0
Skip to Content
Brightworks
About Us
Our School
Our Story
BWX Video
Our Staff
In the Press
Our Location
Our Board
Our Nonprofit
Employment
Contact
How We Learn
How We Learn
How We Learn
The Arc
Early Elementary
Elementary
Middle School
High School
Aftercare
Join Us
Get Started
Rolling Admissions
Tuition & Aid
Upcoming Events
Self-Guided Open House
Admissions Process
Our Community
Updates
Calendar
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Before & Aftercare
Parent Involvement
Support Us
Donate
Annual Fund 2024
Human Library
Brightworks
About Us
Our School
Our Story
BWX Video
Our Staff
In the Press
Our Location
Our Board
Our Nonprofit
Employment
Contact
How We Learn
How We Learn
How We Learn
The Arc
Early Elementary
Elementary
Middle School
High School
Aftercare
Join Us
Get Started
Rolling Admissions
Tuition & Aid
Upcoming Events
Self-Guided Open House
Admissions Process
Our Community
Updates
Calendar
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Before & Aftercare
Parent Involvement
Support Us
Donate
Annual Fund 2024
Human Library
Folder: About Us
Back
Our School
Our Story
BWX Video
Our Staff
In the Press
Our Location
Our Board
Our Nonprofit
Employment
Contact
Folder: How We Learn
Back
How We Learn
How We Learn
The Arc
Early Elementary
Elementary
Middle School
High School
Aftercare
Folder: Join Us
Back
Get Started
Rolling Admissions
Tuition & Aid
Upcoming Events
Self-Guided Open House
Admissions Process
Folder: Our Community
Back
Updates
Calendar
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Before & Aftercare
Parent Involvement
Folder: Support Us
Back
Donate
Annual Fund 2024
Human Library

Brightworks Blog

Brightworks is a flurry of activity and we are thrilled to share peeks into the lives of the students, our school and the community.

Featured
Gender Expression & Expansiveness
Gender Expression & Expansiveness
Read More →
Immersive Multi Day Event
Immersive Multi Day Event
Read More →
Earth Day Clean-Up
Earth Day Clean-Up
Read More →
May: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Read More →
Planning for Next Year
Planning for Next Year
Read More →
Mixed-age Classes
Mixed-age Classes
Read More →
Reimagining Education to Honor Children and Childhood
Reimagining Education to Honor Children and Childhood
Read More →
Spring Gathering & Updates from Leadership
Spring Gathering & Updates from Leadership
Read More →
How do we measure success?
How do we measure success?
Read More →
Spring Celebrations
Spring Celebrations
Read More →
Brightworks School Receives Historic $10 Million Gift
Brightworks School Receives Historic $10 Million Gift
Read More →
Break and Build Recap
Break and Build Recap
Read More →
Happy Black History / Black Futures Month
Happy Black History / Black Futures Month
Read More →
Brightworks ABC’s
Brightworks ABC’s
Read More →
Spreading Love, Peace and Hope
Spreading Love, Peace and Hope
Read More →

Follow along on social media too!

We kicked off Pride Month by inviting Drag Queen, storyteller and author Lil Miss Hot Mess, @lilmisshotmess to read from her own work! And our kids loved it! 

Take a peak at these cute snippets and see what this playful and imaginary approach can do
We love to see our middle schoolers providing support to our elementary students in a joint effort to share about their current project work! And we are very excited to see these kind of cross age interactions being so beneficial to all participants!
What is happening around Gever's desk? 

Take a look at these snippets and imagine the rich culture of learning we work to cultivate on a daily basis! 

At the heart of our teaching philosophy is the belief that developing students' agency is vital t
When our Middle Schoolers go camping they always return with an epic experience! 

This time they visited Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and The Robert Ferguson Observatory for some night time star gazing, studies of native & indigenous plants, memor
This majestic visitor was spotted right in our parking lot this afternoon— a reminder that at Brightworks, nature isn’t a field trip, it’s our everyday backdrop.

