Welcome, Urban Neighbors

Urban School of San Francisco was founded in 1966 on Washington Street and moved to its permanent home in the heart of Haight-Ashbury in 1977. Over the past 56 years, Urban has earned a national reputation as a leader in progressive education and as one of the Bay Area’s strongest independent schools. With approximately 420 students, we are a relatively small high school, but we support a rich program brought to life by exceptional faculty and a talented, engaged, and diverse student body.

A long-anticipated project: Performing Arts and Community Center (PACC)
As a proud citizen of this vibrant and creative neighborhood, Urban has always celebrated the arts and offered a rich program for our students. Nonetheless, our commitment to a tight, self-contained campus has limited us, particularly in the performing arts where our 90-seat theater has long been overwhelmed by our musicians, actors, and circus performers.  
 
Thanks to our decades-long partnership with St. Agnes Church, we have found a creative way to address our facilities challenges without any expansion beyond our current footprint in the neighborhood. Back in 2015, when the San Francisco Planning Department approved the academic and athletics building on Oak Street, it also approved the transformation of the St. Agnes gym on Page Street into a performing arts and community center. Embedded within the current boundaries of the existing building, and with new ADA pathways on either side, what was once a home to bouncing balls will serve as the centralized hub for Urban’s performing arts program, as well as a venue for other Urban community events.
 
We know this significant renovation project will cause disruption and inconvenience for our neighbors, and we are committed to an open line of communication to mitigate whatever impact we can. To that end, we invite you to begin by reading the FAQ section below. If you still have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Jenn Soult, the Director of Marketing and Communications at jsoult@urbanschool.org. Also, please be on the lookout on this page for regular updates from our general contractor, Cahill Construction, once work begins onsite.

Q & A - Performing Arts and Community Center

For neighbors with abutting properties:

Construction Updates

To receive timely email communications from Urban School about PACC construction updates, sign up below:

Email Sign-up

Working with Our Community
We are committed to keeping our community informed throughout the construction process and will post our construction schedule, special notices and Q&A on this page. We are available to answer your questions should any arise.

Please contact any of the following with your questions or concerns:

Weekend Construction Contacts

  • Lenny Charles
    Senior Superintendent
    C (415) 748-8585
     
  • Stephanie (Steffi) McNeill
    Assistant Project Manager
    C  (415) 530-9799
     
  • Katie McLelland
    Senior Project Manager
    C  (415) 680-4263