By Megan Rabbitt
“We have a picture of some junk,” said Kaylie Mini, K1 teacher at St. Brigid Academy. “Now, what if we take away the “j” sound from the beginning of the word ‘junk’? What sound and new word do we have left?”
Mini is leading her students in Fundations, a multisensory approach for teaching the foundational skills of reading, spelling and handwriting for students in kindergarten through third grade. This approach to teaching can be implemented as whole-class instruction or for students who need intervention.
First local Catholic ‘inclusion’ school model
St. Brigid Academy was launched in the summer of 2024 as a safe and nurturing Catholic learning environment for children who are neurodivergent and academically gifted. It is the first Catholic school inclusion model in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
St. Brigid Academy was established under the guidance of the Department of Catholic Schools. It was blessed upon its opening by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who emphasized that all students deserve a Catholic education and that, as Catholics, we are called to serve the most vulnerable in our community, which is in accordance with the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools.
Through small class sizes and a collaborative learning environment, students are provided a personalized approach based on their individualized learning profiles. The community is dedicated to developing the whole child, nurturing each student’s spiritual, intellectual, social-emotional and physical growth.
Support for different learning styles
“Fundations” is just one example of the academy’s unique approach to educating students. All homeroom teachers are trained in the Wilson Reading System, which supports diverse learners with reading differences.
The most notable programming that sets St. Brigid’s apart from traditional Catholic schools are its “walk-to-read,” “walk-to-math” and social-emotional learning programs. Each student has an individual “student success plan.” Teachers and counselors meet with parents a minimum of three times a year to help support students. The plan is a fluid document containing information about a student’s learning profile, strengths, challenges and goals for the school year. The plan is updated each trimester to ensure that the school is tracking each student’s progress throughout the school year.
With a variety of qualitative and quantitative assessments, students are leveled for both English language arts and mathematics. If they are below or above grade level, they may “walk” to their leveled groupings.
For some students, the movement takes place within the multi-age homeroom classroom, but for others it requires moving to a different classroom. Homeroom classrooms are referred to as colors and not grades, so there is no stigma of switching rooms for reading and math.
As content becomes more challenging in middle school grades, students with learning differences benefit from the small class sizes. The middle school English language arts and social studies teacher, Roberta Havens, uses a literature-based approach to teaching her students. Students work around a table collaboratively, which supports their learning styles.
On the lower floor, in Grades 2-3 teacher Eric Case’s classroom, station rotation is used to support the leveling within the classroom. Within a 60-minute math block, for example, students will have the opportunity to work independently and have instructional time with their teacher.
Case emphasizes what he has coined as “math talk.” Students talk about a strategy that works for them. Every student solves the problem on his or her own whiteboard and afterward shares how they approached the problem and what strategies they used. Case highlights that each person might have a preferred strategy for tackling a problem and that it is good to learn what strategy works best. This is an example of how St. Brigid’s inclusive teaching methods are embedded in the lessons being taught daily.
Behavioral and executive functioning
Last year, St. Brigid’s made incredible strides in inclusion by expanding behavioral and executive functioning supports, strengthening collaboration among general education teachers, specialists and families. This year, that work is deepening by focusing on executive functioning, emotional regulation and inclusive classroom strategies rooted in faith and compassion. St. Brigid adopted a social emotional learning curriculum called “Friendzy,” taught by school counselor Jenna Murphy-De La Rosa. Friendzy is in line with our spiritual teachings and caters to a diverse learning population.
“The SEL curriculum is rooted in Christ’s example of love, empathy and compassion,” said Murphy-De La Rosa. “Each unit teaches students how to be better friends, classmates and Catholics by modeling Christlike behaviors such as forgiveness, kindness and understanding.”
As we learned more about how to best meet the social emotional needs of its students, it became apparent that there was a need for a specialist on staff to work with some of the higher-need students, especially if they were not seeing a therapist outside of school. This year we contracted with associate marriage and family counselor Michelle Copley.
“I work with neurodivergent learners who may need a little extra support building the social and emotional tools that help them succeed both in school and beyond. By partnering with students, parents and teachers, we make sure those skills carry over into the classroom and at home. This work helps students grow in confidence and become the best versions of themselves,” said Copley.
Leadership opportunity
Last spring, I traveled to Los Angeles for the Beyond Inclusion Fair at Loyola Marymount University to spread the word about the archdiocese’s achievements in inclusive Catholic education. In October, I hosted an Empowering Diverse Learners Fair, bringing families together from all over the Bay Area to learn about inclusive schools and support providers available to families.
St. Brigid’s long-term goal is to provide support to not only the students and parents of our school, but also to educators and parents in the broader community. We have plans to offer teacher and parent workshops in 2026. The counseling department will host its first parent workshop with an emphasis on providing parents with strategies to support their child’s growth.
St. Brigid’s Academy is proud to be the first inclusion school in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. All the faculty and staff believe that inclusion in Catholic education matters because it reflects the Gospel message: every child belongs. By embracing diverse learners, we are building not just stronger classrooms, but a stronger faith community — one that mirrors Christ’s inclusive love and celebrates every student’s God-given gifts.
Megan Rabbitt is the head of School for St. Brigid Academy.
