Trinity's Program "Students With Accommodation Needs"

Contributing Author: Mrs. Kelly Orr, K-12 Director of Student Care, and Mrs. Lauren Chun, SWAN Coordinator

Flourishing: Volume 8  | Issue 2

Trinity Christian School is more than just a school. It is a community. It is a family in the kingdom of God. Our mission states, our faculty, and staff come alongside our students daily, seeking opportunities for life-on-life mentoring both inside and outside the classroom. It is in these integral moments that we come together seeking wisdom, cultivating virtue, and inspiring service in the life of every student, K-12th grade.

Our leaders' desire to dedicate attention for students who would otherwise be overlooked, is the very heart of our school. How can we reach beyond the limitations set by our culture/society to those that we are called to reach? It is as simple as following what Jesus says, “Let the children come to me.” Jesus sought out those whom people failed to notice or look down upon, but God loves all of His children equally.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. ~ Gal 3:16

Through much prayer and conversation, we began the SWAN (Students With Accommodation Needs) program in 2016 in the Upper School and expanded school-wide just this year. The vision of the SWAN Program provides academic services and resources to foster the development of skills and attitudes necessary to increase the knowledge and academic independence of all students. We maintain our biblical standards of mentorship and teaching as we walk alongside parents in the growth and development of their children. One parent of a SWAN student states:

"My now 14-year old son has struggled with paying attention, staying organized, turning in work on time, and staying on task ever since his kindergarten year. The teachers have been amazing and patient with him in helping him in his struggles. But this past year, when he was in 7th grade, Trinity implemented the SWAN program to help kids who struggle with many of the things my son struggles with. When he started the program, he got significantly better grades, stayed on top of his work, and seemed overall less stressed about school and homework. The staff who were involved with the SWAN program and helped my son were very communicative in his progress. They were very kind, caring, and understanding of his situation and went about helping him with the heart of Christ. The SWAN program gave my son the boost of confidence to show his capabilities in overcoming his struggles. It also showed him that it's okay that he learns differently, and SWAN helped teach him how to look at learning from a different perspective. I'm so incredibly thankful to Trinity and the SWAN program for recognizing some kids need a little extra help. It makes my heart full to see my son become so confident in himself, and I have the SWAN program and staff to thank for that.”

Having a student who struggles in school because of a disability can create an enormous amount of stress on the family, and our SWAN team loves to walk this road with them. We often have the opportunity to remind families of biblical truths which inform their attitude and perspective on their situation. We can also offer resources, practical solutions, and strategies to help parents at home, and give students the tools specific to their disability to help them excel in school.

We don’t just work to support our families, but our teachers too since they are an integral part of the care team for each student. As we mature our SWAN program in all grades, we will provide teacher workshops and training to better equip them to teach a variety of learners. One teacher writes,

“Thank you for your partnership with this student. I wanted you to know of the successes that are taking place and appreciate all you have done to ensure each student reaches their full potential.”

Trinity is a special place to be educated. We are following the heart of Christ to reach all students. We are working hard to make our school a place where we can include more children who may be overlooked by our society because of a disability.

We were so honored and humbled by the recent accrediting team’s major commendation for our program and exhortation to keep developing and refining our program as we walk with more families. The visiting team said:

“Parents reported great satisfaction that their children were both given appropriate accommodations and challenged by the rigor of a classical education. While this program is still growing and developing, a program of this nature is unusual in classical schools which makes TCS on the cutting-edge in implementation of an inclusion model.”

This encourages us to keep reaching and creatively asking the Holy Spirit to guide us in forming our programs and services in a way that's consistent with the incredible mission of Trinity that we love. Though we know we will not be able to serve every child, we aim to extend classical education to the extent possible with our God-given resources.