Leadership High School

Leadership High School is a small public charter high school located in San Francisco offering a college preparatory program. Leadership High School was founded by Mr. Mark Kushner in 1997. Kushner served as principal from 1997 until his position changed to Executive Director and Founder in 2001.

Kushner now serves as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Leadership Public Schools (LPS). Though LPS shares a name similar to that of Leadership High School and are often confused with each other, they are completely separate entities.

Kushner was succeeded by Mr. Gregory Peters, who now serves as co-principal with Ms. Elizabeth Rood.

The mission of Leadership High School is to serve San Francisco and its diverse students by providing a rigorous education with personal attention and developing effective community leaders. Their vision includes working to close the achievement gap for all students as they strive to demonstrate mastery of four School Wide Outcomes: communication, critical thinking, personal responsibility and social responsibility.

On January 1, 2007 Leadership High School relocated from its location at 300 Seneca Avenue (the old San Miguel Elementary School building) to 400 Mansell Street, where it is housed on the first floor of Phillip & Sala Burton High School. Despite strong opposition and appeals to the SFUSD, the decision is considered final. The decision was made as the school's old site was unsafe from earthquakes and not ADA compliant. This is the second move in the school's ten year history. Leadership relocated to 300 Seneca Avenue from 536 Mission Street, where it was housed on the campus of Golden Gate University. [http://san-francisco-school-board-notes.greatschools.net/2006/11/school_board_no.html]

Leadership High School is trying to move out of the Phillip and Sala Burton High School buildind, and requesting they move to the 3rd floor and half the 2nd floor of James Denman Middle School, however Denman Midlle School staff members and families are trying to keep Leadership out of their campus.

Curriculum

The school offers a college-preparatory curriculum that prepares students for eligibility at competitive four-year universities. All graduates from LHS are eligible for the University of California and California State University systems.

One hallmark of the school is its Advisory curriculum. Each year, students answer an essential question through a portfolio and exhibition. For example, the senior essential question is, "How can I best lead?" Students must present a portfolio of their growth and mastery of the school-wide outcomes. In addition, they complete an exhibition to demonstrate their ability to be a leader in their community. After all, graduates of LHS are leaders working to interrupt patterns of inequity in their communities.

Another important aspect of the school's curriculum is that students take a two-year sequence in Leadership. In the freshman year, the focus is on developing a student's self-awareness and leadership style. In the sophomore year, the focus is on learning about challenges to social justice, like racism, sexism, classism, and heterosexism.

ee also

*San Francisco County high schools

External links

* [http://www.leadershiphigh.org Leadership High School - official website]
* [http://portal.sfusd.edu/template/default.cfm?page=hs.leadership SFUSD portal page]