Creative Arts Charter School

My son went to this school for K and for the first half of 1^st grade. Unfortunately, he had behavior/​learning disabilities that CACS could not handle. They handled the situation with grace, with decorum and with sensitivity. The day before my son was to start his ‘new’ school, his wonderful teacher had set up a surprise party and not only that, all the kids had written good bye notes and the teacher had pasted them all in a blank journal alongside pictures of the kids, in hopes that Creative Arts Charter would bring up positive memories for my son– and it worked. Great school. But, pre-​warned, if your child has a severe LD or an emotional problem, CACS just doesn’t have the resources for educating children with these issues.

Five stars, no hesitation. My daughter, now in 5^th grade, has been at CACS since day 1 of kindergarten after I spent the summer of 2009 calling the school office every few days to check her progress on the waiting list. (Charter school admissions are processed separately from the SFUSD lottery.) We had received (won?) our first choice request school in the SF school lottery, but I just knew CACS was the right place for her. At that time, the school was made up of dedicated parents, concerned administrators and stellar local-​hero arts teachers reeling from recent mediocre standardized test scores, looking at a pending change in direction, and being threatened with relocation by SFUSD. Nonetheless, the vibe was what it was and I was thrilled when we got in a week before school started.
Since, CACS has become a California Distinguished School. The campus site is now permanent. After 6 years, my daughter’s K/​1^st grade teacher and 2^nd/​3^rd grade teacher greet us in the hall every day. The superstar music teacher-​guru is still there. About 40% of her classmates have been with her since kindergarten-​remarkable for an urban elementary. If you include the other fifth grade class, retention rates go up to 60+ percent, I think. Families who gave up on raising kids in SF and moved to Marin County or Berkeley (or Ibiza – no lie!) still meet us at Alamo Square and GGP for playdates and attend school functions.
My son, currently enrolled in the lower grades, has been a little more high-​maintenance for all of us and the staff has been great with that. The fact that he has never been bullied or really even teased is a testament to the success of the school’s Responsive Classroom approach to conflict prevention and classroom management.
My daughter refuses to consider the idea of attending middle school elsewhere, and an unofficial poll of her classmates’ parents confirms that the old-​timers plan to remain for middle school. CACS students regularly matriculate into SOTA, Lowell and various private SF high schools – including the two daughters of my daughter’s current teacher, who are SOTA graduates.
I could go on, but in summary I feel that her school experience has played a great part in shaping my daughter’s conscientious and considerate, positive and tolerant character. I’m glad she’s happy, and she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

I have a 3^rd grader and a 7^th grader at CACS. This is our 4^th year here. I have been really pleased with Creative Arts and their commitment to providing engaging curriculum. When I have concerns, they are taken seriously and my children come home happy everyday. There are lots of engaging field trips that tie into the curriculum. The teachers really care about their students and strive to meet them where they are at. The project-​based approach is so much more engaging for the kids. Overall this has been a great place for our family.

We are thrilled with the arts-​integrated education @ CACS. The kids are learning and thriving in a non-​teach-​to-​the-​test environment. Arts — dance, music, visual arts — are integrated into classroom curriculum (e.g., kindergarten math patterning with visual shape patterning). The students take the same state-​level academic tests as SFUSD students, and the CACS students numbers show that the system works.
CACS is a California Distinguished School — which shows in so many ways.
Teachers and staff are open and accessible, and conversant in the arts-​integrated approach and methodology. The community is as varied as San Francisco’s population — and the school is continually reaching out to additional communities for engagement and enrolllment.
Centrally located (near Alamo Square). Free (public, and non-​profit 501c3). Equally academically challenging and supportive.

This school has potential; yet, one thing is lacking. There is a person there with a great deal of responsibility for the direction of the campus. The problem is that this person has a gruff exterior and a sky high ego. This person should not be in the position there in for a number of reasons. If I were to send my child there I would be cautious because the school needs someone who is caring and concerned, loving and sincere about children without coming off as a person who is an uncool Fonz from Happy Days.

We are an incoming Middle School family, who started six months ago. This school was our child’s first choice and initially we had some concerns. We could not be happier, the staff and teachers are fantastic and they really know our child. The teaching is project based and the projects are phenomenal. Our child LOVES going to school and has made great, supportive friends. If your child has a lot of extra curricular activities, the academic level is perfect. The creative and academic balance is ideal. They start and end their day with their advisor and that has been an organizational success for us. We could not be happier and we feel VERY fortunate to be at CACS. Thank you!

We actually left the school after a few years (left in 2009 I believe?), it kinda took a turn for the worse… I do know people who are still very happy there; I think the community has turned around the turnaround… YMMV.

My daughter is in 7^th grade and has been there since Kindergarden. The school, teachers, parents, and kids have heart.
The middle school is great; low key in terms of ‘middle school drama’ and a comfortable place for a young person to go through those awkward years. My daughter has been academically challenged and supported. She’s had great teachers, great experiences with after-​care, and a well rounded curriculum, including full time PE teacher, music, theater, art and dance. And multiple sports teams with the ever terrific Maria Jenerik to boot.
There was a rough patch in the administration a couple of years back, but it is not only smoothed over, but made the school an even better place today.
I couldn’t be happier that we’ve been at CACS all these years. CACS, we love you.

Room to improve.

I highly recommend Creative Arts Charter School in San Francisco. My kid started there as a Kindergartner and we’re very happy there. It’s the best school.
They’re a K-​8 school and because they’re a charter school, they are able to keep their art, music, and dance classes with the regular standard academic classes, and the students really enjoy going to school. (Whenever my 6 year old gets sick, he used to cry but now just gets sad because he’ll miss school.)
The school is sort of like a small community and many of the kids know each other very well. The teachers nurture the children’s individual talents. They really understand that there’s not just one way to educate a child and they teach through hands-​on scientific experiments, explorations, illustrations, field trips, etcetera… The teachers are great. The school’s core value is great. There’s a lot of very expressive kids that come out of this school. It’s private-​school quality of teaching for public school price (free!). Getting in is by lottery, just like at other public schools.

We are K parents and wanted to add a review since it has been quite here a while.
We love the school. It is a
public (ie no tuition payments)
charter (run/​overseen independently of the USD while following general curriculum AND you apply separately and independently of SFUSD lottery) arts-​integrated (they still have music, art, and dance or theather as part of school and it’s budget)
School
Just recently, upper grades worked with a local artist to produce short films that were premiered at Lucas Arts :)
Many families are quite involved through creative, financial, time-​volunteering, or other means.
School follows «responsive classroom» for children’s emotional development, while embracing project based learning for academics.
If you are looking for a school that is broad-​based vs more academically focused, check out CACS.

This school has major problems and ireally is awful. It provides a really low level of education. It has a lot of safety issues. Uncontrollible kids, and teachers constanly leaving. My child suffered greatly from getting a poor education there and it took many months in the new school to catch up with the curriculum due to many things that were not taught at this school.
The Principal is very unsupportive and the overall environement is just
not very amiable at all. I would not recommend this school even if the other reviews «sound good.»