Cathedral School For Boys

CSB is THE BEST!!! We cannot say enough great things about the school. The school views each student as an individual and worked to tailor an educational program that complimented their strengths and developed the areas where they needed assistance. The faculty and staff are skilled and communicative and they work as a unit to assess each boy's progress...and also work with parents on a plan should any issues bubble up. The school emphasizes developing the whole child, which in addition to academics includes music, art, athletics, and spirituality. At the end of the day, the graduating 8th graders are, almost to a person, engaging and communicative young men who can advocate for themselves. This is an invaluable skill as they enter high school. This year, the boys had a phenomenal acceptance rate at both local and boarding schools which reflects their preparation and the desire of schools to have "Cathedral Boys" who are kind, curious, and eager to grow as not only individuals but also contributors and leaders to their communities and beyond.

Full disclosure: I am a current parent and employee of Cathedral School for Boys. That said, sending my sons to Cathedral is probably the best decision my husband and I ever made several years back. In Cathedral we have a true partner in raising my sons. The School has given them an outstanding academic education and has shaped them into boys of strong character. As we looked for a school, these were the most important attributes. With every passing interaction with our sons` teachers, every parent-teacher conference, every performance, every portfolio of work, every impromptu email from a teacher about something that happened over the course of the day, and every nightly conversation at the dinner table, we have been affirmed in our decision.From the administration to each of their teachers; I know that my sons are seen, appreciated, and challenged as exactly they need. The result is boys who are confident in who they are and their abilities, who are excellent readers and writers, and think critically about the world. They have strong convictions; they understand right from wrong, and are eager to make the world a better place. At Cathedral my sons have the opportunity to be artists, performers, athletes, and be in service to others. Our sons now push my husband and me to be better people. I know this may sound heavy-handed, but they are genuinely so proud to be Cathedral boys and they wear their uniforms with enthusiasm. While you may expect me to be biased in my love for the school, my sons` experiences are hardly my only testament to the strength of the school. As someone who works at Cathedral, I see it every day as the boys greet me, hold the doors for me, talk about what`s happening in their lives, and most of all, in the classroom. When people hear that I work for Cathedral or hear that my sons attend Cathedral, they tell me stories about the extraordinary Cathedral boys or alumni they have encountered in their lives. Cathedral boys are known to be good people, and that reputation made a huge impact on our choice to send our boys to Cathedral because that is what we wanted for our sons as well. I love that when someone hears my sons go to Cathedral, they automatically assume that they are of strong character, too.Some people have questions about Cathedral's Episcopal identity. Chapel has been an unexpectedly wonderful part of the school. Gathering three times a week brings our entire community together. Whether one is religious or not (we are the latter) the time spent is about focusing on community. We come together in the extraordinary Grace Cathedral, listen to one another about the lessons of life, learn about the many religions celebrated by our community members, and sing together. Parents are welcome to join and it makes our community that much closer. My sons have grown to love the Lower School and Upper School Chapels because they have a chance to explore ideas, hear from their peers, and formulate their own ideas, and then lead.While some people have misconceptions about all-boys schools, my experience has been just the opposite. Cathedral is a school full of faculty members who understand boys, who know how to motivate and challenge boys. Cathedral faculty members know that there is not one way to be a boy, but as many ways to be a boy as there are boys at Cathedral. Rather than confining the boys to a singular idea of masculinity, Cathedral faculty members allow the boys to redefine ideas about masculinity. My sons are some of the biggest feminists that I know!Cathedral School for Boys is shaping my sons into individuals of excellent academic ability, stellar character, who are a whole lot of fun. I could not have asked for a better school for my sons. While it`s absolutely a financial sacrifice for my husband and I to send our sons to Cathedral, I can`t think of a more important and better investment in the future of my family.

Our two sons attend Cathedral, and it has been an amazing experience for them and for our family. Academics are top-notch. Yet, the school's commitment to character development is equally impressive. At a time when many schools in SF work hard to appeal to parent egos, it has been refreshing to be at a place that really approaches education with the right set of values.

Cathedral was one of numerous San Francisco middle schools we considered for our son. While we never envisioned sending him to an all-boys school with formalities such as ties and blazers, we were completely won over by two things: 1) CSB's sincere commitment to raising well-rounded, socially responsible young men, and 2) an outstanding level of active student participation in classrooms.Since taking that initial tour, our family's experience-from the application process to distance-learning to on-campus classes with exhaustive Covid precautions-we genuinely couldn`t be more pleased with CSB. The school and it's tight-knit community of teachers, faculty, and families has proved every bit as welcoming, thoughtful, and engaging as we had hoped. Our son is shy and knew only one other boy at the school, so it was no small thing when he instantly took to CSB, quickly declaring it "an amazing school." On more than one occasion, we've thought to ourselves: Ahh, this is what a school can be given the proper resources and commitment.

Coming into Cathedral "mid-stream" in the 5th grade, I anticipated numerous challenges for our son and for our family after being entrenched for nearly a decade at another school. But Cathedral embraced us from the get-go that first day, and the community welcomed us in at face value. Our son was embraced for who he is, allowed to be himself while exploring new opportunities, from sports to the arts to service projects to taking moments that called him to pause and reflect. Cathedral creates a deliberate and thoughtful path to rise to a higher standard of self, and our son has grown by leaps and bounds in response.

My family's experience with Cathedral School for Boys has been extremely positive. Cathedral is a diverse school that really understands boys and how best to educate boys. The teachers and administration are all very committed to this. My son has always loved his teachers and from a parent perspective, I have always been so impressed with how well they know and support my son. Our son is very into sports and he participates in several of the school's sports which are very well run and provide a great balance between the power of good sportsmanship as well as being competitive. Cathedral offers great music and arts programs as well. The excellent academics, impressive teachers and administration and the close-knit school community are a few reasons we love the school.