The Laurel School serves students with learning differences and students who benefit from a small class size. In a community that nurtures mutual respect and compassion, we cultivate the academic potential of each child through multimodal, differentiated instruction. By teaching learning strategies, self advocacy skills, and social competence, The Laurel School prepares students for the next level of education.

Description:
The Laurel School is the only kindergarten through eighth grade school in San Francisco dedicated to serving children with learning differences. We incorporate educational programs designed for children with language based learning disabilities, non-verbal learning disability, sensory integration dysfunction, ADD/ ADHD, and other related conditions. We serve students from all Bay Area counties and our curriculum follows California State standards. Laurel School students mmatriculate to area high schools, many of them having gained learning strategies that enable them to join mainstream high school. The Laurel School is a 501(c)(3) organization.

History:
The Laurel School has grown from roots planted in 1964 when Dr. Morrison Gardner asked Marcia Spitz, the school's founder, to provide a tutorial service for students from the Child Development Center at Children's Hospital. Ms. Spitz worked with referrals from Children's Hospital at a time when learning disabilities were just beginning to be understood and differentiated from retardation. The after-school tutorial service became known as The Laurel Learning Center.

In 1968, The Laurel Learning Center grew to a half day school. Local schools like Town, Hamlin, Sacred Heart and Stuart Hall sent students with learning issues to the Laurel Learning Center for morning academic programs. Those students then returned to their home schools for the afternoon programs of art, music and other non-academic classes.

In 1969, the school expanded to a full day program. Still located in a medical building on Sacramento Street, the school focused on learning disabilities and therapeutic instruction; that is, those areas of study where the students were deficient rather than those where they were capable. Marcia Spitz came to believe that this was a negative approach; so, in 1973, she moved the school to a bigger, better building at 10th Avenue and Balboa, away from the medical stigma, and the school added all academic elements of study. In 1981, the school formally became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit school renamed The Laurel School. The mission? To provide a safe, respectful, inclusive learning environment that would build self-esteem and teach social skills while offering the full spectrum of classes of an elementary school. The school often served as a transition for students between a therapeutic environment and a mainstream school.

The school moved to its present address at 350 Ninth Avenue in 1985. In 2004, Andrea Montes become Head of School, and an active Board of Trustees was organized. In the past 4 years, the school has updated its infrastructure and curriculum to put the school at the leading edge of academic institutions for students with learning differences. Today the school typically has 75 to 80 students from Kindergarten through 8th grade. No longer viewed as a transition school, its students tend to stay and graduate. Some 80% of the present students have a learning difference. Other students just benefit from the small class sizes and the one on one attention from teachers. For each student with a learning issue, a program is developed by a team that includes the teachers, head of school, outside specialists, and parents.

Contact people:

Andrea Montes, Principal, (phone), (email) Michael LoBue, Board President, (phone), (email) Madonna Uyenoyama, Administrative Assistant, (phone), (email)

Main office number: (415) 752-3567
Office fax number: (415) 752-6870

Address:

350 9th avenue San Francisco, CA 94118 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.thelaurelschool.com

Directions:

Nearest Bus Stop: 38 Geary, 2 minutes minute walk

Miscellaneous Information

Besides English, which languages are spoken at your agency?
	No others
What is the minimum age for volunteers at your agency?
	21
Is your agency wheelchair accessible?
	No
Does your agency have the capacity to host groups of more than 10?
	Yes
Does your agency have the capacity to host groups of more than 20?
	Yes