BUILDING SUMMERS, SCHOOL YEARS, AND FUTURES TOGETHER
Our Mission
Horizons at San Francisco Friends School provides joyful academic and enrichment experiences that build on the strength and talents of students in San Francisco's public schools.
Our Vision
We envision educational equity facilitated by community relationships that foster students' confidence, curiosity, and capacity to thrive in school and beyond.
Why Summer Learning Loss Matters
Inequitable access to high-quality academic and enrichment opportunities in the summer substantially contributes to summer learning loss for students who attend San Francisco’s public schools.
Summer learning loss is a pressing issue caused by the ways our public school system fails our students. A 2016 study found that students lose between 25-30% of their school-year learning over the summer. Year over year, this results in cumulative “summer learning loss,” meaning students fall behind on reading and math skills over summer break. This can have long-term effects on students’ lives, with a 2007 study from Johns Hopkins suggesting summer learning loss may be responsible for up to two-thirds of the difference in academic achievement between lower and higher-income high schoolers.