Nestled in the heart of the Presidio, Brightworks students explore tr
We are on Fire! Today was our first day of a two-day, all-school workshop with @audiopharmacy ! These snippets only show the beginning of today! Stay tuned for more to come!

By elevating the meaning, sound and purpose of Hip Hop, Audiopharmacy are p
We celebrated Earth Day with a good clean up around our school! 
Our Student Government organized it all and sent groups of students out to collect garbage around our buildings and into The Presidio! And along the way these kids knew how to celebrate
brightworks Melissa Nocero 3/4/18 brightworks Melissa Nocero 3/4/18

Exploring Neighborhoods and Enjoying Some Food

 We began our exploration of neighborhoods and streets with an exercise in mental mapping. Working step by step, we drew from memory the streets radiating out from our homes, then layering on information including street names, homes of those we know, businesses, green spaces, and stop signs. Throughout the activity, we began to recognize what it is we find special and valuable about the neighborhoods we live in. We finished off the activity by thinking about a memory we experienced in a location somewhere on the map we had just drawn, such as where we learned to ride a bike, where we witnessed a car accident, or where a friend who has moved away once lived, and illustrated the memory within our maps.Thinking about our iconic hilly streets of San Francisco, we launched an exploration of grade (also referred to as slope). We took to the streets of nearby Potrero Hill with levels and measuring tapes in hand to record the rise and run of a number of streets in order to calculate the grade. Calculating the grade of a street requires the understanding of a number of math concepts and skills including rise and run, division, decimals, and percentages. Using the data collected and the calculated grades of the streets, the students later worked with Rich on graphing their slopes and changes in slopes, before moving onto replicating streets with 3D cardboard models.In an effort to get to know neighborhoods in San Francisco we might not spend much time in but have been major players in our iconic history, we walked over 6 miles from the Ferry Building to Ghirardelli Square, up Hyde and down Lombard, through North Beach, Chinatown, Union Square, and to the Old Mint to bus back to Brightworks. We discovered a number of connections to history through food, especially our famous San Francisco sourdough and it's starter, along with the names of neighborhoods such as North Beach having actually been a beach on the north end of the city.Taking a bit of food history home with us from our walk through Fisherman's Wharf and North Beach, we researched the history of cioppino, a tomato-based seafood stew that was invented by the San Francisco Italian fishermen of North Beach in the late 1800s using whatever seafood was left over from the day's catch, before learning to cook it. Connecting the San Francisco food traditions, we soaked up the broth of our cioppino with San Francisco sourdough.We rounded out our week of neighborhood exploration with an exercise known as "Question Formulation Technique" to prepare us for our neighborhoods and community creative project using the Glowforge laser cutter. Using the prompt, "We desire to live in neighborhoods that fulfill our needs and wants," the students worked in groups to brainstorm as many questions as they could that will provide them with answers that will inform their designs. They will individually be narrowing down this list to three driving questions to guide their designs of a neighborhood layout, community building or resource.We also invite you to follow us on our exploration of 'City' on our new Google Site.

Read More

About Us

Our School
Our Staff
Our Blog
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Tinkering School
Contact
Staff Log In

Admissions

Apply Now
Admissions Process
Upcoming Events

Our Program

How We Learn
The Arc
Project-Based Curriculum

Get In Touch: 682 Schofield Road, San Francisco CA 94129 // (415) 701-8700 // Office Hours: 8am-6pm // School Hours: 9:15am-3:30pm (MTThF); 2:30 (W)

Brightworks is an innovative K-12 project-based school and a project of the Institute for Applied Tinkering, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Brightworks holds diversity of opinion, lifestyle, ethnic origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and race to be the cornerstone of our school community. Brightworks does not discriminate in its services, programs, or admissions on any of those above criteria.

(c) 2025

Founding Member of the Innovative Schools Cooperative