Message from the Principal

Dear Bret Harte Families,

Welcome to the 2026-27 school year! It is a pleasure to welcome both our new and returning
families to the Bret Harte community as I begin my 13th year serving as your proud principal.
I’d like to start with the most important piece of information, which is that the first day of
school will be Monday, August 17th ,2026 at 8:40am. We are very excited to welcome
everyone back and we have a lot of amazing things planned for this exciting school-year.
Our TK-5 daily schedule on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Friday will be 8:40am
– 2:55pm and our Wednesday schedule will be 8:40am – 1:40pm. The Preschool (Pre-K)
Center is open from 7:45am – 5:45pm and all Pre-K families will receive separate and unique
information, from our Early Education Department, regarding our Pre-K offerings, in the days
to come.

I am so excited to get started this year. We accomplished a great deal last year and I have
every confidence that this year will be even better. On the first day of school, I’d love to have
all parents remain for morning assembly so that you can join me in welcoming all of our new
staff. We have a solid blend of new staff and folks that have been here for decades. My
goals for our school this year are to continue to engage and empower our families as key
decision makers. In addition, I expect that every child is provided access to high quality
instruction and that every teacher ensures that every student masters grade level standards.
Our daily morning assembly will continue on the soccer field at 8:30am and families are more
than welcome to attend and enter the building and volunteer in classrooms (teachers will
have sign-up sheets for this when we get back). Finally, at Bret Harte, school meals are free
for all students. We will offer breakfast, lunch, and an after-school supper meal. Finally, I will
be in touch as we plan family events and assemblies, such as Back to School Night and our
cultural heritage performances for the year. We love brining the community together for these
special events.

In terms of dress, Bret Harte is not a uniform school. This means that students may come
to school dressed in school-appropriate clothing of your choosing with no specified color
required. Before and after school programming will continue on campus as well this year and Ms. Afu will be leading our BEACON program. She will be in touch regarding enrollment and both will
be on hand the morning of the first day of school with applications. Our after school runs from
dismissal to 6:00pm daily. Field trips will also be offered and teachers will be in touch with their plans for off campus field trips. As always, all field trips require a signed permission slip from an adult guardian.
Finally, please check your student’s backpack each night and pay close attention on the first
couple of days of school. We will be sending home emergency cards, which will need to be
completed, and a number of other important pieces of information to keep everyone informed.
I will send home monthly newsletters and lunch menus as well, and all of the information will
also be available on our web site at https://www.sfusd.edu/school/bret-harte-elementary-
school
 

Class lists will be posted on our front door on Friday, 8/14. At that time, you can see
who your student’s teacher will be. We will also have this available on the first day of school.
Thank you, in advance, for using Gilman Avenue to drop students off in the morning and for
keeping our parking lot for staff only. Student drop-off can begin at 8:10am daily. Until then,
best wishes and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday, August 17th at 8:40am for the
first day of school!

Welcome back to school, 

Jeremy B. Hilinski, Ed.D.
Principal