Mission/Philosophy

Immaculate Conception Academy, serving San Francisco’s Mission District since 1883, is an all-girls Cristo Rey School in the Dominican tradition. ICA offers a college preparatory education complemented by a work component to students of limited means. Our program promotes academic excellence, life skills and service to God, family and community within a supportive and nurturing environment that encourages a diverse student body to become women of faith, learning, community, leadership and vision.

Immaculate Conception Academy, an all-girls Catholic college preparatory Cristo Rey School, is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose.

Faculty, staff and students collaborate with parents, the primary educators, to create an educational environment that fosters the development of the whole person. In the Dominican tradition, Immaculate Conception Academy encourages the growth of each student as a woman of faith, learning, community, leadership and vision.

Through an innovative work-study program, ICA partners with businesses to provide a quality, affordable education to motivated and capable young women. ICA strives to prepare students to live meaningful Christian lives, well-equipped for college and future workplace challenges. Building a faith community is integral to our mission.

A desire to grow in faith and in personal relationship with Christ is at the heart of our educational philosophy. Promoting excellence, we value intellectual and personal integrity and the development of self-esteem. We further the formation of personal values, moral judgment and responsible decision making. We foster creativity and aesthetic appreciation. We encourage the formation of healthy patterns of living. We challenge students to develop attitudes and fundamental skills which are the basis of life-long learning. We endeavor to instill proficiency and a strong work ethic.

As an educational community of persons from diverse cultural, academic and religious backgrounds, Immaculate Conception Academy strives to empower motivated young women from families of limited means for success in college and life. We foster respect for life and the interdependence of all peoples, responsibility and care for the earth and its resources, commitment to the principles of social justice with awareness of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and practice of the Gospel message of love and forgiveness. Both within and beyond the classroom, we provide educational experiences that help develop each student’s unique qualities and self-worth.

We support the tenets and standards of the Cristo Rey Network, a national association of high schools that provide high-quality, Catholic college preparatory education to urban youth. This innovative school model engages each student in a corporate work study program that not only funds a significant portion of their cost of education, but also provides exposure to possibilities in the corporate world not otherwise readily available.