Katherine Delmar Burke School, commonly known as Burke's, is an independent

girls' school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

for kindergarten through eighth grade, located in the

Sea Cliff Seacliff or Sea Cliff or Sea Cliffe may refer to: ;Places ''Australia'' *Seacliff, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide *Seacliff Park, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide *Sea Cliff Bridge, in Illawarra, New South Wales ''New Zealand'' *Seacli ...

neighborhood of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States, near

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

. Until 1975 it also included a high school. It was founded in 1908 by Katherine Delmar Burke and was named Miss Burke's School. Burke's is one of three all-girl K-8 schools in San Francisco. The school is a member of the

California Association of Independent Schools California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

as well as the National Association of Independent Schools. Originally it could have been a finishing school but the founder Katherine Delmar Burke wanted girls to be college ready.

History

The school was founded in 1908 by Katherine Delmar Burke and was named Miss Burke's School. Instead of the traditional finishing school for girls, Burke had the goal of building a school that would provide college preparation for girls. The school's first location was at Steiner and Pacific Streets in

Pacific Heights Pacific Heights is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It has panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, the Palace of Fine Arts, Alcatraz, and the Presidio. The Pacific Heights Residents Association defines the neig ...

. It then relocated to a house at 2310 Broderick Street. In 1918, the growing school moved to a new building designed by architect

Julia Morgan Julia Morgan (January 20, 1872 – February 2, 1957) was an American architect and engineer. She designed more than 700 buildings in California during a long and prolific career.Erica Reder"Julia Morgan was a local in ''The New Fillmore'', 1 Febr ...

(a friend of Katherine Burke), located at 3065 Jackson Street. The school began acquiring property in Sea Cliff in 1929. At first, only the Kindergarten and First grade were located there. The rest of the property was used as a sports venue for the upper classes. There was a large grass sports field, basketball courts, and 5 tennis courts. In 1949, grades 2 through 6 were moved there after the completion of new classrooms. The high school and grades 7 and 8 remained at the Jackson St. building until 1975, when Burke's high school closed and the building was acquired by

San Francisco University High School San Francisco University High School is a private college preparatory high school located in San Francisco, California. The school was opened in 1975. Facilities and campus The school is made up of four buildings, commonly referred to as Upper, ...

. While once known as a finishing school where a school play made local headlines, Burke's in 2009 was cited in the Irish American newspaper the Herald that concluded, " urke'sinnovative work of preparing young girls to attend college is an important chapter in San Francisco’s history."

Notable alumnae

Ali Wong Alexandra Dawn Ali Wong (born April 19, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials ''Baby Cobra'' (2016), ''Hard Knock Wife'' (2018), and ''Don Wong'' (2022). She starred in the film ' ...

, comedian, writer and actress *

Eileen Gu Eileen Feng Gu (born September 3, 2003), also known by her Chinese name Gu Ailing ( zh, s=谷爱凌), is an American-born freestyle skier. She has competed for China in halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events since 2019. At age 18, Gu becam ...

, freestyle skier *

Elizabeth Charleston Elizabeth Charleston was a San Francisco native who painted impressionist flower and landscape paintings. Charleston began painting at the age of 50, while recovering from an automobile accident. Life and work Elizabeth Charleston was born in ...

, painter *

Jennifer Egan Jennifer Egan is an American novelist and short-story writer. Egan's novel ''A Visit from the Goon Squad'' won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. As of February 28, 2018, she is the Presiden ...

, novelist and journalist *

Marjorie Eaton Marjorie Lee Eaton (February 5, 1901 – April 21, 1986) was an American painter, photographer and character actress best known for physically portraying Emperor Palpatine in the original release of ''The Empire Strikes Back'', though her face ...

, painter and actress *

Vendela Vida Vendela Vida (born September 6, 1971) is an American novelist, journalist, editor, screenplay writer, and educator. She is the author of multiple books, has worked as a writing teacher, and is a founder and editor of '' The Believer'' magazine. ...

, novelist and editor

References

External links

Katherine Delmar Burke School official website
{{authority control Girls' schools in California Schools in San Francisco Private K–8 schools in California Richmond District, San Francisco Educational institutions established in 1908 1908 establishments in California