Academics

Curriculum

The MDA Learning Lab

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  • Speech-Language Pathology, Literacy, and Math Support

    MDA welcomes students with learning differences, working to officially identify those with a processing deficit, ADHD, or speech and language impairment.
Through our partnership with the UCSF Dyslexia Center, the San Francisco Unified School District Private/Parochial Assessment Department, and Jennifer Katz, Inc., we seek to be able to accommodate learning needs at every grade level through both pull-out intervention and within the general education classroom.  Our Literacy Program, which encompasses Reading, Math, and Speech and Language Pathology, works to identify at-risk learners and begins research-based interventions as early as Quarter One in Kindergarten. 

Enrollment in the Math and Reading sectors of the Literacy Program is not dependent on LD designation.  Students enrolled are of two types: 1) students with skill gaps (discovered through universal screening and assessment in K-3 for Reading and K-4 for Math) who are enrolled and exited once they reach grade-level proficiency; and, 2) students who are long-term enrollees due to language impairment and/or learning disability or ADHD which require varying levels of intervention, oversight, and accommodation through eighth grade.

Mission Dolores Academy is committed to literacy education grounded in the Science of Reading. Our foundational reading teachers Orton-Gillingham trained and follow a Structured Literacy scope and sequence meant to prepare students for strong word reading. In addition, our general literacy curriculum in K-8 continues in that response to the Science of Reading, building strong vocabulary and world knowledge that supports strong reading comprehension.

The MDA Literacy Program connects with an enrolled student in one of four ways:

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  • K-8 One-on-one

    Students with deficits or gaps that require an intensive level of support or focus are taught in one-on-one pullout sessions by the Reading and/or Math Specialist(s). Underlying and below grade level skills are remediated in this setting.
  • K-8 Small Group

    The Reading and Math Specialists identify students with similar needs and remediate underlying or below-grade level skills in a small group that meets three to five times per week.
  • K-5 Plug-in

    The Reading and/or Math Specialist(s) is/are present in the classroom in order to support students with learning differences as core curriculum is being delivered.
  • 6-8 Content Area Support

    Content area support takes the form of a Study Hall that is provided four to five times per week to Middle School students and is overseen by the Reading and Math Specialists.  During this period, students receive re-teaching and general support for core class assignments, as well as organizational and planning support.

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  • Religious Education

    While Mission Dolores Academy understands an essential goal is to produce academically sound students, it also seeks to develop students' integrity, morality, and faith. The school recognizes the importance of students' spiritual formation, whatever their religious background may be.
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  • Spanish

    Spanish instruction is taught weekly on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
  • Technology

    MDA approaches technology in the classroom with intention, applying a discerning process to choose the tools and programs we incorporate to ensure that all learning needs are considered.
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Mission Dolores Academy, an inclusive faith-filled school community, empowers confident students who are academically prepared, leading lives motivated by integrity and committed to the common good.
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