Alumni

Changemakers

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      2025 Changemaker - Heather 2

Without Joe Cooper, the CDS we know and love would not exist. Joe and his wife, Tracy, were the leaders of a group of parents, trustees, and educators who founded Children’s Day School as a non-profit to nourish and celebrate diversity and promote justice and respect for all people. Joe had a life-long commitment to student activism and it is this commitment to action the CDS community wishes to celebrate and instill in future generations of CDS students.

To honor Joe, who passed away in 2018, CDS has established the Joe Cooper Changemaker Award for an alumni who models the change-making spirit embodied by Joe throughout his life. Any CDS alum is eligible to receive the Changemaker Award as an acknowledgment of their work to continue the legacy of action instilled in CDS students. We are proud to honor the recipients of the 2025 Changemaker Award for Alumni: Heather Weiss (Class of 2009)! 

Heather Weiss is currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology and Social Change. A graduate of Lowell High School, UC Santa Barbara, and the California Institute of Integral Studies, she has dedicated her career to environmental nonprofits, focusing on food systems and their potential to become more just—both for people and the planet. Most recently, she served as the Interim Assistant Director of The Friends of Alemany Farm and continues to contribute as an Advisory Committee Member, leading regular volunteer days on-site. For more information about her work at Alemany Farm and CDS, please see this article.

Past Changemaker Award winners include:
  • 2024: Lily Glickman (Class of 2013), Blue Kennedy (2021)
  • 2023: Gabriella Chen (Class of 2020)
  • 2022: Gracie Veiga (Class of 2017), Katharine Biggar (2019)
  • 2021: Sarah Muzhaqi (Class of 2019)
  • 2020: Nora Hylton (Class of 2016)

Children's Day School

Preschool-Grade 8
333 Dolores Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 861-5432
Children's Day School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school.  Learn More
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