In 2021, the Monarch School, an alternative K-12 school in San Diego for unhoused youth and their families, found a new solution to a pressing challenge: improving literacy among students who face significant hardship. 100% of the student body at Monarch qualifies for McKinney-Vento assistance, and most of its students have had adverse childhood experiences. The school is intended to provide a safe, stable environment for these students and help them define their own paths to achievement. As a result of missing education or lack of access, many of Monarch’s students enter the school below grade level in reading.

To offset the unpredictability that comes with their mission of serving the most vulnerable children, leaders at the Monarch School began to pursue an intentional vision of a literacy curriculum that was systematic, practical, and in line with current evidence. In collaboration with IMSE, Monarch began to implement a Structured Literacy program designed to ensure every child reads at grade level, regardless of their background or circumstances. This program follows the Orton-Gillingham method and includes phonics, systematic, explicit instruction, highly structured, and multi-sensory education.

 

The Impact of IMSE’s Approach

 

Monarch chose IMSE because its approach to Structured Literacy is sequential and designed to be applied in the classroom, offering teachers clear, step-by-step strategies to help students master foundational skills. Over the past three years, Monarch has trained all its faculty members in IMSE methods, and every new teacher at Monarch is now required to undergo IMSE training. This ensures that key literacy concepts are consistently interpreted and taught across all grade levels. 

Monarch serves around 260 to 330 students at any time, with the school population fluctuating as students’ families stabilize and they transition back to neighborhood schools. While the school cannot eliminate learning gaps when students come and go at uncertain intervals, the data from Monarch show that the longer students are immersed in the school’s Structured Literacy curriculum, the smaller those gaps become. In 2023, in every grade K–5, the majority of Monarch students in attendance from pre- to mid-year testing showed improvement in crucial reading skills.

 

 

“The fact that we are all using the same system is so helpful for students and provides the continuity that they need to be successful.

For students, this means building skills early on that are reinforced year after year. For example, our kindergarten kiddos will go into first grade knowing how to arm tap, knowing how to tap, pound, and tap syllables. They’ll understand what a decodable is, so that they can take that learning and then expand on it in first grade.”


Dyane Plumly, Principal of Monarch School

 

Success Across Subjects

 

Monarch’s success with IMSE has now spread beyond language arts classes. Because literacy skills are foundational to success whether students are learning math, social studies, or almost any other academic subject, Monarch students are now able to use their reading skills to tackle other areas of learning. At Monarch, the ability to decode and comprehend complex texts is proving a powerful tool in fostering academic growth, building confidence, and unlocking the potential of every child.

 

“The transfer of what students are learning through Orton-Gillingham to their other content areas has made huge shifts in what they’re able to do now during their project-based learning time or during their math instruction.”


Monarch School Teacher

 

Monarch’s Students

 

The partnership between Monarch School and IMSE is yet another story showing the power of effective Structured Literacy methods. By equipping teachers with the skills and resources they need to support students, Monarch is making strides in ensuring that every child can overcome early challenges and read at grade level. As students spend more time learning Monarch’s IMSE-based curriculum, the school is confident that their reading proficiency—and their prospects—will continue to improve.

Monarch School is a K-12 school operated by the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) in partnership with the Monarch School Project (MSP), a 501(c)3 that relies on private support to provide students facing homelessness with quality educational opportunities. Monarch is dedicated to helping homeless students break the cycle of poverty through education by addressing social growth, emotional support, academic growth, and life skills.

 

 

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