Our Mission

Dolores Huerta Elementary School is a caring place that nurtures the development and growth of the whole child. Our mission is to provide the support and guidance needed for each child to succeed academically and socially. We offer instruction in a culturally rich environment, deliver a challenging curriculum and enjoy strong community engagement. Most of all, we are a community-centered school, place for arts, language and academic excellence.

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Our Vision

 

We are Dolores Huerta.
We are family and staff.
We are a community working toward a common goal: to educate our children.

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Our students know their own potential and take responsibility for learning at school and at home. Each student has a voice, shows respect and is respected.

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Our teachers know that what they do in the classroom every day has a profound impact on the lives of our students. They realize that the responsibility of an educator is to teach, to lead, and to learn.

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Our families value education and know that their involvement at home and school is important for successful learning. They understand the challenges of an underfunded public education system and are actively involved in supporting our students and teachers.

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Our staff supports our students, teachers and families. Each staff member understands how their work contributes to our students’ academic success.

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We provide a safe and nurturing environment for learning. We respect the unique strengths and needs of each child so that they are academically engaged and find joy in learning. We will close the achievement gap.

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We believe in bilingualism and strive to break language and cultural barriers. We speak Spanish. Hablamos Inglés.

 

We work together. We believe in the power of our community.

We are students and teachers.
We are Dolores Huerta.

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​History

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On August 28, 2018, Fairmount was re-named Dolores Huerta Elementary School in honor of Dolores Huerta, a cofounder of the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez. To this day, Dolores Huerta continues to be a tireless advocate for immigrants, workers, children, gender equality, and the environment. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work by President Barack Obama in 2012. She is also the recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights, and is an inductee in the National Women's Hall of Fame, in addition to many other honors.

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In 1905, Fairmount was the first school built in San Francisco as an old-fashioned one-room schoolhouse. The school continued to grow and thrive through the years as one of the best-attended multicultural schools for the neighborhoods of the Mission, Bernal Heights, Bayview, Glen Park and Noe Valley.

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Undergoing a major rebuild in 1977, from its brick structure to an award-winning architectural design, Fairmount continued to improve its educational structure as well. Faithful to its vision as a multicultural center for students, Fairmount introduced a Spanish immersion program for all grades in 1997, in addition to the English program.

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The goal of Dolores Huerta's Spanish immersion program is for all students to be literate in both Spanish and English by the end of 5th grade.

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Present day Dolores Huerta Elementary School also boasts an award-winning program for students in need of extra care for learning and with developmental disabilities. Our teachers and therapists have extensive training in helping special-needs students.

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In a district that has more than five major nationalities represented in the student body, Dolores Huerta shines in its support and celebration of students, families and the strength of our multicultural heritage, united in its quest for educational excellence.  The school's namesake serves as an inspiration to the school's diverse group of students.

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 For more history of our school, read here and view photos here.

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​Overview

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• Enrollment – Approximately 416 students

• Full Spanish Immersion Program

• Spanish Immersion Model 50/50 English/Spanish

• Special Education – 15% of student population – 2 Special Day Classes (TK-2 and 3-5) for students with Moderate/Severe disabilities, Resource Specialist and Inclusive Services for all qualifying students (Mild/Moderate), Speech/Language Pathologist, and Psychologist.

• Full Time Bilingual Social Worker – proactive responses to discipline

• Community School Coordinator

• About 40% of our students are English Language Learners

• Instructional Coach

• Our school is about 70% Latiné families​