For the past 62 years, the Julie Billiart School in Lyndhurst has served grade-school kids with learning differences from 38 school districts in Cuyahoga County and beyond.
Now, for the first time, the school is expanding its outreach with a second location in Akron called the Julie Billiart School of St. Sebastian Parish (JBSS) at 380 Mineola Ave.
Julie Billiart serves kids in kindergarten through eighth grade who have moderate learning and social differences, like high-functioning autism, ADD/ADHD, dyslexia and anxiety. The school, a private Catholic school, is sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame, but kids of all faiths are welcome.
The school is located down the street from St. Sebastian in the old Christ United Methodist Church.
When it opens in August, it will initially enroll kids in grades K-2, with just 12 kids in each grade. Additional grades will be added until the 2020-2021 school year, when grades K-8 will be served.
Each child is taught according to his or her Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in two environments — a classroom and a focus room.
In the focus room, where the student-teacher ratio is 6:1, kids typically learn core subjects such as math, reading and writing. Then, the focus groups convene in a 12:2 ratio to learn about subjects such as science and social studies.
Students also learn traditional skills, such as art and physical education, along with skills they may need to improve on, such as speech or socialization.
Jason Wojnicz, the Akron location’s principal, explained that kids with learning differences have “internal motors” that operate either too quickly or too slowly.
Each learning room is equipped to regulate the speed of those motors. Kids with slow internal motors, for example, benefit from mini trampolines and other physical activities in the room, while kids with faster internal motors take better to swinging chairs and dimmer lights to help relax.
“Whatever teachers need to do to increase concentration on the task,” Wojnicz said.
By the time they’re finished with renovations, classrooms will include carpeting, calming wall colors and technological features, such as a touch-screen LED TV and individual Google Chromebook laptops for each student.
“We produce a very calm, nurturing environment,” Wojnicz said.
Wojnicz said the school decided to expand four years ago after it outgrew its Lyndhurst location. Its strategic growth committee surveyed areas around Northeast Ohio and found Summit County had the largest need for the population the school serves.
Lannie Davis-Frecker, president and CEO of Julie Billiart, said they eventually hope to add other locations throughout Ohio, but for now, they’re focusing on the Akron school to assure it has a “great foundation for further growth.”
Although the two share a name, JBSS and St. Sebastian Parish are separate entities. With the church’s pastor the Rev. John Valencheck involved in bringing JBSS to Akron, though, Wojnicz said the partnership presents future opportunities for community involvement and collaboration between the schools’ students.
“We want our two student bodies to interact with each other,” Wojnicz said.
The school will have open houses on March 22, May 24 and July 12. Wojnicz said its first open house on Jan. 25 went smoothly, and the community has responded well to the school’s arrival.
“You do hear a lot about the hardships, but they’re very excited and optimistic about the opportunity,” Wojnicz said about community members. “They see what end results is going to be here and they get excited about it.”
Amy Cramer of Independence is one mom who can testify to the difference of the end result.
Before Cramer’s 9-year-old Gabriel and 8-year-old Matthew started at the Lyndhurst location, they had trouble at their previous school. Gabriel stopped reading a book when he got stuck on a page, and Matthew often cried while he was at school.
Since they’ve transferred to Julie Billiart, though, Cramer said the two look forward to going to school and learning.
“This is from a child who, less than a year ago, wouldn’t let go of me when he went to school,” Cramer said about Matthew. “Now, he runs out of the car … I mean, it’s a miracle, it really is.”
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216.