The Senior Signature Project Program is designed to be the culminating experience of a Bay School education and is the highlight of the 12th grade year as students embark on a journey of personal investigation and discovery. Significantly different from senior programs at many high schools, successful participation in the Bay School program is a requirement for graduation and involves a minimum of sixty-five hours of field work for which students earn full academic credit for a two-trimester elective course.

Each spring semester we ask all of our juniors: “What would you like to explore and learn next year through your Senior Signature Project, and how could your work contribute to the broader community?” Students respond with myriad creative, compelling answers, choosing to focus on areas such as: documentary film-making, flamenco dance, astrobiology, building an electric car, fashion design, computer programming, acting, music, and neuroscience, to name a few. 

 “On a larger scale, what I’ve learned through my senior project had more to do with confidence than anything else. I’ve learned that I can rely on myself to come through, despite the odds, and produce something meaningful and beautiful.”  -- Rose, Class of 2009

The Senior Signature Project Program offers the unique opportunity for each senior to pursue an academic or personal passion in depth and offers the longer-term benefit of encouraging students to focus on possible areas of study in college, future careers, and community involvement. It is a direct expression of the Bay School philosophy emphasizing the close connections between the acquisition of academic knowledge and its relevance and application to daily life in the broader world.

At the start of their senior year students begin to work closely with a mentor, an expert in their field, to design a scope of work that reaches beyond the walls of the school and into the community. Project field work takes place outside of the classroom and often involves internships at Bay Area companies or non-profit organizations. Field work, an integral part of a Bay School education, helps students learn professional communication, project management, and trouble-shooting skills. At the conclusion of their projects each student produces a deliverable and makes a formal presentation to the school community. Students also prepare a portfolio that showcases their growth and learning throughout the course of the project.

 

“My senior project taught me to be resourceful in ways that no other part of the academic program requires.”
– Allxie, Class of 2010

Guided by the full-time director of Senior Signature Projects and the assistant program director, students receive guidance and support through individual meetings designed to assist them with planning, time management and trouble-shooting, specific to the topic and scope of their unique project. In addition, they meet weekly in small groups to encourage peer consultancy and strategic problem-solving.

"Throughout the entire process we urge students to deeply engage in their learning. We ask them to propose an essential question worth exploring. Do you want to investigate something or explore a social or moral issue? Do you want to solve a problem? Do you want to create, design or build something? What do you want to end up with? And ultimately, how can the project I choose be of benefit to others?"
Chris Argenziano, Director of Senior Signature Projects

Recent Senior Signature Project topics have included:

Memory and Aging – Neuroscience research at UCSF

The Business of Baseball --Internship at the SF Giants organization

The Dutch Crescent – Muslim Immigration in the Netherlands

Electronic Music Production, Engineering and Production

Costumes and Movement in Theater

Photography of Motion

Teaching at Mission Graduates and Bilingual Education Research

Piano Composition and Performance

Understanding the Biology of Cancer Stem Cells – Internship at a private biotech laboratory

Sports Journalism

Website Development

Internship at an architectural firm studying green architecture

Honduran Potable Water Project

Micro Finance Project in Columbia

Creating a Dance Team in the Tenderloin