St. Margaret offers another choice

Re. “Catholic board under fire over plan for separate school for students with behaviour problems,” March 6

The word “Catholic” comes from the Greek word “Katholos” meaning welcome all — just as Jesus did. Inclusion is values based, and can occur almost anywhere.

As educators we look at the diverse needs of all our students, and continually challenge ourselves to provide the supports they need within their community school. Over the past few years we have developed multi-disciplinary teams (that can include behaviour specialists, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists and educational consultants) that work with schools and students to provide on-site, personalized intervention.

However, at times, we require additional pathways and choices to offer families if the needs of the students are not being met as effectively as hoped. These pathways and alternate programs are Programs of Choice — and are options for school teams and families.

St. Margaret will be an innovative school, with rich programming, specialist intervention, opportunities for community connections, bridges to the community school, assistive technologies, real-world learning and family involvement — and where approximately 80-100 students with severe and complex needs will attend at various times throughout the year.

Inclusion is not about providing just one program option for students, where all students of the same age are required to be in the same class/program at the same time. Our focus has always and will always be providing students with all of the supports they need to develop to their fullest potential, so that all our children can truly grow to live fully in our community. Corine Gannon, assistant superintendent, Edmonton Catholic Schools