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Our 10 Best Private Elementary Schools in San Francisco
January 15, 2022

Give your kids a unique opportunity to learn by sending them to San Francisco private elementary schools that emphasize academic excellence and transparent value systems!

San Francisco private elementary schools provide a wide range of challenging academic programs which allow students to release their full potential. They offer a flourishing global education program and help students who are looking for a transformative educational experience. One of the core advantages is its cross-disciplinary curriculum, combining critical thinking and joint projects. With this, the students are challenged to think beyond the classroom walls and independently.

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We reviewed rankings for all private schools from the 2022 Best Private Elementary Schools in San Francisco released by school and neighborhood data clearinghouse Niche to identify the best San Francisco elementary schools. The rankings of private elementary schools in San Francisco below have been compiled based on several factors:

  • analysis of critical data from the U.S. Department of Education
  • average SAT and ACT scores
  • culture and diversity
  • student-teacher ratio
  • parent and student surveys
  • private school ratings collected from millions of Niche users
Best private elementary school in San Francisco - Convent & Stuart Hall
Photo by: Convent & Stuart Hall

1. Convent & Stuart Hall
2222 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone Number: (415) 563-2900

#3 in Best Catholic High Schools in San Francisco Bay Area

Overall Niche Grade: A+
Students: 1,975
Student-Teacher Ratio: 10:1
Yearly Tuition: $40,640

Convent & Stuart Hall believes in the unique power of educating girls and boys separately and together. The fundamental value in this paradoxical school structure is the lived experience of its students, as they see possibilities in themselves beyond social norms.

With an intentional suspension of the societal and cultural roles and behaviors assigned to boys or girls, the school environment provides a well-scaffolded framework for students to grow fully into all the dimensions of their being. In this context, girls and boys see themselves as physicists and authors, actors and athletes, thinkers and friends. For more information, please visit their website.

Private elementary schools in San Francisco - French American International Lower School
Photo by: French American International Lower School

2. French American International Lower School
1155 Page St., San Francisco, CA 94117
Phone Number: (415) 231-5733

#8 in Best Private K-12 Schools in San Francisco Bay Area

Overall Niche Grade: A+
Students: 1,067
Student-Teacher Ratio: 7:1
Yearly Tuition: $46,580

The well-planned pedagogical approach in the Maternelle is maintained and reinforced each year at French American and continues into Lower School. The curriculum continues in both English and French to make learning exciting and challenging while meeting the high standards of the U.S. and French educational systems.



Students begin Grade 1 with a great sense of resourcefulness and independence, thanks to their blossoming bilingualism and increased confidence and self-esteem. As children progress through Lower School, they begin to see themselves to others and think beyond their immediate emotional needs. They learn self-sufficiency as well as collaboration.

Students are encouraged to speak for themselves, express their thoughts and questions logically, and actively listen to their classmates and teachers. For more information, please visit their website.

Best private elementary schools in San Francisco - Lycée Français de San Francisco
Photo by: Lycée Français de San Francisco

3. Lycée Français de San Francisco
1201 Ortega St., San Francisco, CA 94122
Phone Number: (415) 661-5232

#10 in Best Private K-12 Schools in San Francisco Bay Area

Overall Niche Grade: A+
Students: 885
Student-Teacher Ratio: 10:1
Yearly Tuition: $30,510

Students at LFSF commit to respecting, valuing, and celebrating our students, teachers, staff, and families diversity and uniqueness and fostering equitable, safe, and inclusive learning and working experiences for all. By emphasizing intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and integrity, the Lycée Français de San Francisco prepares students to realize their potential and positively impact their world.

The division of learning into cycles in primary school helps recognize and respect the differences between students’ learning abilities and maturity. In Elementary school, priority is given to mastering reading and writing skills and mathematics through a systematic and progressive approach. Objectives are identified in the different subjects and broken down into skills and goals.

That is why Lycée Français de San Francisco is considered one of the best private elementary schools in the Bay City. For more information, please visit their website.

Private elementary school in San Francisco - San Francisco Christian School
Photo by: San Francisco Christian School

4. San Francisco Christian School
25 Whittier St., San Francisco, CA 94112
Phone Number: (415) 802-2851

#12 in Best Christian High Schools in San Francisco Bay Area

Overall Niche Grade: A-
Students: 240
Student-Teacher Ratio: 10:1
Yearly Tuition: $12,000

As one of the best private high schools in the Bay area, San Francisco Christian School offers Godly wisdom, wholesome family values, and world-class education to students from the Bay Area worldwide. From strong academics, including technology and the arts, to unusual extracurricular activities like the top-performing school choir in the area, SF Christian School offers something for every student.

They provide an accessible private education for elementary schools and welcome students of all backgrounds in San Francisco. All elementary students are instructed in Bible, reading, English, math, history, science, physical education, art, and music and are fully prepared to enroll in our middle school, into which they receive enrollment priority. For more information, please visit their website.

Best private elementary school in San Francisco - St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy
Photo by: St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy

5. St. John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy
6210 Geary Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94121
Phone Number: (415) 221-3484

Overall Niche Grade: A-
Students: 49
Student-Teacher Ratio: 5:1

St. John’s provides a unique environment in which the complete heritage of the Orthodox Church is combined with an outstanding Classical academic program, fully accredited to the longest possible tenure. It seeks not only to provide an education that exceeds national and state standards in core and different subjects but to do so in an environment focused on the growth of the whole person into the living tradition of the Church.



