Q3 2026 Update: I originally wrote the below review in late 2019 after a single morning tour, back when my wife and I were looking for a preschool for our son. A lot has changed at SLS since then, including new leadership, ongoing diversity efforts, and a renewed focus on making families from all backgrounds feel welcome. I've updated this post to reflect both my original experience and where the school stands today.
I'm keeping my original observations because they were honest at the time. But a seven-year-old impression from one chaotic morning shouldn't be the final word on any school. Schools evolve, people change, and from what I now understand, SLS has been actively working to evolve too.
St. Luke's School, also known as SLS, is one of the oldest preschools in San Francisco, founded in 1948. The preschool sits at 1335 Sutter St. in the historic Grabhorn Press building, completely remodeled in 2014, and serves children between 2.5 and 6 years old.
This is a personal review based on my family's tour and subsequent updates. We did not apply or attend.
My First Impression Of SLS in San Francisco Back In 2019
When we arrived at 8:30 am for the tour, it was chaotic. Sutter St. is a busy street, and several cars were trying to drop kids off in rush hour traffic. Not knowing the location or the protocol, I pulled into an open spot right in front of the school where a car had just pulled away. Where else was I supposed to drop my family off for the open house?
Instead of a warm welcome, I was asked to move my car back and then forward to a different spot. Once I'd parked and the chaos died down, the Head of School at the time remarked that she'd thought I was an Uber driver.
As an Asian American there for a family tour with my wife and son in the back seat, the comment landed wrong and made me feel unwelcome. It colored my impression of the visit. We had pulled up in a Range Rover Sport, which made the assumption a little puzzling. It's not the typical Uber driver's car, especially when SLS knew they were hosting an open house for prospective families.
Looking back with some distance, I may have read more into a single offhand comment than was intended. A stressful, busy morning isn't representative of an entire institution, and one remark from one person who is no longer there isn't the whole school.
And you know what? I did drive for Uber in the past as a one-year experiment to see how the technology worked. So maybe my smile and experienced rubbed off on them. But feeling “othered” is how I felt in the moment, and in the spirit of an honest review I think it's worth keeping, with that context.
First impressions matter, and this is exactly the kind of thing a new family notices and a school should be mindful of.
As the great author Maya Angelou once said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” So even if someone is different or not from a target demographic, it's best to always make people feel welcome.
What Has Changed Since Then: New Leadership
Here's the most important update. The Head of School I encountered left around 2020. Since then, SLS has gone through a number of leadership changes, and has now brought on a new Head of School, Angela Gargiulo, to guide the next chapter in 2026 and beyond.
Leadership sets the tone for everything at a small school, from the warmth of the front door to the makeup of the classrooms. A new head is a meaningful reset, and it's the single biggest reason a years-old first impression deserves a fresh look.
If you're touring SLS today, you'll be meeting an entirely different leadership team than the one I met. And after speaking to a member of the leadership committee, I'm sure they are taking positive steps to be more inclusive and welcoming.
St. Luke's School (SLS) Review By Category
Again, here are my thoughts from when we toured and observed the faculty, students, and facilities in 2019, as well as updated thoughts for today.
Atmosphere: 3.7/5
Although the school boasts a 5:1 teacher-to-student ratio, the space still felt a little crowded inside compared to other schools with a 7:1 ratio. That's largely a function of the building's footprint rather than the staffing.
The school spans three levels, and the quarters felt more snug than the space at Cavalry Preschool or The Little School, two competing preschools. That said, an older building in a dense part of the city comes with tradeoffs, and plenty of excellent schools operate in tight quarters. Worth noting that the remodeled building does include a fenced rooftop play area with tricycles, shade umbrellas, and plenty of outdoor activity, which softens my original concern about outdoor space.
Overall, the atmosphere was friendly and orderly. The teachers clearly emphasized respect and discipline. They line the kids up before they sit in their own designated spots, and they don't tolerate kids speaking without first raising their hands. If you value a more structured, traditional environment, SLS is a strong fit. Some families want exactly that, and SLS delivers it.
Diversity: 3.3/5
On the morning I toured in 2019, the students and teachers I saw skewed heavily white relative to San Francisco overall. In a minority-majority city where more than half the population identifies as a minority, that surprised me, and as an Asian American parent it's something I noticed right away.
This was a single-visit observation from years ago, and a snapshot of one morning is not a reliable measure of a school's actual makeup or its values. However, just by geographic location in Lower Pacific Heights, it is logical the school is more representative of the families living in or near the neighborhood. After all, proximity to home is a top 3 factor in terms of which school to send your little ones to.
The encouraging update is that SLS is actively working on this. The incoming board leadership tells me the school is intentionally broadening its applicant pool across racial and socioeconomic lines, and has begun waiving the application fee for some families to reduce barriers to entry. That's a concrete, practical step rather than just a statement of values, and it's exactly the kind of move that widens access over time.
