This year’s theme – “An Ocean of Possibilities” – is apropos for St. Thérèse Academy, a Catholic school for students with learning differences in pre-K3 through 12th grades.
As it opens its doors Aug. 8 for its fourth year, St. Thérèse will be in its new location in the former St. Mary Magdalen School. That location is approximately a mile east of its original site at the former Our Lady of Divine Providence School in metairie, whose facilities it outgrew over the past three years.
The new, larger campus offers much flexibility with 27 classrooms – 10 more than at the Divine Providence location – to better accommodate a student body that needs a little extra attention and has seen a growth from 100 to 210 since 2019, said head of school Shannon Bland.
The enrollment increase has been spurred by many younger-age students joining the program.
“We are extremely blessed,” Bland said. “Our growth and success are proof that this model of education for exceptional learners is a choice families were looking for and is needed in the community. This move to St. Mary Magdalen allows us a lot of land for growth.”
Space affords amenities
Offering a small-classroom environment – there are no more than 15 students in a class, with a teacher and an aide in all classrooms up to fourth grade – St. Thérèse needed more room to expand its one-on-one instruction to students with learning exceptionalities.
Additional space at St. Mary Magdalen has afforded a designated area for music therapy and resource services in speech and language and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
The new campus will house elementary and middle school students in a separate building from the high school. And, the high school guidance counselor will be developing a program for parents highlighting careers for students after high school as well as sessions on study skills.
“(The high schoolers) are excited about their own identity here,” she said. “They are able to create their own space.”
Additional staff has been hired, as well, including someone board-certified in behavior analysis to oversee all therapies and to help parents and support teachers by sharing the latest, best practices in therapies, Bland said.
And, through a grant from and partnership with DePaul Community Health Centers, students are now offered free counseling and health care.
Talk began in January
The damage from Hurricane Ida at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year at Our Lady of Divine Providence’s campus forced St. Thérèse to shift its students to three different sites for several months. It was not the ideal situation for some students who don’t adjust well to change, Bland said.
once the Archdiocese of New Orleans and St. Mary Magdalen Parish announced in January 2022 that its elementary school would close at school-year’s end, due to declining enrollment and finances, Bland said she began discussions with the parish about St. Thérèse moving there permanently. She said Father Chris DeLerno, St. Mary Magdalen’s pastor, has been wonderful during the move and was thrilled to keep a school in the parish. This is the school’s second permanent location.
Bland said parents of students at St. Thérèse are so grateful to have a school with customized learning plans based on a student’s ability and style of learning that they rally when the school lets them know about its needs.
While St. Mary Magdalen School had recently renovated its cafeteria and playground, Bland, teachers and parent volunteers are sprucing up classrooms. One parent is helping paint classrooms, while another is building bookcases and other needed elements. Other parents chipped in during a July 9 workday, and yet another is coordinating a car show fundraiser Sept. 17.
Teachers also have a strong bond to the school, Bland said, willing to complete extra training if they see a need. Several will return to the classroom after retirement this year to offer their skills for multi-sensory math and reading interventions, and a part-time high school English teacher will “fill in the gaps.”
Bland said the possibilities at the new campus are endless.
“You see the possibilities,” she said. “The move can be hectic, but … we are able to grow and serve all students who need us. Our mission is to work with exceptional learners. Exceptionality is not a negative. … Each one of us highlights all the wonderful gifts that God has given us, and they look different in everyone.”
