education instruction in Maryland Catholic schools. ... receive state funding to support those services. Despite the lac
Welcoming Students with Disabilities into Catholic Schools The inspiration came from her disabled son, who was not able to benefit from a Catholic education. More than a decade later, Francesca Pellegrino’s vision has been instrumental in incorporating students with disabilities into Catholic schools. “Inspired by our faith, we decided that since we couldn’t find what we were looking for that we wanted to bring about change,” said Pellegrino, who founded the Catholic Coalition for Special Education, Inc. (CCSE) in 2004. “When you have a child with a disability, they touch so many lives. My son has transformed mine in ways I could never imagine. I certainly didn’t think I would be advocating for children with disabilities.” CCSE is a charitable non-profit organization that supports the creation and expansion of special education instruction in Maryland Catholic schools. In the fall of 2006, The Academy of Holy Cross in Montgomery County and Mt. St. Joe High School in Baltimore City became the first two Catholic schools to partner with CCSE in order to welcome students with significant disabilities such as Down syndrome and autism. Most Catholic schools strive to provide students with learning disabilities and other special needs appropriate services, but are not eligible to receive state funding to support those services. Despite the lack of support from government funding, Catholic schools have made great strides in welcoming students who need expanded services thanks in part to the efforts of CCSE. “We raise awareness and dispel the myths,” added Pellegrino. “As more and more schools take part and realize it is not as difficult as they thought, word gets out and helps build the momentum.” Thanks to Pellegrino’s hard work, twenty-seven other Catholic institutions in six counties
St. John the Evangelist School in Silver Spring is one of 29 Catholic schools in the state affiliated with the Catholic Coalition for Special Education
have also opened their doors. The coalition provides seed grants, funded through generous donations, to the schools to help them better accommodate students with special needs. “We have really worked tirelessly by providing grants to Catholic schools, so they can hire the professionals needed to serve these students and provide the technical assistance and development, so they can do it well,” Pellegrino said. “The schools are very diverse from where they are located to who they are serving. This isn’t something available to the elite. That is very important to me.” According to Pellegrino, including students with disabilities exposes all students to a wider variety of personalities and is teaching important life lessons. “When you take that student and you put him or her in an inclusive setting, they have an impact
on all of the other children in the class and the school. The students without disabilities learn the importance of the individual,” she said. “The impact of our program touches the entire community. What we do isn’t just about the students with a disability, it is about everybody else, which fits in beautifully with our faith. The beauty of Catholic Schools is that they really do teach to every student’s potential.” Pellegrino has been contacted by schools in eighteen other states as well as Africa and India to see how they can replicate what CCSE is doing in Maryland. “There is tremendous interest in what we are doing and in how we are doing it,” Pellegrino said. “On Saturday, I am co-presenting at the Archdiocese of Washington’s conference on faith, deafness and disability about the CCSE model.”
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN MARYLAND SERVES AND ADVOCATES FOR THE POOR, VULNERABLE AND THOSE IN NEED NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE CATHOLIC, BUT BECAUSE WE ARE CATHOLIC. MARYLAND CATHOLIC CONFERENCE • 10 FRANCIS STREET • ANNAPOLIS, MD • 21401 WWW.MDCATHOLIC.ORG • 410.269.1155 / 301.261.1979 • 410.269.1790 (FAX)
