Dear Monsignor Barr,
When Pope Francis declared this the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, I wondered what it would look like at St. Joseph’s. Of all of the changes I have seen, I am most inspired and thankful for your leadership toward the goal of including special needs children in the parish school.
You shared with us in the parish bulletin how your own family was blessed by your older brother, Harry, who was born with spina bifida and died as a little boy. No wonder the special needs children hold such a special place in your heart! Undoubtedly, Harry is looking down on your efforts from heaven with a lot of admiration for his little brother.
As a former high school Spanish teacher, a handful of my courses in teachers college focused on special education. Knowing that I hoped to teach in a Catholic school, I was sad that aside from mild learning disabilities, special needs students would likely never enter my classroom. When you shared your plan to bring in more staff and resources to accommodate the special needs students in our parish family, I will be the first to admit that I was wary. My first reaction was fear. Because of my background in education, I knew it would be an uphill battle. I started asking all of the questions that come from fear. Would we have the right staff? Would the special needs student get the support they needed? Would our teachers be adequately trained?
Thank goodness I’m not the one in charge! No good decision is made out of fear. Thank you for being a brave pastor when I would have been fearful–of failure, of criticism, of backlash, of who knows what! It is obvious that you have felt this call from God and are doing this out of obedience. Have you ever heard the expression, “Delayed obedience is disobedience”? While the world and all of us so-called “experts” in the education field might say that starting the inclusion of the special needs students this year was too quick, you probably saw it as delayed obedience. Concerns might include the need for more time, more training, more tools. Undoubtedly, we will experience hiccups as we begin to learn how to be a school that welcomes special needs children. What endeavor with humans at the helm doesn’t have its problems? Yet, what are we afraid of? I applaud you for hearing the call and for moving forward while most of us so-called “experts” would have said to wait.
Thank you for this unprecedented opportunity for families that send their children to Catholic school. While I’m sure it is a blessing for the families of the special needs children to get to send their children to St. Joseph’s, I want you to know what a blessing it is for the whole community to get to welcome the special needs children into our classrooms. The children at St. Joseph’s are leading the way on how to welcome our parish special needs students. We would do well to learn from these little ones who are showing us what the Year of Mercy is all about. The children see the differences, they ask questions, they find out how they can help, they welcome their new classmates with open arms. What a gift that our kids will never know a classroom without special needs children! They intuitively know at a young age that we all have something about us that forces us to lean on others.
In the days and weeks to come, please lean on us. Let us know how we can help. What can we do to help with this transition? What intentions should we be keeping in prayer? What resources do we still need?
My prayers are with you and our school. I pray for a softening of heart for those who may still fearful of this change. Thank you for your vocation, for your daily “yes” to God, and for all of the sacrifices that you make on behalf of our parish family.
In Christ,
Catherine Boucher
Congratulations St. Joe’s! God Bless the teachers and students as they welcome all God’s children.
It’s an exciting time to be a part of the St. Joseph parish and school!
Congratulations St. Joe’s! God Bless the teachers and students as they welcome all God’s children.
It’s an exciting time to be a part of the St. Joseph parish and school!
I wonder where Msgr Barr was when my child was being tormented at St Jo’s being called “stupid” on a daily basis by the other kids because school was hard for her?
Where was he when I called him to discuss what was happening in his school and parish?
He didn’t even want to hear about it.
I truly pray things go well for these special kiddos. I, however, am very thankful for LPS.
Oh, Julie, my heart absolutely aches for you and your daughter! I’m so sorry to hear that she had such a negative experience at a parish school that I have come to love as our own children’s second home. I don’t know what happened in your case, but I want you to know that as another St. Joseph parent, I’d band together with whoever I could find to make sure that that behavior never happened in a Catholic school. I’m so sorry that it did to your daughter. I’m sorry for the shortcomings that led to your decision to go elsewhere for school, and I hope your daughter is doing well today. I hope you’ll find it in your heart during this Year of Mercy to forgive our school for any of its shortcomings. Thank you for praying for the school as we try our best to include these dearest members of our parish family.
Thank you for your kind words. We loved the teachers…..just unbelievably disappointed in administration. My daughters class lost 14 kids that year…..some due to the bullying and some for other reasons. Parents were never notified.
After we left the school and the church we were sent an “anonymous letter” from someone in the parish condemning us for our decision…..without having all the facts.
3 years later I’m still searching my heart for the mercy and forgiveness I know I should have. I just haven’t found it yet.
Good luck to you all this upcoming school year. I truly will pray for these wonderful kiddos. ??
