History
Excerpts from "California Dreaming: A Synergy founder Recounts The School's Long Journey of Growth" in Synergy Times, December 1999:
It all began with a few idealists and activists, some dreaming, some ideas, some faith, and lots and lots of hard work. For 27 years Synergy has grown in many tremendous ways, and continues to grow even now, with an expansive community of idealists and activists, a lot of dreaming, a lot of ideas, a lot of faith, and still, lots and lots of hard work.
Twenty-seven years ago I met Katherine, Jill and Arlene. I had started a bilingual elementary school in the Mission district of San Francisco called The Mission Neighborhood School. It was two years old and was lodged in one room in a community center . . . . . Together, synergistically, we dared to dream of a school that would support teachers, parents, and children in new and exciting ways.
To support teachers, our vision was of a place where they would feel empowered to do the work that they lived for and were trained for . . . . To support children, our vision was to foster an environment where learning was valued beyond clichés, where each child's individual learning styles and needs would be attended to, where respect would flow from and to each child, where ideas of taking personal responsibility for one's own behavior and learning were just as important as the three Rs, and where the community was just as important as the individual.
-- Russ Messing, Co-Founder, Synergy School
Synergy continues to this day to be true to the ideals set forth by the three co-founders, all of whom are still important members of the broader Synergy community as active board members. Philosophically grounded from our inception in the tradition of progressive education, Synergy flourishes as a school where students of all ages engage in hands-on learning, explore big ideas and participate in interdisciplinary projects in all classrooms. Our classrooms are true communities where the joy of discovery is promoted and each child's contributions are honored. Teachers, too, are learners in this community, both from the children, from each other, and from participation in professional training and workshops. Committed to social justice, Synergy actively works to create an environment that identifies and addresses all forms of bias.
