Saint Paul’s School CORE Pack Program is distinctively changing the views on how special education is taught and offered at high schools across Louisiana.

Although special education isn’t offered at every school, Saint Paul’s “Catholic Opportunity for Responsive Education,” or CORE Pack Program, provides a unique opportunity for CORE students to thrive.

Saint Paul’s started offering special education eight years ago. The impact that the CORE students have left on hundreds of Saint Paul’s students is impeccable. Allowing the CORE students to eat lunch with their mentors and fellow classmates supports the view of how they are seen as regular Saint Paul’s students.

On August 4, 2024, four days before the 2024-25 school year began, the CORE Pack Program held a Mentor Meet and Greet. This meet and greet is a perfect way for all of the Mentors to build relationships with the CORE students before the school year even begins, and these are relationships that are meant to last a lifetime.

Saint Paul’s CORE Program started in 2017 and has been offered since. The program director, Carla Barwick, who received her Master’s in Special Education from Georgia State University in 2014, has done an amazing job growing the CORE program and bringing in at least one new student yearly.

Over the past eight years, the program has grown significantly. When the program first started, there were two teachers with five CORE students. Now, there are three teachers with nine CORE students, three of whom are new to Saint Paul’s this school year and were needed in part because of the program’s expansion.

Special education has become one of the most important programs at Saint Paul’s, and the student mentorship aspect has flourished. In the first year of the CORE Program, there were zero classroom student mentors with only a few student mentors at lunch.

Now, there are 65 active student mentors. All of them ensure that the nine CORE students are supported in all of their classes.

The demand to get involved with the CORE Pack has become so intense that elective classes have been added to the curriculum. Saint Paul’s seniors can choose two of their electives out of seven total classes. Many students select Mentor as one of their electives, and many sophomores and juniors await the day they can take the course.

Saint Paul’s now has many opportunities for the CORE students to be involved even outside of school, such as the Homecoming Tailgate, Inclusion Night at the Heap Baseball Field, and, beginning this year, Wrestling Inclusion Night. In addition, this will be the second year of the Mentors’ support at all school dances.

Saint Paul’s senior Gordon Reese, who currently serves as a CORE Pack Mentor, said he looks forward to his Mentor II class daily. “At Saint Paul’s, we have a strong, inclusive community, and when I get to spend time with these awesome guys, it is truly evident. Whether it is from doing a project in religion class to learning a new skill in the core room, I truly feel that these guys have so much to offer, and it would be malice to ignore that.”

Reese is one of many seniors who have spoken about learning more from the CORE Pack members and getting more back from them than he could teach or give to them. The CORE Pack-Mentor relationship is mutually beneficial.

The Mentor program allows the CORE Pack students to develop relationships with their mentors, which carry on even after graduating. 

Equality and skill development are two of the program’s main purposes: to learn just as a regular student would and to be seen as one, too. This program is designed to ensure that the CORE students aren’t treated differently or looked at a certain way.

Saint Paul’s President, Joe Dickens, firmly believes that the CORE Pack Program is what Saint Paul’s School and the LaSallian charism embody: respect for all persons and inclusive community. “The program truly has impacted the student body and touched the hearts of the faculty. I fully support it and know it will thrive long after I’m gone,” said Dickens.

Our mission statement calls us to “offer strong academic and extracurricular programs in a safe and disciplined environment and to live the gospel value of Jesus.” Everyone should have the opportunity to learn, and Saint Paul’s CORE Pack Program is a great example of offering opportunities to all.

Saint Paul’s School adheres to the five LaSallian core principles: Faith in the Presence of God, Inclusive Community, Quality Education, Concern for the Poor and Social Justice, and perhaps most importantly, Respect for all Persons.

An inclusive community means everyone can participate in any event regardless of age, ability, and ethnicity. CORE Pack follows that principle by offering to teach anyone, no matter their disability or how different they are.

The CORE Pack Program is a prime example of how everyone has the right to learn and to be treated as any other student would.

As the program continues to grow and offer education to all, Saint Paul’s students will continue to build incredibly unique relationships with CORE Pack students; they will impact them in very significant ways.