by Jill Van Trease, parent

There are a myriad of reasons why families send their children to Holy Family Classical School. Some might cite the authentic Catholic identity; others the faith-filled, joyful families; others the orthodox Catholic faculty and the small class sizes. Others are attracted to the classical curriculum, a curriculum which has gained in popularity all over the country as modern methods of education have come under scrutiny. The classical approach has the goal of forming children in wisdom and virtue. From the youngest students in Montessori class who are focused on hands-on activities and making connections, up through older students where physical learning progresses to abstract ideas, classical education starts with reality and strives towards Truth. Classical education endeavors to teach students how to learn, fostering critical thinking skills. It’s a model rich with content – which includes classical books and art – that attracts many families today for its “low tech” yet hands-on approach to education.

To the uninitiated (like this parent!), a classical education, with its heavy emphasis on reading and the study of history and philosophy, might seem to pose a great barrier to educating children of differing learning capabilities. And yet, it turns out the opposite is true: a classical curriculum teaches children not WHAT to learn (in the model of education initiated by John Dewey that is prevalent in most of our public schools today), but HOW to learn. Students studying a classical curriculum learn how to think, and approach the world and their studies with both wonder and awe. So while at first glance such a rigorous curriculum might strike one as unamenable to students who are faced with neurodivergent challenges – such as dyslexia or autism – in fact, a classical education is completely in line with educating all children.

And that’s where our talented and erudite learning specialists, Mrs. Hollie Stokes and Mrs. Becky White, come in. Mrs. Stokes, a special education major with many years of teaching experience, and Mrs. White, a certified reading specialist with a Master’s degree in Reading, work together to meet parents and students where they are and provide resources that respect the dignity and individuality of each and every child. To do this, they provide teacher education, parent and teacher support, and access to specialized services such as occupational therapy. They then implement and follow through on accommodations and modifications to the curriculum a child might need.

The process of differentiation is initiated by the homeroom teacher. If a homeroom teacher suspects a student might be faced with barriers in learning, the teacher will refer the student to Mrs. Stokes or Mrs. White. The specialists employ a battery of tools to asses the student, including the very comprehensive KTEA-3, the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement and Brigance III. They also consult with speech pathologists to assess patterns of speaking. Based on their assessments, they will meet with the parents and students to propose an individual academic plan, which might include interventions specifically tailored to the student.

Some might find it striking that our small school can employ two learning specialists. And yet to accommodate children of all abilities is, of course, the crux of the Catholic view towards every child and every person. Further, in a classical education individual subjects – philosophy, literature, theology, mathematics – are studied together in time to inform a larger truth, it follows that a school whose purpose is to help students experience wonder in the interrelatedness of various discipline might be the ideal place to embrace this view of the whole person. In a recent article from wordonfire.org, “Disability and Inclusion in Classical Education,” a happy aunt of a boy with Down Syndrome notes that her nephew attends a school that approaches education as “that which reveals the human person, invites the student to order their life beyond their limited mortality, and ultimately forms the student to seek God Himself in that which he comes to know about reality, both naturally and supernaturally.” So refreshing compared to those methods which use a “drill and kill” approach, wherein endless worksheets are prescribed, and all individual idiosyncrasies are sniffed out and squelched. This whole-person approach also sits in opposition to certain aspects of the secular disability rights movement, which tends to assign labels and then politicizes the relationship of the group with other oppressed groups. Such labeling and siloing can lead to a toxic soup of victimhood mentality and lists of grievances.

While a good portion of our specialists’ targeted assessments envelop students with learning challenges, intellectually gifted and talented children also fall under this specialized umbrella. Children who are not challenged might exhibit disruptive behaviors because they are not challenged and need to be pushed.

Mrs. Stokes notes a recent geometry project that the high schoolers tackled: students were instructed to build a gingerbread house on a coordinate plane using the X and Y axis. Unlike a typical regurgitation of facts, the students needed to apply their knowledge to build something “in real life” and consulted their peers to collaborate. Such teamwork is a hallmark of true learning: only if one thoroughly knows his or her subject can they teach it to others.

Mrs. Stokes’ and Mrs. White’s goal is to continue to grow their services and offer more in house therapies, while continuing to collaborate, monitor and advocate for all our students. They also have frequent opportunities for professional development, including workshops, conferences and other courses.

Mrs. White notes that to treat all our beautiful, varied children with innate dignity is the very mission that hearkens back to that of St. Katherine Drexel herself: by serving those more likely to be sidelined in our fast paced, ambitious society. We can be sure our teachers and school are challenging “the cult of normalcy” so prevalent in Western Culture that tends to see disability as a flaw to hide or a problem to solve, rather than as a gift that can be used in so many “out of the box” creative ways. Surely this mode of education is a living, breathing way to put our pro-life views into action. In the words of Pope John Paul II, “To speak of disability, handicaps and illness is to speak of the weakness of our human condition. No one born into this world is free from human frailty – whether it be physical, emotional or spiritual…in the providence of God, a different life does not mean a less important life. It does not mean a life with less potential for holiness or for contribution to the well-being of the world.”

St. Katherine Drexel, pray for us!