Traditional classrooms don't fit every student, so Catholic Diocese is building new ones

Chloe Fulton’s students are future café owners, meteorologists and historians.

On any given school day, you’ll see students at her school taking breaks to tinker with Legos in the hallway when they’re overstimulated. You’ll hear students’ tests being read aloud to them to help them process their responses. You’ll feel the students’ hand-made pipe cleaner video game characters and hand-written letters they show off to their teachers with pride.

At Pensacola's Mother Clelia Morning Star High School, students like Fulton's are reminded every day that they are much more than “autistic” or the labels that may have been placed on them before stepping inside.

Mother Clelia Morning Star High School is a school for children with exceptionalities. Because of their unique needs, whether it be academically, socially, or emotionally – traditional school settings don’t always allow them to shine.

But at Morning Star education is custom-built to the unique way and pace that each child learns, and the school was created with students in mind. Now, a new school building is being built with the same philosophy and it is planned to open next school year.

When did Morning Star High School open in Pensacola?

The "Morning Star Program" is common in Catholic elementary schools and offers services to children with a variety of special learning needs. However, some students in the program didn't have a comparable option when graduating to the high school level. In February of 2020, Mother Clelia Morning Star High School was born to bridge the gap.

The program started with a dozen students in the library of their sister school, Pensacola Catholic High School. Since then, Morning Star has grown to almost 30 students, and currently operates out of modular buildings neighboring Pensacola Catholic High School’s campus.

“Since 1992, the Catholic schools in Pensacola have had ‘Morning Star’ programs that serve specials needs populations, kids that can generally be included in a typical classroom environment but need extra support in order to excel,” said Morning Star Chair David Kimbell. “So, variety of learning needs – Down syndrome, autism spectrum, spina bifida, things like that.

“Six years ago, we were in discussions with the Diocese because our two Morning Star programs at the elementary level, that are pretty much second grade through eighth grade - there were some students graduating from those programs that were not necessarily a perfect fit for Catholic High School and not really a perfect fit for public school, either. So, they were like, ‘Well, where do we go? Where do we go next?’”

What will the new Morning Star High School offer?

Located at 70 Hunter Ave., the 2300-square-foot school building, which Kimbell hopes will be completed by July, will have room for three permanent classrooms, as well as administrative offices, doubling the size of their current student capacity to about 60. Its becoming more of a necessity than a want, since the school is steadily growing.

“I think as soon as word got out that we were here and there was this little niche of a school that didn’t meet any current place like it, we were kind of this unique system, parents really started coming to us,” Morning Star High School Director Amanda Drews said. “We didn’t have to advertise until this year that we are here. We’ve grown by seven to 10 (students) every year since we opened.”

For parents like Rocky Parra, who is on Morning Star’s school advisory board, everyday tasks like runs to Target can be a big feat for a child with autism. Morning Star High School shared the story of Parra’s now 19-year-old son, Matthew, on their school website under their student spotlight.

When Matthew advocated to shop the store alone in 2021, Parra gave him a $50 budget and she allowed him to go off and do his shopping but still kept a close eye and ear on him from neighboring aisles. After eventually allowing him to “presume competence” and go it alone, she headed away to the grocery section, reminding him she was only a phone call away. He finished his shopping with what he needed, under budget, and let her know when he was ready to return home.

“We saw the pride in his smile and heard it in his voice on the way to the car and on the ride home,” Parra wrote in the spotlight piece.

Opportunities like what Parra’s son experienced are all part of Morning Star’s current expansion plans, which will include a life skills center to give students the opportunity to develop the confidence and competence they need for life after high school. They will be given the opportunity to practice daily tasks, workforce skills and learn how to transition into adulthood and independent living.

“We want them to be as independent as they can be, and as successful contributing members to our community to their ability level,” Drews said. “While some of our students may never be able to live totally independent, we want them to be able to contribute to their household.”

What will the Chadbourne-DeMaria Foundation Life Skills Center be like?

“Our life skills center will be kind of like a studio apartment meets a science lab," Drews said. "It will be open concept with a kitchen, laundry, a mock bedroom, everything that they’ll need to learn how to do within their own apartment-style living. They’ll learn everything from following recipes and cooking to cleaning and laundry and managing their own finances - everything that they will need to be able to work within their own home environment.”

Parra anticipates that the Chadbourne-DeMaria Foundation Life Skills Center, made possible through a $300,000 gift by the foundation that bears its name, will be particularly "life-changing."

“It’s life-changing for these families to have a place for their children to go that’s not a portable, that’s a school that’s designed for them and with them in mind,” Parra said. “In the special needs world, it doesn’t always work that way. You don’t always get the nice, pretty, shiny space. You kind of get what’s left over or is an after-thought. This is being designed with our kids in mind and that they’re going to instill confidence in their abilities so they can go out into the greater community and be a contributing member.”

While they receive more individualized attention and care, it’s still academically rigorous. Students take a full course load with the opportunity for non-academic inclusion courses at Pensacola Catholic High School and earn credit to graduate with a standard high school diploma based on the Florida ACCESS Point Standards, according to a news release from Morning Star.

“As a parent, I feel like it’s the perfect medium of academics and support,” Parra said. “Here, they’re going to get academics, they’re going to get socialization and they’re going to get life skills."

How do I learn more about Morning Star High School?

Those looking to fill out an application or donate to the school can contact Drews at ajansen@mshspensacola.org or visit the school website at mshspensacola.org.

“When you donate to this school, it makes an incredible impact immediately in the lives of these students and families," Kimbell said. "This project itself is just such a blessing to be a part of and has incredible upside for this community overall. Not just for Morning Star High School, but for Pensacola and all of our educational options in town."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Morning Star High School expands to brick-and-mortar in Pensacola