San Francisco Waldorf
“We Go Beyond”
AKA: SF WaldorfWest PortalIndependent
San Francisco Waldorf High School
“We Go Beyond”
AKA: SF WaldorfWest PortalIndependent
- Students
- ~160
- Ratio
- 7:1
- Tuition
- $59k
Base tuition as published for 2026–27.
Admissions
- Applications open
- Late August
- Application due
- Beginning of January
- Decisions released
- Mid-to-late March
- Enrollment
- ~160
- Student:teacher
- 7:1est.
- Base tuition
- $59,400
- 2026–27 school year
- Real cost
- $60k
- Flexible tuition
- ~40%
What makes this school special
- Every day opens with a 105-minute "Main Lesson": one subject, studied deeply, rotating in multi-week blocks
- Arts are required all four years, from studio and practical arts to music and theater
- Phones get handed in each morning; technology is used deliberately, not by default
- Small (about 40 per grade), with overnight trips and outdoor education built into every year
- College prep without the arms race, and a calmer on-ramp for kids who learn by making
Academics
Curriculum
Waldorf pedagogy — main-lesson blocks, arts-integrated
World languages
Spanish, Mandarin
Schedule
Main Lesson blocks
Signature programs
- Senior project or senior class play
- Global exchange program (semester abroad)
- Outdoor class trips and Senior Quest
- Practical arts (woodworking, bookbinding, glasswork)
- 80-hour community service requirement
College matriculation
Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, Amherst, Bowdoin, Brandeis, Cornell, Georgetown, NYU, Northeastern, Oberlin, Occidental, Reed, Tufts
See the full listAthletics, arts & activities
Athletics · Bay Counties League (BCL Central) / CIF NCS
BaseballBasketballCross CountrySoccerVolleyball
Arts
EurythmyMusicTheaterVisual ArtPaintingWoodworkingBookbinding
Clubs & activities · 19+
BeekeepingBook ClubChess ClubEnvironmental ClubFilm ClubHS DemocratsLiterary MagazineMath ClubModel UNOutdoor ClubSocial JusticeYearbookBlack Student UnionGender Sexuality AllianceAsian American-Pacific Islander Affinity GroupNeurodiversity Affinity Group
See all clubsLife there
Tuition includes
- Materials
- Books
- Field trips
- Athletics
Learning support
Tiered learning support — study skills, executive-function coaching, accommodations
Notable alumni
- Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (writer and activist)
Often on the same list
Sources
- SF Waldorf — Home — motto, logo
- SFWHS School Profile — enrollment, diversity, curriculum, languages, schedule, exchange, matriculation
- Affording SFWS — tuition, what's included, athletics
- Admissions Process — deadlines, requirements, test policy, email
- High School 9-12 — academic model, signature programs
- Student Life — clubs, arts
- Athletics — sports, league
- Learning Support Services — learning support
- Wikipedia — San Francisco Waldorf School — history, neighborhood
- SFMTA — West Portal Station — transit
- California I-Bank Staff Report, Resolution 16-03 (2016) — high-school student:teacher ratio ("a 7:1 ratio in the high school")
- Notable alumni — Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (Wikipedia)
Last reviewed July 2026