By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
Holy Trinity Clifton Campus — a new school campus taking shape in the Archdiocese of Louisville — aims to provide a Catholic education to children who have been diagnosed with language-based learning differences.
The new campus will be an extension of Holy Trinity School, located at 423 Cherrywood Road in St. Matthews, said Jack Richards, who is principal of Holy Trinity.
Holy Trinity Clifton Campus will be housed in the former Clifton Center, 2117 Payne St., which was once St. Frances of Rome Church’s school. The building — which also houses a theater, offices and other programs — is also called Holy Trinity Clifton Campus.
The school, set to open in August of 2019, aims to give students with language-based learning differences, such as dyslexia and severe Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a faith-based education.
Richards said leaders in the archdiocese have long wanted such a school and that Holy Trinity wants to make it happen.
“We feel a calling to take that step,” said Richards during an interview on Feb. 15. He will act as the principal of the Clifton campus, as well.
Richards noted that some families in the Archdiocese of Louisville who have children with severe learning differences have had to make the “difficult decision” to transfer their children to non-Catholic schools.
Oftentimes, when families have to make this decision, they feel as if “they’re losing their community and Catholic identity,” Richards said. “We want to keep them in the archdiocese.”
The Clifton campus will open with about 30 children in second through fourth grades, said Paula Watkins, who is director of student achievement at Holy Trinity in St. Matthews. She will be “head of school” at the Clifton campus.
The school will be open to children from across the archdiocese. To start, each class will have 10 students, a “certified special educator” and an assistant teacher.
The small classes will allow for a more “targeted curriculum,” said Watkins.
Based on their research in planning the school, Watkins said organizers have learned that every school in the archdiocese has a special-needs coordinator who works with students who need extra help.
For example, Holy Trinity has about 82 students working with a special-needs coordinator and they’re doing well, Watkins said. The students are able to remain in their regular classrooms.
The students who will benefit from the Clifton campus are those who need more help than is available at their schools.
Holy Trinity plans to add a grade each year and eventually offer kindergarten through eighth-grade, said Watkins and Richards. They decided to start with grades two, three and four because school work becomes more challenging in these grades and children with learning differences tend to start struggling around this time, noted Watkins.
In addition to typical coursework, such as language arts and math, students at the Clifton campus will learn study and organizational skills.
They will also have access to such offerings as speech therapy, occupational therapy and counseling to address social and emotional needs, said Watkins. Special area classes, such as physical education and art, will be available at the St. Matthews campus.
Richards added that students in the new school will be able to fully take part in life on the St. Matthews campus. They will attend weekly school Mass at Holy Trinity Church and participate in field trips, after-school activities and sporting events.
Watkins and Richards said the tuition would be higher than the St. Matthews campus but families will be able to apply for tuition assistance through the Catholic Education Foundation.
Holy Trinity Clifton Campus is leasing the building from St. Frances of Rome and is already using the building’s theater to present its school productions.
