Curriculum: Educating the Whole Child
Mary McDowell Friends School's approach to educating students with learning disabilities focuses on the learning process itself. In shaping the program, consideration is given to curricula, books, educational materials,
technology and classroom furnishings in light of sensory, cognitive, motor and language-based concerns. The content-rich, challenging and developmentally appropriate curriculum developed at MMFS reflects the conviction that all students, regardless of disability, can grow to enjoy learning. The curriculum seeks to cultivate curiosity and confidence and nurture a sense of supported independence that comes with skills, knowledge and choices that increase through a student's years at the School.
Providing a safe environment in which students may take risks, MMFS offers curriculum that also pushes them beyond their comfort zones to stretch their senses of self and build stamina as they take on new material and experiences. The structured, multi-sensory, interdisciplinary approach combines large and small group work, language modification and hands-on learning from lower elementary through middle school, with each division establishing the foundation for the next. The demanding academic program parallels a mainstream curriculum. In addition, students benefit from an Enrichment Program, which includes classes in visual arts, movement, physical education, music, Spanish, library and computer.
Language Arts
Mary McDowell Friends School's goal is to help students learn to express themselves effectively and independently both orally and in writing, and to develop responsive listening skills. Students engage in 
writing activities in all curricular areas in different ways throughout the day, addressing content, form, and mechanics. Dr. Judith C. Hochman's Basic Writing Skills program is employed to emphasize communication clarity and precision, practice and sequential strategies for sentence, paragraph and essay development.
Math
The creative math curriculum is designed to meet the needs of each student, from basic skills to algebra. Students with similar abilities and learning styles are taught in small groups. There is a commitment to helping students become problem-solvers who can reason and communicate mathematically.
Reading
Mary McDowell Friends School meets the diverse literacy needs of students in small, structured reading groups, helping them become independent readers by employing strategies to address their weaknesses. While needs vary from group to group, the Orton Gillingham program and balanced literacy approach to decoding and comprehension skills are 
key components of the reading curriculum.
Science
Mary McDowell Friends School science program follows National Science Education Standards, covering physical, earth and space and life sciences. Students have experiential, hands-on activities in the classroom and a rooftop greenhouse in which to experiment. Science labs are equipped with SMART Boards linked to microscopes and computers. These tools are at the core of the curriculum, broadening students' knowledge and strengthening their ability to explore the world around them. All students attend science classes from one to three times a week depending on their ages.
Social Studies
Sociology, geography, history, economics and political science are integrated throughout the curriculum. Social studies focuses on people, their interactions with their environments and the impact of these interactions.This curriculum encourages students to think, ask questions and gather, reflect on and interpret information. Students are taught in large and small groups and through independent work. Each class explores two topics in depth during the year, as well as examining current events, holidays and elections. Past topics have included the neighborhood, immigration, the living history of New Amsterdam, medieval Africa and Europe, United States geography and ancient civilizations.