Mission & Vision

Dolores Mission School (DMS) is a Catholic parish grade school committed to serving Transitional Kindergarten (TK) through eighth grade students from low-income families in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles. Currently, DMS serves 219 students from over 200 families – 75% of whom earn incomes below $24,000 per year and 85% of students qualify for free or reduced breakfast and lunch. Together with the family, Dolores Mission strives to educate the whole child: academically, spiritually, physically, and morally in a nurturing environment. Dolores Mission’s central mission is to provide holistic education to the students of their community by forming leaders who will break the cycles of poverty and violence to become “men and women for and with others.”

History

In 1950, DMS opened its doors in one of the toughest and poorest neighborhoods in Los Angeles: Boyle Heights. Led by the Society of Jesus beginning in the 1980s, the school continues to serve the families who live in three local housing projects surrounding the school: Pico Gardens, Las Casitas, and Pueblo del Sol. The student population is 98% Latino, and more than 60% of Dolores Mission students are classified as English Language Learners. For a community in which 5% hold four-year college degrees and the majority (69%) have less than a high school education, high school completion and college attendance are crucial.

How and Why We Partner?

This past year and a half have been unlike any other and undeniably challenging. Dolores Mission students transitioned into distance learning, and their families faced heightened financial difficulties. But our commitment to help transform their community is vital to the prosperity of their community. Therefore, Greater LA New Car Association is proud to partner with Dolores Mission to provide some of the most marginalized children in Los Angeles with a quality Catholic education by supporting their Adopt a Student Scholarship Program. We are humbled to be able to walk in kinship with DMS to educate and empower the young minds of the Dolores Mission. DMS continues to move forward in educating its students and responding to the needs of the community and has re-opened its doors to in-person learning for the 2021-2022 school year.

For over 30 years, DMS has restored hope within the community by providing quality education to the youth of Boyle Heights, and we are proud to support their cause and mission. Every year, Dolores Mission hosts its annual Jesuit Charities Golf Tournament. This event has gathered faithful partners and friends like us to raise funds for the families and students of Dolores Mission. We are grateful to have been able to celebrate and support Dolores Mission’s commitment to educate and transform the lives of the children and families in Boyle Heights. These are still trying times for many organizations, and it is our goal to help Dolores Mission remain a beacon of hope for their community. We are honored to be part of the Dolores Mission family!