The Urban School of San Francisco

The Urban School of San Francisco is a non-sectarian independent day school serving between 300 and 500 high school students in San Francisco, California. Small enrollment keeps faculty visible across all four years of a student's time there. The school's mission is direct: ignite a passion for learning and help students become self-motivated participants in their own education.

Teaching at Urban looks different from a conventional high school. Classes run discussion-heavy and project-based, with student agency driving the work. Faculty draw thinking out of students rather than deliver content to them. That approach suits teachers who are comfortable following a conversation somewhere unscripted.

Because Urban is a day school, the role stays on campus — no dorm duties, no mandatory evening supervision. That boundary matters in San Francisco, where teacher salaries compete against some of the highest rents in the country. Candidates should ask directly about salary bands, health and dental benefits, and professional development funding, since compensation carries real weight in this market.

Financially, the school shows strong institutional backing. In fiscal year 2023, the Urban School of San Francisco reported nearly $31 million in revenue and net assets close to $59 million. Fundraising grew by roughly 65 percent that year — a sign that resources for faculty and programming are expanding.

Open faculty positions span core academic departments, including language roles in Mandarin, French, and Spanish, plus periodic administrative and student-support openings. The school's ranking trajectory is currently classified as flourishing, a useful signal for anyone weighing a long-term teaching career in the Bay Area.