Welcome to Presidio Hill School.

Founded in 1918 by a poet and an artist, Presidio Hill is a K-8 co-educational independent school with an enrollment of 190 students.

We are the oldest continuously operating progressive school in California. Presidio Hill provides its students with an academically challenging, inclusive, multicultural education.

Our mission is to encourage students to question, evaluate and think creatively and independently.

3839 Washington Street
San Francisco CA 94118
415-751-9318
Fax 415-751-9334

Current Announcements

05/07/2009 - Scott Duyan Appointed as New Head of School of Presidio Hill

Presidio Hill School is delighted to announce that Scott Duyan will be the next head of school. He has been warmly welcomed by our community, and we look forward to his official arrival on July 1, 2009.

Scott has served as the head of Blue Oak School, an independent and progressive K-8 school in Napa, California, since it was founded in 2001. In building a school literally from the ground up – collaborating with architects and builders, creating a school ethos, hiring faculty and staff, developing a curriculum with teachers, setting policies, supporting professional development and evaluation systems, budgeting and fundraising, marketing and welcoming families – there is no area of running a school in which Scott does not have extensive hands-on experience.

The rest of Scott’s academic career is also impressive. Before coming to Blue Oak, he served most recently as lower school head of the Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon, a highly regarded independent progressive school, for thirteen years. He has served as the founding middle school principal at the American School in Japan in Tokyo as well as taught at the International School of Stavanger, Norway and the Inter-Community School of Zurich, Switzerland, giving Scott a very global perspective in this increasingly interdependent and collaborative world in which our children live. Scott holds his bachelor's degree from UCLA and a Master's degree from the University of Northern Colorado, and he has done additional post-graduate work in education at both UC Irvine and Lewis and Clark College.

It is not just his depth of academic and leadership experience that Scott brings to Presidio Hill School but also his deep progressive roots. He has a very strong commitment to diversity, stewardship of the environment, and social justice. He is a self-described lifelong learner, which is evidenced by his continually challenging himself as well as those around him to ask questions, be creative, and always strive to do one’s best. In support of his professional growth, he remains active in the Bay Area Independent School Heads Association (BAISHA) and the Progressive Education Network (PEN), the latter for which he serves on the national conference steering committee.

But equally if not most important, Scott is always motivated by what is best for the children – how they learn, what their interests are, what motivates them – and tries to provide them with the best learning environment possible. Part of that is creating a safe place for them, not just physically but emotionally and socially. Part of that is supporting a strong faculty and helping create a deeper curriculum. Part of that is continuing to educate the community about progressive pedagogy and how that brings out the best in our children.
For these reasons and many more, we are delighted that Scott has elected to join the Presidio Hill School community. We look forward to his tenure as our new head of school.

04/01/2009

10/30/2008 PHS is excited to welcome grandparents and special friends to our annual Grandparents and Special Friends Day on Friday, November 21, 2008.

8/13/2008 Presidio Hill School Board appoints Interim Director