
Our School
Every child, Every minute, Every day
Our Mission
The Mission Preparatory School equips students with the knowledge, skills, and strength of character needed to succeed in college and serve as leaders in their communities.
Our mission is mighty and urgent, and it takes an exceptional school to achieve it.
At the Mission Preparatory School, the quality of education and learning outcomes is excellent; the consistency of our top notch test scores proves it. Our teachers are tremendously committed to their profession and potential for impact. We are supported by an unwavering community and families who entrust us with the hearts and minds of their children.
Yet, at Mission Prep, we know that the work we do is never ending. We cannot rest on our past accomplishments and we must continue to raise the bar for our constituencies.
Mission Prep is an exceptional school because we make no exceptions. “Every Child, Every Minute, Every Day” is our guiding principle. This principle, along with our mission statement and our core values — prepared, respectful, engaged, persevering —are the pillars of our school.
Our Stats
Why Mission Prep
stands apart
School uniforms
100+ minutes of daily literature
70+ minutes of daily mathematics
Nightly homework
Longer school days and school year
490
Students from Kindergarten to 8th grade
1:6
Staff to student ratio in the classroom
27
Average number of students per class
Every child. Every minute. Every day.
Our Values
Prepared. Respectful. Engaged. Perservering.
Prepared.
We arrive at school on time everyday with our minds, methods, and materials prepared to perform our respective roles and participate fully in the Mission Prep community.
Respectful.
We demonstrate our respect for our students, families, and colleagues by creating and maintaining school and classroom environments that are achievement-focused, peaceable, professional, organized, and effective and by treating everyone in our school community with kindness and dignity.
Engaged.
We focus our time, talents, and energy on our urgent work; we follow through on all commitments and expectations; and we soak in and seek out feedback and knowledge to improve our practice continually.
Perservering.
We uphold our commitment to our mission by taking initiative to improve on our own and our school’s performance and by tackling challenges with optimism and personal responsibility especially when the work is difficult.
Your child’s safety.
From earthquakes and fires to health emergencies and lockdowns, your child’s safety is our top priority. Read our Health and Safety Plan to see what policies and procedures we have in place.
Mr. Abraham Joshua’s Learning Commons
He allowed them to come as they are into the classroom, and Mr. Joshua modeled that well.
If you enter through the front door of Mission Prep and immediately take a sharp left turn up the stairs, the path will lead you directly to the Abraham Joshua Learning Commons, a space dedicated to our late seventh and eighth grade science teacher, Mr. Joshua.
Cynthia Jerez, our school’s executive director, shared that the work his family is doing in creating spaces to expand science opportunities for youth of color cemented our school’s decision to name this collaborative space after Mr. Joshua. It was also his hope that we build a community of support, collaboration and access. That's what that space provides for us day-to-day, a space to allow teachers to plan and collaborate and for students to get additional support.
In his first year of teaching, Mr. Joshua had already envisioned what the space could be for our school community. For many of us, during our first year of teaching, that’s something we probably wouldn’t have thought of or have the capacity to think about. However, I’m not surprised because of how he envisioned his classroom community to be.
I had the honor and privilege of working closely with Mr. Joshua because we shared the same physical classroom space. So, I got to see him grow and develop as a first year teacher and bring joy and excitement into the classroom. He cared so much about his students and wanted to ensure that they had a rigorous, culturally relevant and fun learning experience in science. Most importantly, he allowed them to come as they are into the classroom, and Mr. Joshua modeled that well. He was proud of his Eritrean heritage and wasn’t afraid to share his lived experiences and passion with students. Any time Mr. Joshua sang and danced at school, it brought joy to our community, because he was incredibly talented, and he invited students to bring their passions and talents to school as well.
Abraham Joshua was born on Nov. 25, 1998 in Texas. After moving to Washington, D.C., his family eventually settled in Morgantown, West Virginia. Mr. Joshua attended Morgantown High School where he found a passion for chemistry and singing, competing in the school quiz bowl and performing in choirs and dance shows. During his time at Princeton, Mr. Joshua studied chemistry, materials sciences and engineering. After graduating, he joined Teach for America and moved here to San Francisco to teach at Mission Prep. Mr. Joshua shared that he wanted to make a difference because representation matters and that his ultimate goal was to go to medical school to open up his own clinic to serve underprivileged communities.
We love and miss you, Mr. Joshua.
— Levi Lovang, 8th Grade Math Teacher
Our History
The Mission Preparatory School opened in August 2011 with two classes of kindergarten students. In the 2019-20 school year, that first cohort began 8th grade.
The school educates students from throughout San Francisco and surrounding Bay Area communities, with a particular focus on students in the southeastern part of the city.
Mission Prep serves families who desire a rigorous college-preparatory academic program and highly-structured environment for their children. We provide an extensive, research-based literacy program to meet the needs of all students, including targeted support for English Learners and students with special needs.
The entire school program provides the systems, support, and clear, consistently reinforced expectations needed for all students to focus on academics, maintain high stands of behavior, acquire social-emotional competencies, and develop the core values of being prepared, respectful, engaged, and persevering.