If diversity and representation matter to your family, and they should, I'd encourage you to ask SLS directly about the demographics of current enrollment, financial aid, and how the community is evolving.
Teachers: 4.5/5
This was a genuine strength then and appears to remain one. The teachers all held four-year college degrees, and it seemed like at least half had more than 20 years of experience. The school today describes a staff with over 200 years of collective experience, a mix of tenured and newer teachers. That kind of retention tells you SLS pays its teachers well and keeps them, which is a real positive for parents and kids alike.
The tradeoff with a very veteran staff is that some teachers may not bring the same fresh-out-of-school enthusiasm as newer educators. But experience and stability count for a lot in early childhood education, and SLS clearly has both.
Schedule: 3.5/5
St. Luke's serves children between 2.5 and 6 years old. Based on the schedule I reviewed, it's only once your child reaches 4 that you can send them for the full 8:30 am to 3:30 pm day. For younger kids, the morning-only window is fairly short.
Think about how this works if both parents have full-time office jobs. An early pickup assumes a stay-at-home parent, a nanny, or a flexible schedule. The shift toward remote and hybrid work has made this far more manageable than it used to be, so it's less of a dealbreaker than it once was.
Confirm the current hours directly with the school, since schedules change.
Tuition: 3/5
SLS tuition depends on the grade and amount of care at the school. For example, the Two's program from 8am – 11am and costs $18,950. The Threes program goes from 8am – 12noon and costs $20,950. While the 8am – 3pm pre-K program costs an impressive $31,950 a year. Expect all tuition to go up roughly 5% a year for the foreseeable future.
The tuition at SLS is roughly on par with other full-time private preschools in San Francisco. Expensive, yes, but not an outlier for the category. With the application fee now being waived for some families, it's worth asking directly about cost, fee waivers, and any available assistance if these tuition figures are too costly, but you feel SLS is the school for you.
Please do not be embarrassed to ask. As a personal finance expert who has been writing this site since 2009, I'll remind you that every dollar you pay for preschool and grade school is a dollar that isn't going toward your retirement. So think carefully about tuition expense if you're on the border for affordability.
A Guide To Affording Preschool / Private Grade School Tuition
As a general rule, I recommend families earn at least 5X the net annual tuition per child, but closer to 7X ideally, to comfortably afford private preschool and grade school. Below that, you're stretching, and a four-year-old will not remember whether they finger-painted at a $30,000 preschool or a free one. What matters more is your time and love with them.
If you're interested to read more about affording private grade school tuition and making better financial choices, you can pick up a copy of my WSJ national bestseller, Buy This Not That. I dedicate an entire chapter to spending on education through college.
SLS Overall Score in 2026: 3.8/5 (Up From 2/5 in 2019)
SLS is a school with deep roots and a lot of tradition. Plenty of notable San Franciscans have come through its doors over the decades, and it has a loyal, multigenerational community.
The vast majority of kids go on to attend well-regarded private K-8 schools such as Town School, Cathedral School, St. Catherine's, Hamlin School for girls, Stuart Hall for boys, and SF Day School. These are among the higher-rated grade schools on the north side of the city, so SLS clearly prepares kids well for that next step and has the relationships to help them get there.
Bottom line: Based on my visit years ago, my honest read was that SLS leaned traditional and catered to a fairly well-connected, north-side San Francisco crowd. Since then, the school has changed in meaningful ways since: new leadership, a deliberate effort to diversify the applicant pool across racial and socioeconomic lines, and steps like waiving application fees to lower the barrier to entry. A school that's actively working to become more welcoming deserves credit for it, and deserves to be evaluated on where it is now rather than where it was in 2019.
If you're considering SLS, the best thing you can do is tour it yourself, meet the new leadership, ask the questions that matter most to your family, and form your own present-day impression. My impression is just one. Spots are few, and having connections still helps for getting in. But you should throw your hat in the ring anyway if SLS is of interest to you. I'll keep updating this post as the school continues to evolve.
For families weighing other options, I'd also look at Stepping Stones and Pacific Primary, both of which I liked, as well as Chinese American International School for Mandarin immersion if you value a second language.
The right preschool is deeply personal. What's a poor fit for one family is a wonderful fit for another.
Related: Navigating The Preschool Admissions Process In San Francisco
About the author:
Sam Dogen has been a San Francisco resident since arriving from NYC in 2001. He helped kickstart the modern-day FIRE movement in 2009 with the launch of Financial Tips. He is deeply committed to fighting for financial freedom for all types of families and enjoys writing about where money and real life intersect. He has two young children and, when he's not writing books, enjoys investing, playing tennis, pickleball, and poker.
His newest book, Your Children Will Be OK: Navigating Uncertainty In The Age Of AI And Globalization, is coming out in Spring 2026 with Portfolio Penguin. You can sign up for his free weekly newsletter here.
