Gets Top Marks from
San Francisco Business and Community Leaders

San Francisco School Volunteers in conjunction with Merrill Lynch hosted Principal for a Day on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at public elementary, middle and high schools throughout the city. More than 120 leaders from across the public and private sectors spent a half-day at schools then attended a luncheon at AT&T Park featuring keynote address by Stanford Professor and serial entrepreneur, Dr. Tina Seelig.

Principal for a Day allows business and community leaders the unique opportunity to visit schools and shadow principals through their daily routine.  In doing so, they learn first hand what it’s like to be the “CEO” of a public school, juggling a myriad of responsibilities ranging from fiscal planning to cafeteria clean-up, while staying focused on the bottom line – student achievement.

“This program is hugely valuable to our local community, uniting San Francisco’s corporate and community leaders in support of our greatest asset – our children,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom.  “It complements our school district’s focus on improving public education through partnerships to strengthen tomorrow’s workforce.”

“Merrill Lynch is pleased to help bring Principal for a Day to San Francisco.  It provides us an opportunity to experience the challenges and rewards that many of our principals and educational leaders face daily,” said Brian Riley who leads Merrill Lynch’s operations in San Francisco.  “The work of the corporate community with San Francisco School Volunteers on Principal for a Day was the start of a long-term partnership that can inspire young people to think about careers as business leaders and entrepreneurs.”

More than 30 executives from Merrill Lynch took part along with business leaders from some of the Bay Area’s leading organizations including First Republic Bank, Comcast, Adobe Systems, Inc, Clear Channel Communications, Kaiser Permanente, and Intuit. A complete participate list is available at Principal Roster.

“Partnerships like this,” said Superintendent of Schools, Carlos Garcia, “will help us create schools that serve every child well.  We hope Principal for a Day inspired more business leaders to understand the important job of principals and to get involved with schools in their community.”

“Our business community recognizes how vital it is to support our public schools and their commitment to our children is making a profound impact,” said Lisa Spinali, Executive Director of San Francisco School Volunteers. School Volunteers places more than 2,100 volunteers in San Francisco’s public schools each year and supports 30 business partnerships in schools throughout the city.