Sunshine School

1. 1880

   An earlier school, the Columbia Street Primary School, a three-story wood-frame Italianate schoolhouse facing Florida Street, was built on this school site.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
2. 1900

   Assessor’s “built” date. Built by Anderson & Ringrose.

3. 1926

   A major fire heavily damaged the Columbia Grammar School then on the site, with no injuries; in December the Board of Education voted to demolish it.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
4. 1935

   Built in 1935-37 with Public Works Administration funding as a therapeutic elementary school, designed by Albert A. Schroepfer, Charles F. Strothoff, Martin J. Rist and Smith O'Brien. The ground floor was laid out barrier-free, with a therapy pool, a gymnasium for physical therapy and a drive-through entrance; the upper floor, entered separately, had sleeping rooms and open classrooms. The elevations are an exuberant Spanish Colonial Revival with Moorish and Art Deco detail around an open courtyard, and the interior keeps its terrazzo, tile, Art Deco light fittings and built-in cabinetry. It is City Landmark No. 286 and now houses Hilltop High School.

   San Francisco New Deal Historic Context Statement, adopted 2023
5. August 17, 1937

   After 20 months of construction the Sunshine School, built for 250 pupils, was dedicated with a flag-raising in its courtyard.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
6. November 7, 1937

   A second public dedication, held for American Education Week, brought U.S. Commissioner of Education John W. Studebaker and Mayor Angelo Rossi to the school.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
7. March 7, 1940

   The school's ground-floor therapeutic pool, delayed by heating problems and disputes over treatment methods, finally opened.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
8. 1954

   An elevator was added at the south side of the courtyard, with a shed-roofed metal awning over the stair and balcony there; the elevator was later removed.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
9. 1980

   The Sunshine School closed as disabled pupils were moved into mainstream classrooms after the 1975 federal Education for All Handicapped Children Act.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
10. 1985

    After standing empty for several years the building became a school for pregnant minors and teenage parents, renamed Hilltop High School; about then the therapeutic pool room was turned into a commercial kitchen.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
11. Aug 2002

    Issued Permit M21594 $$$ $150,000

    Street space permit.

12. March 5, 2019

    Designated San Francisco Landmark No. 286, Sunshine School.

    SF Planning, landmark designation

2 nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permits are omitted from the timeline. 1 expired permit is not shown. The assessor dates the building to 1900; Planning's historic resource survey records 1937. The city's New Deal survey addresses the former Sunshine School at 2728 Bryant Street in its narrative and at 1325 Florida Street in its list of city landmarks. Both are on this parcel.