Veritas Christi: Nation’s First Catholic High School Exclusively for Students with Special Needs

Editor's note: Today, I'm thrilled to share information about a very unique learning environment. Veritas Christi is the nation's very first Catholic high school designed exclusively to meet the unique learning abilities of students with special needs. If you would like to help with a financial contribution, please go to veritaschristi.com to make a secure, tax-exempt donation. To learn more about Veritas Christi, please feel free to call Chip Clearwater, co-founder and principal, at 269-744-6138. Lisa

EDUCATORS TO CREATE ‘A FIRST’ IN CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Nation’s First Catholic High School Exclusively for Students with Special Needs

Chip Clearwater, his wife Maureen, and daughter Olivia

ANN ARBOR, MI, August 19, 2014…The group of educators behind the creation of Veritas Christi, the nation’s first Catholic high school exclusively for students with special needs, has produced a video to explain the need for such a school, and to ask for help “bringing our school to fruition.”    http://veritaschristi.com/

The 10-minute video will be marketed nationwide and targeted specifically to those parents around the country who have lost confidence in their public school systems to provide their children with special needs the kind of educational experience that fosters self-sufficiency and self-respect.

Jake Espinosa, the father of a daughter with special needs, speaks for many families in the video when he says, “I’m looking for a school that will be sensitive to the learning needs of my child; a school that will challenge her to be all that she can be; and to develop her skills in a moral, ethical, and Catholic setting!”

Fr. Don Vettese, SJ - Board Member

“Students with special needs are no different from any other child with respect to their need for moral development,” said Father Don Vettese, a Jesuit priest, a former teacher and administrator, and a Veritas Christi board member. “As Catholics, we are all called to pay attention to those who are vulnerable, to those who have less access and thus more need.”

The high school will include 7^th through 12^th graders. It will open with a minimum of 15 students. Each class will have no more than eight to 10 students in it, to create the best possible environment for each and every student to excel and succeed.

The school will offer two curriculums: one for those interested in pursuing a post-secondary education and another for those whose immediate focus is to earn their high school diplomas. Both curriculums will be based on the Jesuit/Ignatian model, administered and taught by Catholic educators trained and certified in special education. Every teacher will have an aide, also Catholic and trained in special education.

The plan is to open the administrative offices as soon as possible followed by the school itself, in time for the January 2015 semester. A nationwide fundraising effort is currently underway.

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If you would like to help with a financial contribution, please go to veritaschristi.com to make a secure, tax-exempt donation. To learn more about Veritas Christi, please feel free to call Chip Clearwater, co-founder and principal, at 269-744-6138.

Please share our video with parents you may know of who have lost confidence in their public school systems to provide their children with special needs the kind of educational experience that fosters self-sufficiency and self-respect.

Veritas Christi accepts all students regardless of their race, creed, or background.