Who Are Our Students?

Summerbridge Students

Day School Summerbridge serves 75 fifth and sixth graders and their families who come from neighborhoods throughout San Francisco, mostly from the Mission and Western Addition districts. Our students come from approximately 10 different public schools throughout San Francisco including John Muir, New Traditions, Tenderloin Community School, Marshall, Cobb and Alvarado. We collaborate with the schools by communicating with teachers, and strategically planning how we can best meet students’ needs. Traditionally, over 90% of our students are students of color, 75% of our students qualify for free lunch, 50% of our families speak a language other than English at home and 84% will be the first generation of their families to attend college.

Over 60 students apply every year for the 35 spots we have for rising fifth graders. They fill out a five-page application that includes an essay, a parent statement, and teacher recommendations. In their essays, applicants write about such topics as their hopes for the future, their family’s immigration, and why they want to become the next president. They tell us they want to be surgeons, veterinarians, teachers, professional athletes, and lawyers. Students are carefully selected based on their academics, motivation and recommendations prepared by their teachers, parents and principals. Our students are bright, engaged, and visionary, but would have limited educational opportunities without programs like Summerbridge.

We are currently recruiting our new class of students. If you or your child is in the fourth or fifth grade and would like to apply to Day School Summerbridge, please complete an application (PDF version, Word version) and return it to Summerbridge by March 14, 2008. We also have applications availabe in Spanish (PDF version, Word version). You can contact Heidi Erbe at (415) 568-3660 with questions or concerns.