BBQM, there are some really excellent public elementary schools in SF. And hopefully, since your child is 8, you'll be able to pick the one you want. For Kindergarten it's a lottery system and most people do not get their first choice. There's lots of Catholic and private schools too, not familiar with the charters tho I do know about a Waldorf school.
Each of the public elementary schools must meet some of the same district-wide mandates. But they also have their own sort of specialty too - Chinese immersion, Spanish immersion, year-round schedule, arts specialization, Japanese instruction, super-high test scores.....
Check out this blog of oodles of good info -
http://thesfkfiles.blogspot.com/
