Special-needs students part of the gang
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Special-education teacher Beth Sieg's student Charlie Osborn indicates his preference for her to draw an animal first as she works with him in her class at St. Angela Merici School in White Oak.
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On Jan. 26, during a pep rally that was among Catholic Schools Week activities, the student body at St. Thomas More School, Bethel Park, was led in chants by the school's cheerleaders.
They were in their purple and white uniforms with matching hair bows that bounced with each of their jumps, twists and turns.
But this was no ordinary cheer squad. Two of its members are special-needs students who attend the St. Anthony School Program at St. Thomas More, one of seven elementary schools and three high schools in the Pittsburgh Diocese to house such programs.
The other elementaries are St. Angela Merici, White Oak; St. Joseph, Verona; Word of God, Swissvale; Cardinal Wright Regional, North Side; St. Alexis, McCandless; and SS. Simon and Jude, Scott.
The high schools that offer the program are Serra Catholic, McKeesport; Bishop Canevin; West End; and North Catholic, Troy Hill.
All activities at these schools are open to the special-needs students, who are diagnosed with Down syndrome, autism and other developmental disabilities. Their presence is welcome in any of the classes.
"Our basic philosophy is that all children are created in God's image," said Lisa George, education director for the St. Anthony program, which is headquartered in Franklin Park. A post-secondary vocational program is housed at Duquesne University.
There are 110 students in the St. Anthony program throughout the diocese in kindergarten through age 21. Eight attend St. Thomas More.
Each St. Anthony student has an individualized education plan that is devised and carried out by the staff of St. Anthony and the teachers at the individual schools.
The only services the St. Anthony students receive from public funds are speech therapy through the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.
Annual tuition for elementary students in the St. Anthony program is $5,200, which is higher than the $3,000 diocesan average for typical elementary students. For high school students, the St. Anthony tuition is $5,300, which is lower than that for typical high school students. Tuition for the program at Duquesne University is $5,500.
But Mark Sieg, executive director of the St. Anthony School Programs, said the actual annual cost of educating a St. Anthony student is about $17,000; the gap is funded through diocesan funds and fund-raising.
Ray Tedesco, of Peters, was at St. Thomas More last week to watch his daughter, Maria, cheer in the pep rally. Maria, 11, entered the St. Anthony program at St. Thomas More a year ago after experiencing difficulty attending public school.
Mr. Tedesco said he and his wife had been happy with their choice to enroll Maria at St. Thomas More. Their daughter had gotten to the point where she was afraid to go to the public school she attended. But at St. Thomas More, she looks forward to going to school and participating in activities such as cheerleading.
In addition to cheerleading, St. Anthony students at St. Thomas More have been members of the basketball and cross country teams and are members of other extracurricular activities such as yearbook.
The same philosophy exists at all of the schools that host the St. Anthony program.
"They are included in everything," said Principal Sheila Riley.
In fact, it's the inclusion philosophy that draws parents to the St. Anthony program over their public schools, Ms. George said.
The goals of the program are to provide the special students with moral and spiritual foundations, academics and vocational training.
Until the satellite programs were opened at the various schools around the diocese, the St. Anthony program operated out of the St. Anthony School for Exceptional Children in Oakmont. That school, which operated from 1953-1992, offered a day program and a Monday-through-Friday residential program for special needs students.
But as educational philosophies changed from the segregation of special education students to the inclusion model, the diocese started to create satellite programs around the area, said Mr. Sieg.
At each of the schools, there is a resource room for the special needs students. The amount of time they spend in those rooms depends on their abilities and social skills. Most are taught basic academics such as reading, math and social skills in the room.
Based on their abilities, the elementary St. Anthony pupils attend class with their typical peers for art, religion, physical education, social studies, library, music and Spanish.
"If they can't get out of the classroom for a subject, then we supplement it for them in the classroom," said Sandy Young, the special education teacher at St. Thomas More.
At St. Thomas More, the students are assigned a homeroom and lunch period with their typical peers and attend such activities as field trips and assemblies with their homeroom classes.
Students are generally accompanied by an aide when they leave their resource room, but the older children are permitted to attend mainstream classrooms without an aide if they demonstrate they can handle the situation.
The teachers said it was common to see typical students lean over in class to assist their special needs peers.
"Our students learn so much from being with the special kids. They learn about understanding patience and compassion," Ms. Young said.
In gym class, the able-bodied pupils often adjust their level of play during a game to make sure the St. Anthony students can keep up.
"In gym class, when a St. Anthony child makes a basket, all of the kids applaud," said Janet Johnson, a teacher at St. Thomas More for 25 years.
She said having the special-education population at St. Thomas More had made it a "better school than it was before."
"Our typical children learn as much from our special children as the special children learn from them," Ms. Johnson said.
First Published February 5, 2009 6:25 am
