
  • On-campus dormitory for up to 24 students (opened August 2019)
  • Paid summer employment (culinary, mural painting, filmmaking)

Athletics, arts & activities

Arts

Theatre (integrated into English classes)Mural painting (paid summer program)Filmmaking (paid summer program)

Life there

Learning support

Whole-school intervention model — 6-8 students per class, individualized learning plans, trauma-informed practices, social-emotional learning, on-campus housing for students facing instability

Often on the same list

Downtown High School

Public (referral) · 11-12

Ida B. Wells High School

Public (referral)

Independence High School

Public (referral)

Sources

  1. Life Learning Academy — motto, address, programs, impact metrics
  2. Admissions | Life Learning Academy — call/tour/interview process, year-round starts
  3. Mission and History | Life Learning Academy — 1998 founding, Delancey Street model
  4. Academics | Life Learning Academy — class size, project-based learning, individualized plans, theatre
  5. Workforce Development | Life Learning Academy — Culinary Academy, Carpenters Union pre-apprenticeship, employer partners, paid summer jobs
  6. On-Campus Housing | Life Learning Academy — dormitory capacity and opening
  7. NCES Common Core of Data (2024-25) — enrollment, student:teacher ratio, % students of color
  8. SFMTA — 25 Treasure Island — transit access

Last reviewed July 2026