OptimALL Services started with one goal: provide the highest quality education in faith-based schools for students with special needs. Achieving this goal bears more fruit than simply supporting students with individual education plans (IEPs): it  ensures such students can stay in Catholic schools; remain with their siblings; and grant families that extra support Catholic schools can’t always provide. Ultimately, it provides another path families can choose when deciding what is best for their children.

Currently serving in many schools throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, OptimALL provides aid for children with disabilities.

“When we started OptimALL, it was our mission to bring the best educational services to all of God’s children,” said Beth Rielly, co-founder of OptimALL. “By changing the way we teach, we can improve the way children learn. Our mission is to meet the students where they are functioning.”

Beyond just meeting student needs, they provide 197% more resources for students than do the schools alone. “We’re serving kids that we couldn’t serve 10 years ago. Now, we need to serve the next group of kids,” said Lynn Esmail, Executive Director at OptimALL.

Thanks in part to support from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, this separate nonprofit has flourished as it walks hand-in-hand with the archdiocese to support students and families. The archdiocese helps OptimALL with teacher licensure renewal, government funding, and school placement, and since OptimALL’s founding eight years ago, it’s been able to bring its necessary work into 11 archdiocesan schools.

St. Lawrence School, Price Hill, provides a prime example of this organization’s impact after three years of its intervention and therapy services for the children. And their collaboration is taking it a step further by introducing an Inclusive Classroom for students needing a different developmentally-appropriate learning space, set to be housed in the convent on the St. Lawrence campus.

“We will have appropriate academics and practice activities of daily living like laundry and cooking. It is not appropriate for every student to be sitting in an algebra class,” Esmail stated. “These students are here because they cannot access their grade-level curriculum. This classroom will give them the chance to develop their skillset to excel and reach their full potential.”

The Inclusive Classroom will start with six students and build up to 36 students in six years. Initial staff will be two intervention specialists, a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, and a physical therapist. While primarily present in that classroom, students can also join the other St. Lawrence students for Mass, sacramental preparation, and classes that peak their interest, such as English or Science.

“This will benefit all our students,” said Jen Long, principal of St. Lawrence School. “When all the students have the opportunity to interact, they will learn the value of empathy. Families will benefit as siblings can stay at the same school, and families will feel supported.”

OptimALL has already favorably impacted students and teachers at St. Lawrence, said Long. “In public schools, the bare minimum of intervention is provided to meet legal requirements, and it’s not always best practice for students and teachers,” she said. “OptimALL goes above and beyond for everyone.” After the partnership’s three successful years, the inclusive classroom felt like the next best step.

Students with disabilities having a space of their own while remaining members of the student body at large will continue to positively affect how all the students learn and view each other. “The students interacting with each other reinforces the Catholic Church’s teaching that life is sacred,” said Danielle Goertemoeller, the Vice Principal of St. Lawrence. “Each student has value, and it’s a beautiful reminder of the sanctity of life.”

Bringing the Inclusive Classroom to life was no easy feat—the school took a worthy financial risk. However, thanks to a matching grant supported by Beth and Phil Rielly, “It was easier to jump off that financial cliff, and we’re so thankful,” Long said. Every little bit helps benefit these children, their education, and their overall well-being.

Learn more at optimallservices.org.