Phillip & Sala Burton High School

Phillip & Sala Burton Academic High School was established in 1984 under the court's guidance as a consent decree between the NAACP and the City and County of San Francisco.

According to US News and World Report, 98% of Burton's student body is "of color," with 73% of the student body coming from an economically disadvantaged household, determined by student eligibility for California's Reduced-price meal program.[4]

African-American enrollment has steadily declined in regards to the overall student enrollment. African-American families have left San Francisco for more affordable locales (from 1970 the city's African-American population was 13%; in 2006 the population declined to 6%).

Burton piloted the National Academy Foundation's wall-to-wall academy model for San Francisco. Following the freshman year, Burton students self-select into one of three career-themed academies. Students who elect to continue playing for one of the Burton bands elect to postpone their academy selection until their junior year. Each academy is designed to provide students with a relevant experience that is grounded in academic content. Students have the choice between engineering, health science, and media arts and entertainment. Over the course of their study, students partake in a wide range of field trips and job shadowing experiences. Guest speakers from the industry come to Burton to present and discuss with students what skills are necessary to pursue jobs in a particular industry. Additionally, guest speakers speak to the assortment of jobs that each industry actively recruits. Students have the option to participate in summer internships—some of which are paid! Collectively, academy students work as a class or as a member of a small group on a final project leading up to their graduation. All students commemorate their participation as a member of the academy with a celebration and a sash that adorns their graduation gown. The primary objective of the Burton wall-to-wall academy structure is to utilize the rigor, relevance, and articulation of the curricular program to fully engage students, thus reducing the truancy and dropout rates, closing the achievement gap, improving test scores, and increasing the graduation and college entrance rates.

Burton High School works with the San Francisco Education Fund, a non-profit, that works to support schools on building and following through on their Post-Secondary Success Plans for graduates. Like other San Francisco high school graduates who elect to enroll in a two-year program like City College of San Francisco, only 10% of students leave the program in five years with any degree or certificate. However, 90% of Burton graduates who attend a four-year institution immediately following high school successfully complete their program within five years. Additionally, when compared to similar high schools in San Francisco, Burton graduates are more likely to attend a two-year program over the four-year program.

• San Francisco County high schools

• Official Website as of March 1, 2008
• Great Schools profile on Burton HS