Empowering students with language-based learning differences
History
About
The Siena School® was established in 2006 to provide students with learning differences, such as dyslexia, a rich and meaningful education that would prepare them for college, and for success in life. As the program took shape, a larger opportunity and its mission became clear: create one of the nation’s finest schools for bright students who learn differently.
The school takes its name from the town Siena, Italy, in part to emphasize its strong focus on the arts. In addition, Siena’s patron saint, St. Catherine, was a highly regarded Renaissance scholar who only learned to read later in life. Much of her work was accomplished through accommodations such as dictation. Siena’s logo, two Italian cypress trees, represents the school’s focus on the personal dialogue between each teacher and student that helps inspire learning and motivation.
Siena quickly established itself as both a local and national presence. In 2007, Siena founded the Siena Educational Workshop Series, offering workshops to area parents, teachers, tutors and other professionals on many aspects of educating students with language-based learning differences. In 2008, Siena became fully accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Siena staff members have presented at national and international conferences including the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), and Siena is a member of both those organizations, in addition to ThinkNation, a national cohort of private schools dedicated to best practices in teaching students with learning differences. In 2023, Siena became a founding school of the Association of LD Schools, a nonprofit, private school organization including over 50 founding schools across the United States and Canada that serve students with dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and executive dysfunction.
In 2009, a group of parents established The Siena School Scholarship Fund to further and support Siena's mission by providing scholarship funding. In the spring of 2010, Siena graduated its first senior class. In January 2013, the school moved to its current location, located conveniently at the Capital Beltway and a short distance from the Forest Glen Metro station.
Siena’s numerous traditions include the Siena Celebration each October, during Dyslexia Awareness month. At this celebration, the school recognizes key supporters and presents the annual Siena Cypress Leadership Award to a local or national leader who has made a difference in the lives of students with learning differences. Past winners include Dr. William Stixrud, a prominent local neuropsychologist, and best-selling author Rick Riordan, whose series Percy Jackson and the Olympians features the main character with dyslexia and ADHD.
Siena’s cross-curricular emphasis, its signature program in the arts, and its interscholastic sports program, internship program, parents association, and close connections to the community combine to give students a wide variety of experiences in preparing them for college. With the addition of our Northern Virginia campus in 2021 and Silver Spring Satellite campus in 2024, Siena has grown to over 180 students and looks forward to continued growth as it serves more bright, creative students who thrive in a multisensory, experiential learning environment.
In December 2023, Siena announced that it successfully earned reaccreditation from Middle States. Read the press release here.