History Overview

Synergy School was founded as a teachers’ cooperative in 1973 by Russ Messing, Katherine Czesak, and Jill Goffstein Stocks in a building on Castro Street. There were 18 students in grades 1 through 6. The co-founders called the school “Synergy” to convey the idea that the collective effort of students, staff, teachers and parents would create something larger than the individuals themselves.

From the beginning, the founders developed a philosophy and approach to education based on the work of Alfred Adler that emphasized logical and natural consequences rather than reward and punishment.

In 1979 the school moved to Grove Street across from Alamo Square. By then there were 65 students with 8 teachers. Each day at Synergy would begin with ‘morning meeting’, classes were mixed grades, there was a buddy system, and the curriculum was theme-based – traditions that are all with us today.

In 1999, the school moved into a newly renovated building on Valencia Street to accommodate increased growth and the addition of a middle school. The school now has capacity for 190 students, grades K to 8, and has been successfully placing students in high schools since 2001.