Our Local Schools

Burlingame is a city with a well-developed sense of community identity where all are considered partners with the schools. Their outstanding educational system is highly valued and parents participate and take a great deal of interest in the schools. Beyond the outstanding regular instructional program, Burlingame schools are also known for their strong and well-supported music and physical education programs. Excellence is their goal and their schools rank at the highest level in the California State Testing measures.

Serving students from K-5, McKinley Elementary School, about ½ mile from Burlingame Towers, takes pride in a curriculum that is geared to develop every child academically, socially, culturally and physically. Its goal is to provide a well-rounded curriculum that exceeds State mandated standards, preparing students for the global environment. Burlingame Intermediate School is the sole middle school and Burlingame High School is the only public high school in Burlingame. Stanford University and Stanford Medical School, with their cultural and educational offerings, are less than 20 miles from Burlingame Towers. Community colleges, Cal State Universities, trade schools, and other private universities are also near Burlingame.

History of Burlingame

Once part of a Spanish land grant given by a Governor to his Secretary; then the location of a San Francisco Banker’s vision of a "sacrosanct colony"; and later, the site of the first country club in California... this is the distinct heritage of Burlingame, CA.

During the 1860s, William C. Ralston, prominent banker and partner in the development of the Comstock Lode, admiring the Peninsula’s warm, tranquil setting of oak-clad, rolling hills nestled between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Coastal Range, purchased vast acreage for a grand estate. One of the first of many famous guests on the estate was the United States Minister to China, recently appointed by President Lincoln, the Honorable Anson Burlingame. Ralston showed this guest a portion of the estate set aside for the summer homes of his wealthy friends. So impressed was Anson Burlingame with the locale, he chose a villa site for himself of 1100 acres to be used after his retirement from the China mission. Ralston, his host, decided to name the town site "Burlingame" in honor of the occasion.

The town grew slowly until 1906, when the great earthquake and fire of 1906 devastated San Francisco. Many people looking to escape the hardships of a city in ruins and in search of a safe residential area, flocked south. Hundreds of lots in Burlingame were sold in 1906 and 1907. Also in 1910, the residents closer to the Burlingame Country Club, broke away from Burlingame and incorporated their own town called Hillsborough.

After all of these years with approximately 28,000 residents, Burlingame retains the very qualities that impressed and attracted its first residents. Today it is known for its high residential quality of life and is known as the "City of Trees" due to its approximately 18,000 public trees. It is also renowned for many surviving examples of Victorian architecture.