At St. John’s, they provide our students with the intellectual foundations necessary to engage critically with the world in which they live. The tools of analytical thought are established and honed, and children are given the confidence needed to express themselves in the modern world.

The students are motivated by their surroundings to aim for excellence in all their endeavors and acquire it through hard work, dedication, and a positive attitude. For more information, please visit their website.

Private elementary school in San Francisco - Donum Dei Classical Academy
Photo by: Donum Dei Classical Academy

6. Donum Dei Classical Academy
1550 Treat Ave., San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone Number: (415) 226-9504

Overall Niche Grade: A+
Students: 78
Student-Teacher Ratio: 5:1
Yearly Tuition: $19,500

Donum Dei Classical Academy is firmly rooted in its distinctly Christian community and employs the classical Christian education model. The Logic School at Donum Dei is a spiritually robust and academically rigorous program designed to inspire elementary school students. The Logic phase of classical education allows students to use reason to make sense of their knowledge and experiences.

Students begin to engage in Socratic discussions and debates, moving on from the songs and chants used as tools to commit knowledge to memory during the Grammar phase. Most importantly, they turn toward wonder about the things they are learning. They help guide students as they develop that sense of wonder and grow their ability to produce sound reasoning based on what they know of God’s truth. For more information, please visit their website.

Private elementary school in San Francisco - La Scuola International School
Photo by: La Scuola International School

7. La Scuola International School
3250 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone Number: (415) 551-0000

Overall Niche Grade: A+
Students: 301
Student-Teacher Ratio: 7:1
Yearly Tuition: $36,980

LSIS Elementary education is rooted in the International Baccalaureate™ Primary Years Program. This framework is used by over 5,000 schools worldwide to create a curriculum that facilitates broad student inquiry while ensuring that fundamental skills and concepts recur across subjects for students to make meaningful connections.

To encompass academic, social, personal, and physical learning, this approach requires extensive collaborative planning by teaching teams. The membership in this global community also connects La Scuola to schools in more than 150 countries around the world, opening up their students to a wide variety of people with diverse religious, cultural, and economic backgrounds and helping them to develop a deep respect for humanity and the world in which they live.

For more information, please visit their website.

The Hamlin School
Photo by: The Hamlin School

8. The Hamlin School
2120 Broadway, San Francisco. CA 94115
Phone Number: (415) 922-030

Overall Niche Grade: A
Students: 436
Student-Teacher Ratio: 6:1
Yearly Tuition: $39,450

Hamlin’s K-8 educational program aims to develop each student’s intellect, character, and citizenship to their highest potential. Passionate educators – architects of the student experience at Hamlin – design units of inquiry and study that inspire our students to be innovative thinkers, collaborators, and leaders who demonstrate compassion, courage, and integrity.

Hamlin girls are proud of their individual and collective achievements and embrace their failures as opportunities to deepen learning. Students value hard work and accept struggle and ambiguity as necessary parts of the learning process.

Students build confidence, tenacity, and resilience for their years at Hamlin by engaging in an intellectually demanding and stimulating academic program. For more information, please visit their website.

Cathedral School for Boys
Photo by: Cathedral School for Boys

9. Cathedral School for Boys
1275 Sacramento St., San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone Number: (415) 771-6600

Overall Niche Grade: A
Students: 266
Student-Teacher Ratio: 7:1
Yearly Tuition: $37,300

Considered as one of the best private elementary schools in San Francisco, Cathedral School for Boys provides an excellent education through intellectual inquiry and rigor centered in the Episcopal tradition and is respectful of and welcoming to people of all religious practices and beliefs. In the Lower School, learning is visible, and boys are stretched to think, explore, question, work, and play.

The institution is learning results in students learning and applying what it means to be a student, community member, and friend. Experience and research support their work and drive their innovations. On any given day in the Lower School, you will see classrooms filled with boys who are actively engaged in all aspects of learning, from good-morning handshakes and partner reading to coding robots and editing peer stories.

Cathedral School for Boys believes that the Lower School years are when childhood should be maintained and celebrated, and at the center of all they do is a dedication to understanding how boys learn best. For more information, please visit their website.

St. Brigid School
Photo by: St. Brigid School

10. St. Brigid School
50 Franklin St., San Francisco, CA 94109
Phone Number: (415) 673-4523

Overall Niche Grade: A
Students: 254
Student-Teacher Ratio: 19:1
Yearly Tuition:

In partnership with each family, educates and develops the whole child by nurturing each student’s spiritual, intellectual, social, and physical growth. With its strong religious and spiritual foundation, Saint Brigid School maintains the excellent traditions of its long history and challenges students to develop their full potential.

St. Brigid School strives to educate confident individuals who lead lives of purpose, fostering independent thought, integrity, analytical thinking, and an open-minded worldview. Along with an active parent community, they pride themselves in its students as they mature into dedicated family and community members. For more information, please visit their website.

One of the criteria that parents should consider in choosing the best school is its reputation in producing battle-ready students for future challenges in higher education. As parents, you know there is no better way to prepare your school-age kids for the future than to look for the best private elementary school in San Francisco.

Though some may consider sending their children to public schools since it is free, some parents strongly feel private education for their kids despite the substantial expense it entails. With the private elementary schools in San Francisco, you will indeed find the one which perfectly fits your child’s academic needs.

San Francisco offers so many opportunities for kids to enjoy and have fun all year round! Check out our list of resources, or browse through our things to do in San Francisco with kids. Still looking for more activities for kids in San Francisco? No problem! Check out our comprehensive listing of places to go in the region and our highly recommended education blog posts.

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