About Town

Message from the Head of School

Greetings and welcome to the 2020-21 school year!

In an ordinary year, you would find me at our front entrance at the start of the school day, greeting each student with a handshake and a "Good morning!" And while this year we are unable to gather and connect in many of the ways to which we are accustomed, the Town School community remains strong through our shared mission and school values of respect, curiosity, belonging, integrity and joy. Whether you are new to our school or already a member of the community, I extend a warm virtual welcome.

Over the past several school years, I have had the pleasure of working with the Board of Trustees, parents, faculty, administration and alumni to develop Town's Strategic Plan 2020-25. I am proud that the planning process mirrored the inclusivity and collaborative spirit that make this community so extraordinary, with the majority of parents and faculty contributing through surveys, focus groups and community brainstorming. Our strategic plan centers around five key pillars, which you can read much more about across our website: Designing Learning Experiences for Tomorrow, Raising Boys of Character and Impact, Cementing a Community of Belonging, Investing in our Faculty and Staff, and Bringing our Best in Athletics and Wellness. As we move forward with bold aspirations, our founding objective endures: to celebrate boyhood and instill boys with a lifelong love of learning. 

There are as many ways to be a boy as there are students at Town. Our outstanding teachers design curricular experiences that promote critical thinking, creativity and collaboration. We are intentional about providing opportunities for boys to explore their own identities, build self-awareness, develop empathy, moral courage and care for others – and in the process, they co-create new definitions of boyhood. Town is a place where every boy can flourish and share a strong sense of belonging, and we seek to graduate boys whose personal ambitions are equaled by care and respect for others and the community. 

As a boys’ school, Town is uniquely positioned to direct both its academic curriculum and social-emotional learning program to each stage of development in K-8 boys, to help students understand themselves and to recognize perspectives and experiences that may be beyond their own. This begins in kindergarten through rich identity exploration, and as students advance through the grades, they learn about historical narratives of character, conflict, privilege and power through a thoughtfully integrated curricular scope and sequence. 

At Town, we believe that boys become the best versions of themselves when they can connect across difference, cultivate humility, and engage fully within their communities. Through academics, service learning, outdoor education, arts programming, and athletics, Town boys develop these crucial skills. Our strong emphasis on relationships extends to a close-knit faculty and highly dedicated parent community. We are a school that puts people at its center, is committed to the work of building an inclusive community, and appreciates the powerful learning and fun we can have together in the process.

It is a pleasure to lead Town School and to spend time daily with students, parents and faculty in a community that pulses with our school values.  Through the pages on this website, I invite you to explore Town’s educational philosophies, programs and curricula.
Warmest regards,

Lorri Hamilton Durbin
Head of School

Lorri Hamilton Durbin

Prior to coming to Town School for Boys in July 2017, Lorri Hamilton Durbin served as Middle School Director at The Dalton School in New York City, where she oversaw curriculum and program for 500 students in grades 4 through 8. She has worked in academic schools with distinct missions, where the emphasis has been on teams working together to create an outstanding educational program for the growth of every student. With her varied leadership experience, she has strengthened the traditional elements of successful schools by furthering curricular innovation, fostering student and faculty leadership, extending best practices and cultivating inclusive communities.

Lorri served as the Associate Director at The Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University; Head of the Middle School at The Nueva School in Hillsborough, California; Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at San Francisco University High School; and Alumni Coordinator, Admissions Counselor and teacher at her alma mater, Midland School, in Los Olivos, California. Lorri has served twice as a member of the Board of Directors of the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) Board.
 
Along with her distinguished career in education, Lorri has worked at Cambridge Associates, L.L.C. and Goldman, Sachs & Co. She has a B.A. in Government from Pomona College, where she was the Varsity soccer captain and member of the All-League Teams and played women’s lacrosse. Lorri holds a Master’s in Educational Administration from Stanford University and a Master’s of Business Administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Boys School Coalition and the Common Sense Media Regional Council.

Town School for Boys

2750 Jackson Street • San Francisco, CA • 94115
PH: 415.921.3747 • FAX: 415.921.1126
Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Policy Governing Student Teacher Interactions 
Town School for Boys is an independent all-boys’ day school in San Francisco for students in grades K-8.  Town School admits students of any race, color, religion, or national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, scholarship programs, athletic and other school-administered programs.