Julie, I apologize for my delay. I’m not getting e-mail notifications when someone comments on my blog (don’t ask me why!), so this comment fell through the cracks. What you described sounds awful, and my heart aches that your family went through all of it–especially in a place that our family loves so much. You continue to be in my prayers, and I think of you often. I hope God will heal all of the wounds your family experienced and that He can bring you to a place of forgiveness. I’ve struggled with forgiveness in the past, and it helped me to get there when I finally realized that there is a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. Thank you for offering your prayers for the successful implementation of this program at St. Joe’s. Things continue to go well!
I wonder where Msgr Barr was when my child was being tormented at St Jo’s being called “stupid” on a daily basis by the other kids because school was hard for her?
Where was he when I called him to discuss what was happening in his school and parish?
He didn’t even want to hear about it.
I truly pray things go well for these special kiddos. I, however, am very thankful for LPS.
Oh, Julie, my heart absolutely aches for you and your daughter! I’m so sorry to hear that she had such a negative experience at a parish school that I have come to love as our own children’s second home. I don’t know what happened in your case, but I want you to know that as another St. Joseph parent, I’d band together with whoever I could find to make sure that that behavior never happened in a Catholic school. I’m so sorry that it did to your daughter. I’m sorry for the shortcomings that led to your decision to go elsewhere for school, and I hope your daughter is doing well today. I hope you’ll find it in your heart during this Year of Mercy to forgive our school for any of its shortcomings. Thank you for praying for the school as we try our best to include these dearest members of our parish family.
Thank you for your kind words. We loved the teachers…..just unbelievably disappointed in administration. My daughters class lost 14 kids that year…..some due to the bullying and some for other reasons. Parents were never notified.
After we left the school and the church we were sent an “anonymous letter” from someone in the parish condemning us for our decision…..without having all the facts.
3 years later I’m still searching my heart for the mercy and forgiveness I know I should have. I just haven’t found it yet.
Good luck to you all this upcoming school year. I truly will pray for these wonderful kiddos. ??
Julie, I apologize for my delay. I’m not getting e-mail notifications when someone comments on my blog (don’t ask me why!), so this comment fell through the cracks. What you described sounds awful, and my heart aches that your family went through all of it–especially in a place that our family loves so much. You continue to be in my prayers, and I think of you often. I hope God will heal all of the wounds your family experienced and that He can bring you to a place of forgiveness. I’ve struggled with forgiveness in the past, and it helped me to get there when I finally realized that there is a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. Thank you for offering your prayers for the successful implementation of this program at St. Joe’s. Things continue to go well!
Thank you for this blog post Catherine. I shared it on my Facebook page. I am an advocate for school choice and education reform in our public schools, and a member of St. Joe’s with a child who went there long ago, and also went on to attend Lux and East after 5th grade. My experience at all of these schools was positive.
In my year of fighting for better education though innovative school choice, I often get the argument from my public school teacher friends that private schools do not have to take ALL students, or the hard students.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful letter about Monsignor Barr’s efforts to embrace the education and life formation of special needs students at St. Joseph’s in Lincoln. And I would like to thank the superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Omaha, Patrick Slattery for his words at the Creighton Economic Forum on School Choice this year that continue to inspire me for bringing better educational options through school choice to children of color and in poverty. who might be failing in the public school system or just want a different path than the government-run education model.
They were simply, “Let Them Try!”
Deb, thank you for your invaluable work as an advocate for school choice and education reform! You go, girl! I agree 100% with everything you wrote. I’m also a big fan of Patrick Slattery. I interviewed with him when he was still the principal at Skutt Catholic, and I was thrilled to hear about him becoming the superintendent for the Archdiocese of Omaha. Thank you for sharing this post. I hope I’ll be seeing much more of you in the comment box on the blog. 🙂
Thank you for this blog post Catherine. I shared it on my Facebook page. I am an advocate for school choice and education reform in our public schools, and a member of St. Joe’s with a child who went there long ago, and also went on to attend Lux and East after 5th grade. My experience at all of these schools was positive.
In my year of fighting for better education though innovative school choice, I often get the argument from my public school teacher friends that private schools do not have to take ALL students, or the hard students.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful letter about Monsignor Barr’s efforts to embrace the education and life formation of special needs students at St. Joseph’s in Lincoln. And I would like to thank the superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Omaha, Patrick Slattery for his words at the Creighton Economic Forum on School Choice this year that continue to inspire me for bringing better educational options through school choice to children of color and in poverty. who might be failing in the public school system or just want a different path than the government-run education model.
They were simply, “Let Them Try!”
Deb, thank you for your invaluable work as an advocate for school choice and education reform! You go, girl! I agree 100% with everything you wrote. I’m also a big fan of Patrick Slattery. I interviewed with him when he was still the principal at Skutt Catholic, and I was thrilled to hear about him becoming the superintendent for the Archdiocese of Omaha. Thank you for sharing this post. I hope I’ll be seeing much more of you in the comment box on the blog. 🙂