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PROGRAMS
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PROGRAMS
PURS E YOUR PASSION INDEPENDENT STUDY
Students design original projects driven by curiosity and passion, developing the confidence to direct their own learning. Whether exploring a scientific challenge, investigating a social issue, creating original work, or diving deeply into a personal interest, students engage in rigorous inquiry while developing research, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Guided by faculty mentors, they learn to ask meaningful questions, navigate challenges, and produce work that reflects both intellectual growth and individual passion.
B ILD COMMUNITY SOCIAL IMPACT
The Social Impact Program challenges students to move beyond community service and see themselves as active participants in creating meaningful change. Through partnerships with local organizations and engagement with issues of equity and justice, students connect learning to action in tangible ways. They develop sustained projects rooted in empathy, collaboration, and advocacy while gaining a deeper understanding of the communities they serve and the impact they can have.
C LTIVATE CONNECTION RESPONSIVE EDUCATION
Students engage with questions of identity, belonging, wellness, leadership, and social responsibility as part of their everyday learning experience. Through courses, community experiences, and immersive REd Days across San Francisco, students develop self-awareness, build meaningful relationships, and explore diverse perspectives. Responsive Education helps students strengthen their sense of purpose, deepen their understanding of others, and learn how to engage thoughtfully, compassionately, and responsibly with the world around them.
LEAD WITH P RPOSE BREAKTHROUGH SUMMERBRIDGE
Founded at UHS in 1978, Breakthrough Summerbridge is an award-winning academic enrichment and advocacy program for middle school students that reflects the school’s longstanding commitment to educational equity and public purpose. UHS students serve as teachers, mentors, and leaders, working alongside younger students to build confidence, curiosity, and academic skills. Through meaningful relationships and hands-on leadership, they experience firsthand how education can create opportunity, strengthen communities, and inspire lasting change.
EXPAND YO R PERSPECTIVE CIVILIZATION AND THE ARTS In this signature sophomore experience, students explore the relationship between art, music, and history through an interdisciplinary lens, studying how cultures express themselves across time and place. Learning extends beyond the classroom into museums, galleries, and performance spaces across San Francisco, where students encounter diverse forms of cultural expression. Through research, writing, analysis, and creative engagement, students learn to interpret the world with nuance and curiosity while examining how artistic expression shapes and reflects human history and culture.