Classroom companions - Catholic schools benefit from a variety of supports

George, a lionhead rabbit, sits tucked inside a St. Francis of Assisi bird feeder at St. George Catholic School in Fort Worth. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

The Diocese of Fort Worth is blessed with 17 Catholic schools that work hard to support their students. A school district that grows by faith and faithful, the schools are ever evolving to further support student development in Catholic values and virtue as well as in academic excellence.

Beginning in fall 2026, the Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) grants, which prioritize students with special needs, will expand access to Catholic education for prospective students and families. 

However, long before TEFA passed, Superintendent Frank Perez said the diocese’s Catholic schools had been working to address an increase in students with learning differences and have been “adding services where we are able to better support students.”

The Schools Office is accustomed to meeting the needs of students who need dyslexia or speech therapy. Enrollment needs and budgets drive what other kinds of supports schools are equipped to provide for students with learning differences. 

“We encourage families to contact their interested school to discuss what supports are available on that campus,” Perez said, adding that the Schools Office is exploring means to “offer more comprehensive supports in the future,” possibly through contractual partners. 

Principal Mary Burns of St. John the Apostle Catholic School in North Richland Hills believes she has been called to find ways to serve more students with an array of learning disabilities and differences. 

“We are called to the evangelization and formation of all God’s children,” she said.

Burns shared that she is working closely with two Nolan alumni whose nonprofit is dedicated to creating inclusive, student-centered learning environments. Together, they have performed an audit on St. John’s current capacity to serve their population of students with learning disabilities and have started training teachers on strategies to better reach their students, including those with diagnoses such as dyslexia, autism, ADHD, medical disabilities, and a variety of emotional, behavioral, and attention disorders.

“It is my desire — and that of many Catholic school educators — to serve all the students that God sends to us,” she said.

Regardless of a student’s academic support needs, students and staff can benefit from the social and emotional support of a four-legged specialist. 

Three diocesan schools have found furry forms of emotional support, which is most appropriate during this jubilee year of St. Francis, patron saint of animals.

Gig’em, Holy Trinity!

Heads turn and hearts race when Gig’em walks the halls at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Grapevine. With one lick and one flop of drooping, curly ears, a day’s worth of worries and stresses immediately vanish.

The 12-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel has been in the business of pet therapy for nearly half of his life, under the warm and attentive care of handler and owner Carolyn Apodaca. Having heard of the relief a trained therapy animal could bring to those dealing with emotional stress, the A&M graduate of the class of 1969 decided to move forward with training Gig’em alongside her daughter, who had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

“She and I went to classes, and he could tell when she was sad and could tell when she was upset but couldn’t talk,” Apodaca said, thinking back to the early days of Gig’em’s training. It took some perseverance, but the spaniel’s kind disposition and her handler’s teamwork drove them to earn accreditation by the third attempt.

Since then, Gig’em has visited car dealerships, nursing homes, college libraries during finals seasons, and sometimes he’ll even be spotted on the steps at Apodaca’s home parish, Good Shepherd in Colleyville. There, the sweet pup performs what the parish priests have described as “angel work,” providing comfort for the grieving, while his handler shares in the healing with devoted prayer.

It was at Good Shepherd where Apodaca met Holy Trinity Catholic School Principal Karen Ullman. Apodaca had hoped to bring Gig’em’s gift of “giving love and kindness” to the school’s students for some time and was ecstatic when Ullman agreed.

Apodaca and Gig’em visit the Grapevine school once every week or so and stop by classrooms where the dog’s presence has been requested. 

“Gig’em’s gift for Christmas was to go and help people who are in the nursing home and brighten their day,” Apodaca told Amy Adams’ class of third-grade students on Jan. 13. 

In Kathy Smith’s second-grade classroom, Gig’em wandered the room, saying hello as Apodaca related an interesting update about his day to the class. 

In Christy Wasielewski’s classroom, Gig’em sat down with a reading buddy, gently listening as a student flipped through the pages. 

In the hallways, students paused and asked for permission to greet the senior dog. In the main office, Principal Ullman crouched down to greet Gig’em comfortably with a big hug as office staff told the North Texas Catholic how students are “so thrilled when they see Gig’em walk in. … It really brings them a lot of joy.” 

The spaniel and handler duo are always welcome in the office, especially when students have found themselves in a spot of trouble. “Makes a difference with their emotions and their attitude,” one faculty member shared. “The focus becomes outside of them and their current situation, and it helps them focus on Gig’em and [allows] all of the other emotions to kind of regulate.”

After a long day at work, Gig’em usually plops down to catch up on rest at home, Apodaca said. Although it is a bit tiring, visiting with students is one of their favorite parts of the week. 

“It’s a blessing,” she shared.

St. George hops to it

Before she became the administrative assistant at St. George Catholic School, Lauren Menchaca was a substitute and an active member of the Fort Worth parish’s youth group.

“I really love getting to work with all of the kids,” the 20-year-old said. “I love every single one of them.”

As an administrative assistant, Menchaca is often on the phone, answering emails, or assisting Principal Nikki Leafgreen. A bonus responsibility also has her working with the school’s two fluffiest residents: George and Pepper.

The lionhead rabbits first arrived at the Catholic school about six years ago and are held in a spacious hutch in one of the classrooms, which they share with first-grade students and Blaze, a bearded dragon.

The students show great love and ownership of their class pets, Leafgreen said. “The kids are the ones who take care of the bunnies, and they have a zoologist in the classroom, so it’s a lot of fun.”

Menchaca also keeps an eye on the rabbits’ care and broadens their access to other students. Every so often, she encounters a student entering the building “needing a little bit of extra love or, I don’t know, just looking a bit anxious.” 

On those days, she pulls them to the side and asks them to wait in the office. “Then I come back in the room with George and Pepper,” she said. “You can immediately notice it in the kids. It’s like all that tension that they had just goes away and they’re just gentle with the bunnies. I love to see it.”

Working at the Catholic school has helped the young adult to come closer to God, especially now that she has so much to pray for.

“I feel like I need to pray for every single one of them,” she said, gesturing toward her fellow faculty and the students at the school. “They have, all of them, taught me something different.”

Along with George and Pepper’s warm support, St. George Catholic School provides their students with well-equipped teachers trained to meet students with a variety of learning needs plus an on-staff dyslexia therapist, a school counselor, small group learning, focused phonics interventions, and off-site speech services.

Scout for St. Rita

“We have to remember, she’s a retriever, not a giver,” is a common refrain heard at the entrance of St. Rita Catholic School.

As you walk into the school, a couple of tennis balls sitting near the main doors are in easy access for the school’s resident therapy dog, Scout the golden retriever.

Whether she’s jumping after a tossed tennis ball while the pre-kindergarten students wait for their turn for the restroom, calmly receiving pats from students in a classroom, or even praying alongside the students in the hallway, the young dog has dug her way into the hearts and daily routines of the school’s faculty and students.

“She’s part of the identity of St. Rita’s. Every classroom has a picture of her somewhere,” principal and handler Kindra Johnston said. Well into her third year of serving the students and faculty at the Fort Worth school, Scout has inspired growth in St. Rita’s students. 

“The love and development of empathy have been huge,” Johnston said, explaining how the golden retriever has improved her students’ “faith in humanity.”

Even the most introverted of students find themselves looking for Scout, Johnston said.

Fourth grader Lola told the NTC that Scout is her best friend. 

“She’s got her favorite students or those that usually need a little more love,” Johnston said.

Along with Scout’s sunny presence, students at St. Rita Catholic School receive support from Literacy United for dyslexia support and speech as well as differentiated accommodations in class.