The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry – the Scottish Rite – is one of several appendant bodies that are a part of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry. The Scottish Rite builds upon the ethical teachings and philosophy of the Blue Lodge, through dramatic presentation of degrees. Membership is open to all Brothers and fellows who have attained the degree of Master Mason in a recognized Blue Lodge. Degrees conferred consist of the 4th through 32nd Degrees. There is also an honorary 33rd degree, which is awarded for exceptional service.Become a Member
The Scottish Rite – often referred to as the “College of Freemasonry” – offers an unequaled continuing education for the study of freemasonry. If you are already a mason, you may petition for Scottish Rite membership by asking a Scottish Rite mason for a petition, or filling out the online Application for Degrees. You can find out information about our next reunion class on our Calendar page. So if you’re a member of another Scottish Rite valley petitioning to affiliate or if you wish to take the degrees of the Scottish Rite, please download our application to get started.
Childhood Language Center
The RiteCare® Childhood Language Center of San Francisco is a local operating unit of the California Scottish Rite Foundation, a 501(c)(3) corporation. Through the efforts of the members of the valley our center has been in operation since 2001.
The San Francisco-Burlingame Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center’s mission is to provide free services for children five to eighteen years of age with speech, language, and literacy challenges. Our center is a philanthropy of the Scottish Rite freemasons and was established in 1970. Children who receive our services come primarily from San Francisco County, but also from San Mateo and Marin Counties.
Our goal is to improve our client’s communication abilities and help them to lead meaningful, productive, and fulfilling lives – both academically and socially.
We give priority to low-income families. We mainly serve children with mild-moderate deficits who are unable to qualify for services in the public schools. We do not serve children with behavioral problems or those with global developmental or cognitive delays. All children must comply with the center’s up to date vaccination requirements.
Jim Cartwright, MS, MFA, CCC-SLP – RiteCare Center Director
Jim conducts both individual and small group speech and language therapy and teaches creative writing classes at the center. A portion of his therapies and parent counseling sessions are in Spanish.
Jim has an MS in communicative disorders from San Francisco State University (1996) and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon (1988). He worked for the San Francisco Unified School District for ten years before becoming a clinician at the center in 2007. He is currently our director.
Aside from his work at our center, Jim enjoys singing and songwriting, poetry writing, and is currently working on becoming an author of children’s and young adult literature. Furthermore, he enjoys speaking Spanish, dancing, going to the gym, and exploring a wide variety of music, literature, and art. He received a Certificate in Sound, Voice, and Music Healing from California Institute of Integral studies in 2007.