LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The classrooms at the Providence School look like any other — and that's the point.
Started five years ago by the Rock Creek Campus of Christian Academy of Louisville, the Providence School accepts elementary school-aged and sixth grade students with down syndrome, integrating them in classes with students who do not have the extra chromosome.
"From a Christian perspective, this is what we should be doing," Mindy Crawford of the school said. "We should be finding ways to include as many people in our schools as we can."
Parents of down syndrome students said they immediately noticed a difference once their children began attending classes with other students — many of the kids making friendships they may have never had the chance to make in different environments.
"They work with them one on one. That's really good for kids with down syndrome," Ricardo Carrion, a parent of one student with down syndrome, said. "[She's] a regular kid. I mean they smile, play, have emotions and all that stuff."
Several of the students, like fourth graders Addison and Kyla, pointed out that the down syndrome students weren't treated as if they were different. Instead, they were treated like best friends and classmates.
"They're all just, like, the same to me," Kyla said. "They're just all my friends."
Addison, who has down syndrome, said she's never seen a difference between students, calling Kyla (a classmate without down syndrome) her best friend.
"Like Kyla is my best friend. I eat with her [and] play with my best friend at recess," Addison said.
Kyla said she knows people with down syndrome were not always treated equally, making days like World Down Syndrome Day even more important. Classes at different Christian Academy locations took time to celebrate their students with down syndrome — and get the word out on how cool their classmates are — by decorating cookies for students in the program.
"[We do this] so the people that have down syndrome know that they're special and they're not left out of something," (NAME) said. "They're regular people."
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