Katherine Delmar Burke School
| Katherine Delmar Burke School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
7070 California Street , , 94121 United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Motto | Educate, Encourage & Empower Girls |
| Established | 1908 |
| Founder | Katherine Delmar Burke |
| Head of school | Michele Williams |
| Grades | Kindergarten-Eighth grade |
| Gender | Girls |
| Enrollment | 400 (2020-2021) |
| Color(s) | Green and Gold |
| Mascot | Tree |
| Accreditation | CAIS,NAIS |
| Yearbook | Works & Days |
| Tuition | $41,000 (Lower School) $41,000 (Upper School) |
| Director of Upper School | Sheena Tart-Zelvin |
| Director of Lower School | Alice Moore |
| Director of Admissions | Natalie Mast |
| Athletic Director | Ashling Bryant |
| Website | http://www.kdbs.org |
Katherine Delmar Burke School, commonly known as Burke's,[1] is an independent girls' school for kindergarten through eighth grade, located in the Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States, near Lincoln Park. Until 1975 it also included a high school. It was founded in 1908 by Katherine Delmar Burke and was named Miss Burke's School. [2]
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. Originally it could have been a finishing school but the founder Katherine Delmar Burke wanted girls to be college ready.[3]
History
The school's first location in 1908 was at Steiner and Pacific Streets in Pacific Heights. 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 (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.[4][5][6]
For many years, Burke's was considered a pre-eminent school. With the parochial schools, it and Hamin's school were two of the only private schools in San Francisco in the early twentieth century. The school was nestled in Pacific Heights and the classes were small from the start. [7] The book San Francisco's Pacific Heights lists the different locations as the 1908 location being at Steiner and Pacific in a location now gone and then 2310 Broderick Street where the house had five rooms and there were eight-nine students. Eventually they outgrew the house and moved elsewhere.
The power structure of the school started with Katherine Delmar Burke's mother Elizabeth "Lizzie" Kennedy who was related to the Kennedy family and had run a school. The graduates of her school became part of the city's elite and formed a powerful network as would the Burke's alumnae in years to come.[8]
The school was called "Miss Burke's" as shown in a Works and Days yearbook at the San Francisco Library from the 1950s. [9] By the 1970s, it was called "Katherine Delmar Burke's" as shown in a cookbook made by the school "Katherine Delmar Burke's Complete Kitchen Works." [10]
In 1954 the seventh grade was located at 3065 Jackson and the tuition for grades 6 through 12 was $775, payable in two installments with fees for lab, P.E., and art supplies, according to the San Francisco Pacific Heights book.
An Irish newsletter mentioned "All Hail With Joyous Voices," a book by David Fleishhacker and how it shows the place in history that Burke's holds in San Francisco especially for getting young women college ready. [11] [12]
Notable alumnae
- Jean Afterman '75, Senior Vice President, Assistant General Manager, New York Yankees[13]
- Elizabeth Charleston, painter[14]
- Marjorie Eaton 1920, painter and actress[15]
- Jennifer Egan '76, novelist and journalist[16]
- Eileen Gu '17, freestyle skier
- Vendela Vida '85, novelist and editor[17]
- Ali Wong '96, comedian, writer and actress[18]
References
- ^ Pope, Denise; Brown, Maureen; Miles, Sarah (2015-07-27). Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids. John Wiley & Sons. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-119-02244-2.
- ^ https://sfpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S93C1788081
- ^ "Katherine Delmar Burke School | All-Girls K-8 School in San Francisco ~ History". Burke's. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
- ^ Tricia O'Brien, San Francisco's Pacific Heights And Presidio Heights (Arcadia Publishing, 2008), ISBN 978-0738559803, pp. 76-77. Excerpts available at Google Books.
- ^ Mark Anthony Wilson, Julia Morgan: Architect of Beauty (Gibbs Smith, 2012), ISBN 978-1423636540, pp. 65-66. Excerpts available at Google Books.
- ^ "History" Archived 2012-12-03 at the Wayback Machine at Katherine Delmar Burke School official website (accessed 29-11-2012).
- ^ https://www.google.com/books/edition/San_Francisco_s_Pacific_Heights_and_Pres/J8dEQubtnqYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=katherine+delmar+burke&printsec=frontcover
- ^ https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_the_San_Francisco_Bay_Region/rbQzAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=katherine+delmar+burke&pg=PA187&printsec=frontcover
- ^ https://sfpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S93C1788081
- ^ https://sfpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S93C3555753
- ^ http://www.ucdpress.ie/pdfs/09%20September%20SF%20Irish%20Herald%20review%20p18.pdf
- ^ https://sfpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S93C2532669
- ^ Sara Langs,“Afterman wins first Trailblazer of the Year Award”, Sports Illustrated, December 2, 2019
- ^ "Obituary -- Elizabeth Charleston", San Francisco Chronicle, April 11, 1997.
- ^ Staff (April 23, 1986). "Marjorie Eaton, Veteran Actress of Stage and Screen, P.A. Resident" (payment required). San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
- ^ "Burke's Alumna Jennifer Egan Wins Pulitzer" Archived 2013-04-15 at archive.today, Katherine Delmar Burke School official website, April 6, 2011.
- ^ Julian Guthrie, "Vendela Vida wraps trilogy on women in crisis", San Francisco Chronicle, July 6, 2010.
- ^ "The Inner World Of Ali Wong". digital.modernluxury.com. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
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