Our Vision
Our team and our families work together to ensure that our vision of “every child, every minute, every day” is a reality for our Prepsters.
The Mission Preparatory School addresses the need for a free, public, college-preparatory school that provides a rigorous, high-quality K-8 education in San Francisco.
With an uncompromising commitment to upholding the highest academic and behavioral expectations for all children, Mission Prep is designed specifically to address the learning needs of an underserved and underperforming student population.
Through an intensive focus on literacy and the implementation of strategic academic support structures, we ensure mastery of essential skills and content knowledge, accelerate student achievement, support student acceptance to top high schools, and lay the foundation for every child to excel in and graduate from college.
Mission Prep is non-religious in its programs, admissions policies, employment practices, and all other operations; does not charge tuition; and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. Admission is open to all children whose ages meet the current California Education Code requirements and who reside in California.
“I love Mission Prep because they have the best teachers”
— Zyla Lane, 3rd grade

Our Team
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Cynthia Jerez
Executive Director
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Heidi Jones
Director of TK-6th
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Yaneli Cevallos
Director of Upper School & Student Advancement
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Tarika Chappell
Director Of Wellness & Culture
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Share Maldonado
Director of Human Resources
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Emma Braham
HR Associate
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Devan Jester
Dean of Student Support Services
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Railey Williams
Dean of Curriculum & Instruction
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David Reynolds
Dean of Curriculum & Instruction
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Alina Enoiu
Dean of Curriculum & Instruction
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Miusotic Zaragoza
Restorative Justice Coordinator
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John Quinn
Restorative Justice Coordinator Lead
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Iri Medina
Site Coordinator
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Beatriz Franco
Compliance & Operations Specialist
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Carlos Polanco
Compliance & Payroll Systems Manager
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Liz Alvarado
Social Media Specialist
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Jessica Isidro
Office Specialist
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Kat Cardenas
Student Support & Community Specialist
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Leo Alvarenga
Operations & Health Coordinator
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Jaqueline Galvez
Nutrition Coordinator
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Miriam Gutierrez
Nutrition Coordinator
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Shantell Hines
Community & ELT Liaison
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Jelitza Herrera
Community & ELT Liaison
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Daisy Batten
Mental Health Counselor
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Bianca Gabriel
Counselor
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Alondra Garcia
High School Readiness Counselor
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Sydni Tokuyama
Elementary Education Specialist
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Daniel Ortiz
Middle School Education Specialist
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Denise Garcia
Academic Interventionist
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Heidy Velilla
Tk Teacher
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Joshua Laguna
TK Teaching Assistant
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Leila Lane
Kindergarden Teacher
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Erika Villegas
Kindergarden Teacher
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Marie Barajas
Kinder Teaching Assistant
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Maritza Garcia
Kinder Teaching Assistant
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Riley Hovinen
First Grade Teacher
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Jenna Shaikh
First Grade Teacher
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Mateo Pena
First Grade Teaching Assistant
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Happy Lazaro
First Grade Teaching Assistant
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Nicanor Alvarado
Second Grade Teacher
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Claire Smith
Second Grade Teacher
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Angelica Mendez
Second Grade Teaching Assistant
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Roselyn Celis
Second Grade Teaching Assistant
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Davis Porscha
Third Grade Teacher
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Emma Wallace
Third Grade Teacher
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Alfonso Reyes
Third Grade Teaching Assistant
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Rafael Arriaza
Fourth Grade ELA Teacher
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Skye Grim
Fourth Grade Math & Science Teacher
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Astrid Alvarado
Fourth Grade Teaching Assistant
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Libertad Campo Periago
Fifth Grade Math & Science Teacher
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Rohan Hughes
Fifth Grade Teacher
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Samantha Chavez
Fifth Grade Teaching Assistant
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Maggie Kindsvater
Sixth Grade ELA Teacher
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Tari Awipi
Sixth Grade Teacher
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Django Gallegos-Zingarelli
Sixth Grade Teaching Assistant
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Richard Vela
Seventh & Eighth Grade Social Studies Teacher
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Marianna Quezada
Seventh & Eighth Grade ELA Teacher
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Miyatta Gusau
Seventh & Eighth Grade Science Teacher
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Gabriel Flores
Seventh & Eighth Grade Math Teacher
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David Gutierrez
Seventh & Eighth Grade Teaching Assistant
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Adrian Padilla
Tk-Second Grade PE Teacher
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Julia Doszkocs
Tk-Second Grade Art Teacher
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Giee Lapid
Third-Fifth Grade PE Teacher
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Amaya Gomez
Third-Eighth Grade Dance Teacher
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Anita Arellano
Third-Eighth Grade Art Teacher
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Carl Carpenter
Sixth-Eighth Grade PE Teacher
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Ayla Bustillos
Student Support & Expanded Learning - AM support
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Brynn Evenson
Student Support & Expanded Learning - AM support
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Sachi Nishikata
Student Support & Expanded Learning-AM support
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Dennys De Leon
Student Support & Expanded Learning -AM support
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Fabi Higueros
Student Support & Expanded Learning -AM support