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About

We Are SD

Rooted for the Future

San Domenico is an independent K–12 day and boarding school on 515 acres in Marin County — and one of the most distinctive learning environments in California.

Founded in 1850 by the Dominican Sisters, we are California's oldest independent school. That heritage isn't just history. It's the reason we've spent more than 175 years asking the same essential question: how do we prepare our students for their future?

Our answer is a values-based education — one that develops students who are both good and great. Ethical and accomplished. Grounded and ambitious. 

We achieve this by celebrating innovation in the classroom, ensuring that our academic and extracurricular programs meet the needs of all our students. At the same time, we believe certain enduring principles—integrity, kindness, ethical decision-making, and treating people with dignity and respect—remain permanently relevant in an otherwise changing world. 

Our culture of excellence pairs academic achievement with finding joy in helping others. When students connect deep thinking and learning with a desire to engage meaningfully with the world around them—striving not only for greatness, but also for goodness—they begin to realize their fullest potential as the leaders of tomorrow.

In a world no one can predict, the students who thrive are the ones who are curious, engaged, and unafraid to try. These are the students who are rooted for the future.

A Framework for Learning

At the heart of a San Domenico education are four core values that have guided SD for generations: Study, Reflection, Community, and Service. They are the framework through which students develop a sense of who they are, what they believe, and how they want to move through the world.

When students have that kind of grounding, something remarkable happens: they become genuinely curious. They take initiative. They try things they've never tried before. Not because they're required to, but because they want to. That intrinsic desire to explore and grow is what we cultivate in the classroom, on stage, and on the field.

Holi celebration 2024

Students in the IDC look at blueprints

A community that sees who you are — and who you're becoming.

San Domenico draws students from across the Bay Area and around the world, and yet families consistently describe it as a place that feels familiar in the best possible way. Teachers know their students as individuals: their curiosity, their hesitations, their potential.

That sense of being known—really known—is what allows students to take risks. To raise their hand with a half-formed idea. To try a sport they've never played, sign up for a class that challenges them, step into a leadership role before they feel ready.

Teaching at SD

Inquiry and Innovation

SD students embrace a scholarly mindset, preparing them to pursue their goals with confidence. 

As students grow, so too does our curriculum. Our Lower School students build a strong foundation by mastering fundamental skills and fostering their love for learning. Middle School students are further challenged with rigorous mathematics and language arts courses that prepare them for high school. When they reach Upper School, our students gain access to a variety of cutting-edge signature programs, including the Interdisciplinary Design and Creation (IDC) Program, Game Design Academy, and Social Entrepreneurship, not to mention an impressive array of AP and Honors courses.

At every grade level, our K-12 student experience is imbued with experiential learning, innovative assignments, and deep inquiry—all designed to challenge students to think outside the box and excel in a rapidly changing world.
 

Academics

Thanksgiving food drive - loading the crates

Service as Leadership

At San Domenico, service learning is woven into the student journey from kindergarten through 12th grade. Students do not simply complete service projects; they explore real world issues, investigate causes and solutions, reflect on their responsibilities to others, and take meaningful action connected directly to their learning. As students grow, so does the depth of their engagement: Lower School students build awareness and empathy; Middle School students develop understanding and agency, and Upper School students increasingly design, lead, and sustain initiatives of their own.

The culmination of the Upper School service curriculum is the Real Opportunities for Service Education (ROSE) Project. In completing this graduation requirement, students explore real-world issues through academic inquiry, reflect on personal meaning, and take action with compassion and purpose. By sharing their work with peers, faculty, and families, they strengthen community bonds and demonstrate what it means to be informed, engaged, and empowered student leaders.

Student Dance Concert

Create something new.

San Domenico is proud to have one of the most extensive and innovative Visual and Performing Arts programs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Whether submitting films to Sundance, honing photography skills in the studio, staging a performance in the Hall of the Arts, or studying in our world-renowned Virtuoso Program for professional-track classical string musicians, there are no boundaries to explore your creative passions.

Arts at SD

Boarding students

SD Boarding: 515 Acres to Call Home

Welcoming 140 students from the Bay Area and around the globe, our boarding program differentiates SD as one of the most diverse and international high schools in the Bay Area. With students from 20+ countries enriching our community, meaningful discussions and connections naturally unfold. On a daily basis, formal classroom discussions and casual social interactions change the way our students see the world.

Boarding students take full advantage of what campus offers—whether spending time after dinner in our Visual Arts studio, taking a dip in the pool after basketball practice, or tackling the 20 miles of hiking and biking trails surrounding our campus.

Lifelong friendships and day-to-day camaraderie naturally develop when students live in community and experience on-campus activities and engaging weekend trips with trusted residential staff as their mentors and guides.

Boarding Program

SD Sports

It’s a great time to be a Panther.

We believe the athletic playing field is an extension of the classroom—an environment where many of life’s important skills are learned and refined. Whether at practice or the big game, our coaches are committed to the Double-Goal Philosophy, which holds that “winning is important, but teaching life lessons through athletics is most important.”

Our student-athletes have access to some of the best coaches in California, all of whom have either coached or played at the collegiate level. Coaching accolades include Positive Coaching Alliance Double Gold Standard, three state championships, and nine BCL league championships.

Athletics