2026 Catholic Schools Week Supplement
Special needs programs at Roncalli build ‘Christian men and women with character’
Roncalli senior and Life Academy student Suri Diaz works on a project as part of a work study experience at Catholic Concepts in Indianapolis. (Submitted photo)
By Natalie Hoefer
When Elle Howe started as a freshman at Roncalli High School in the fall of 2022, she was quiet, shy and very anxious.
“I was so nervous, I said to my mom, ‘What if I just drop out of high school?’ And she said, ‘I don’t think we’re going to do that,’ ” says Elle, now a senior at the archdiocese’s Indianapolis South Deanery high school.
Michelle Roberts recalls the timid person Elle was back then.
“But now she is just full of confidence,” says Roncalli’s director of special services.
That change came about through Elle’s efforts and her four-year participation in the school’s STARS program that Roberts oversees.
“It’s a resource program for those with a range of learning challenges, from learning disabilities to autism to ADHD [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder],” Roberts explains.
She also spearheads Roncalli’s Life Academy for those with intellectual disabilities.
Both programs adhere to the philosophy stated on the special services page of the school’s website: “All students can succeed when provided with the right atmosphere to meet their needs. It is our job … to provide an atmosphere that will assist students to reach their potential and realize their God-given talents.”
‘Recognize they’re a whole person’
Roncalli launched the resource program STARS—a name, not an acronym—in 1994.
“It can be different for every student,” Roberts explains.
Students can enroll in a daily resource class with several teachers on hand for help.
“We work on their [individualized] service plan goals—maybe to develop better study habits as evidenced by test scores, or to be better organized, or to be re-taught certain content material,” she says.
“We also have kids who … don’t qualify for a service plan but still need some help. We’re able to address those needs and move them out in about a year.”
The school also offers testing accommodations separate from the resource class.
“Perhaps a student needs extra time to take a test or have a reader or have a different location so they can focus and show a teacher what they know,” says Roberts, noting English-learning students often use this option.
STARS students receive help connecting with one of Roncalli’s many clubs, especially when developing social skills is part of their individualized plan. The school’s guidance counselors also help them determine their
post-graduation plan and steps to accomplish it.
The end goal of the program is far greater than “making sure a kid gets an A on a test,” says Roberts.
“One of the biggest things we want to tackle is that they understand themselves and can advocate for themselves and be successful here.
“A big part of what we do as a whole school is work to develop kids to recognize ‘I have gifts God has given me.’ Rather than be embarrassed that ‘I have dyslexia,’ we want them to realize, ‘This is who God made me. I have dyslexia, but I’m a great basketball player.’ We want them to recognize they’re a whole person, that their needs are all a part of their whole, and help them determine what they’re good at, what they’re not, and what they’re good at that they’re surprised by.”
Those same concepts apply to Roncalli’s Life Academy program for those with intellectual disabilities.
Life Academy: ‘A blended program’
Roncalli had already welcomed a few students with intellectual disabilities before creating the Life Academy program in 2009.
Roberts describes it as “a blended program of some academic classes plus life skills and independent skills.”
Students work one on one with aids, and the school partners with local businesses to help them develop vocational skills.
“A big part of [Life Academy] is connecting them with the Roncalli community so they can fully participate,” says Roberts. “For instance, we have a senior who loves basketball. Life Academy coordinators met with the coach and some peers to figure out how he could have a real role with the team. He is now a basketball manager for some home games.”
Life Academy students are also paired with peers through Roncalli’s Royal Buddies club.
“They have peer buddies in class and during lunch,” says Roberts. “It’s a way for [Life Academy students] to build multiple friendships rather than focus on one.
“We also look at class rosters or ask teachers who might be a natural at lending a hand to a Life Academy kid in a class. We tap into who is right there rather than put someone next to [a Life Academy student], because that’s not what happens with everyone else in class. … We really try to build as much independence for them as possible.”
Life Academy works to find clubs that match a student’s interests. The program is also connected with Special Olympics and that organization’s Unified Sports athletics teams that include those with and without intellectual disabilities.
Life Academy has been a great success, says Roberts.
“A lot of Life Academy alumni have gone on to have a college experience,” she says.
Others find meaningful employment.
“One alum is on the football coaching staff at Franklin College [in Franklin],” says Roberts. “And Roncalli hired an alum as an assistant coach for the Unified [Sports] track team. She also aids at a [Roncalli] feeder grade school and works at a day school she did a work study with.
“Most students that graduate are gainfully employed, have successful lives and stay connected to the community through connections we helped them develop when they were here.”
Building ‘Christian men and women with character’
Roberts sees the overall success of the STARS and Life Academy programs. But the testimonies of students drive home the positive impact the programs have on a personal level.
“I like how I can have help on things from multiple teachers” present during her STARS class period, says Elle. “They show me how I could maybe do something different that I’m struggling with.
“I made new friends in the resource period and [by] putting myself out there in clubs.”
Elle says the STARS program “made me realize how strong a person I am deep down and gave me the confidence to push myself. It helped me realize I’m not a quiet person like I was when I started [at Roncalli] and that God made me an extrovert.”
And the senior had some exciting news to share about her future plans. She learned she was accepted into the Empire Beauty School’s program for cosmetology on Indianapolis’ south side.
Senior Suri Diaz is just as enthusiastic about her Roncalli experience through the Life Academy.
The school is “amazing,” she says. “I like it. I like the teachers. I like making new friends.”
Suri says she “learned to be a leader at Roncalli,” a fact she backs up with a long list of sports and club activities, including serving on the student council.
She says her time at Roncalli has taught her to be “holy, kind, welcoming and serving to others,” like the school’s namesake Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli—St. John XXIII.
Roberts says the two programs are successful because of the philosophy behind them.
“Our philosophy is not about accommodating them,” she says. “It’s about, ‘This is who God made them to be. Let’s get them as far as we can and let them go.’
“We want kids to be successful, and kids are successful when we hold them accountable. Accountability builds them as Christian men and women with character.”
(For more information on Roncalli High Schools STARS and Life Academy programs, go to roncalli.org/academics/stars or contact Michelle Roberts at mroberts@roncalli.org or 317-787-8277.) †
