Urban’s proximity to Golden Gate Park offers students a unique proximity to 1,017 acres of nature throughout the day. Students in the Salkind Center can look out classroom windows to see the trees of the Panhandle leading into Golden Gate Park. The Park is connected to Urban in a variety of ways, making some consider it as a valuable part of school culture.

Golden Gate Park plays a key role in Urban’s athletic programs, with six of the 19 varsity sports teams practicing in the park. “[Cross-country] meets at the Conservatory of Flowers and then we often run down [John F. Kennedy Drive] and [Martin Luther King Jr. Drive],” cross-country and track co-captain Talula Rogers ’26 said. 

JFK Drive is a route through Golden Gate Park featuring attractions such as art installations, public pianos, benches, lawn games and live music on either side. The city permanently closed JFK Drive to cars in 2020, allowing the cross-country team to run without traffic distractions. “[Golden Gate Park is a] really nice environment, especially without the cars,” Rogers said. “You’re able to focus a lot more on your running, yourself and your team without having to worry about the constant danger and unpredictability of cars.”

For some students, the park is part of their commute to school. “I bike through the Panhandle every morning on the way to school,” Henry Scalise ’26 said. “It’s really great to start the day in the trees and nature. It’s a moment of beauty in my busy morning.”

Urban’s connection to the park extends beyond recreation, with a long history of service learning in Golden Gate Park. Former math teacher Richard Lautze spoke about Urban’s engagement with the park in the early 1980s. “When I first started working here, we had a thing called project month. … Students would take no classes, and they would just work on a project. We always had students working in Golden Gate Park,” Lautze said.

One of the most significant projects involved the AIDS Memorial Grove, which is a space in Golden Gate Park dedicated to those who died from AIDS. “At the time, [the AIDS Memorial Grove] didn’t exist,” Lautze said. “It was a bog, and we were one of the first groups to go work on the AIDS Memorial Grove. Just from scratch, students started weeding there [and] started cultivating.”

The school’s current service learning program continues to deepen students’ connection to Golden Gate Park. Scalise, who worked with San Francisco Parks and Recreation for service this fall, said, “[It] was a nice way to spend more time in the park and enjoy the beautiful, peaceful serenity of the park. You don’t realize how much goes into maintaining that massive park until you’re part of it.”

Some teachers integrate Golden Gate Park into their curriculum. “Whenever there’s an exhibit at the De Young that connects to a class, we try to get over there. There was an amazing Middle Eastern fashion exhibit that we got to take English 1B students to,” said English teacher Courtney Rein. “Sometimes we just go to the Panhandle, to try to be outside and do something creative or get a different perspective.”

Some say that the park is a strong feature of Urban’s culture. “We are, historically, a school that values the city and what the city has to offer,” Rein said. “The park is a fascinating and easily accessible part of the city that also has a pretty dynamic history.”

The park also leaves its mark on the daily rhythms and atmosphere of Urban. “The environment around any school is influential, and [Golden Gate Park has] become part of the school culture,” Scalise said. “I think we would definitely be a different school if we didn’t have such [close] proximity to nature — [it] always reminds us of the beauty of nature and the importance of protecting it.”