Maritza Medrano
Paraeducator Playworker
Sidhu was diagnosed with a rare seizure disorder at 10 months old. As he grew older, he dealt not only with life threatening seizures; he also developed severe speech delays. Private therapy wasn’t enough. At the age of three, Sidhu started his journey at The Parish School in its award-winning preschool program. After one month, his parents saw a tremendous change in Sidhu’s ability to communicate.
His parents credit the teachers for giving him the personalized instruction he required to help change his speech and motor skills all while building his confidence, not always an easy task. His discovered a love for art, drama and music while at The Parish School as well. After three years of intense support and guidance, Sidhu was ready to join a mainstream school system.
Now, seven years later, he is in sixth grade at Beckendorff Junior High in Katy, Texas. He is a straight “A” student, two-time runner up in the spelling bee competition, member of the Katy ISD gifted and talented program and recipient of the President of United States education award for academic excellence. Sidhu holds a third degree Taekwondo black belt, participates in the school choir and plays trumpet in the school band.
When Jocelyn was born, she met all of her initial milestones. However, by age 3, signs of a delay began to appear.
“We began to notice that Jocelyn was not speaking and, when she did, no one could understand her,” said mother Joelle.
After a rough year at a traditional preschool, The Parish School was recommended. Fast forward six years later, and Jocelyn is a self-confident, happy, expressive child, who loves The Parish School, where she can “perform, act, sing, dance, learn (math is my favorite) and make friends.”
“Thank you, Parish School, for finding the keys that unlocked Jocelyn's untold song and unlimited scale,” said Joelle.
At 18 months, Hudson was not speaking at all, not even saying mom or dad. While his parents, Laurie and Alfredo, were told to “give him time” and “boys are often delayed,” Laurie knew she needed to act early and persisted with having Hudson evaluated. After a series of tests, the family was referred to a speech therapist.
A friend recommended The Parish School, and the couple enrolled Hudson soon after his second birthday. He loved going to school each day, especially music and art. Eventually, Hudson was talking up a storm.
“Most importantly, the school took my husband and me under its wings,” said Laurie. “We were scared and felt helpless. We attended parent education classes, met with his teachers and his speech therapist. We were given the tools we needed to be one of the many advocates in Hudson’s life.”
After 3 years at The Parish School, Hudson transitioned to a traditional school setting, while continuing to attend speech therapy, occupational therapy and Social Learning groups at The Parish School and The Carruth Center.
Hudson has since gone on to prove he has a talent for being on-stage. He is actively involved in musicals, ballet and even participated in his school’s ComedySportz® Improv. He attends Houston Christian High School, where he joined theater, dance and Model UN. He has also taken Spanish throughout school and will begin AP Spanish this fall. Laurie says, “his accent is excellent!”
The Gutierrez family has continued to remain highly involved with The Parish School. Laurie is an active member of the Parish board of trustees, and the family hosted former Head of School, Nancy Bewley’s retirement party in their home last year. Additionally, Hudson has spent his past five summers volunteering in classes at The Parish School’s summer program – Camp Acorn.
“I really like working with the kids at camp,” said Hudson. “It feels nice to provide the help here because I went through the same thing when I was a kid.”
“The Parish School and The Carruth Center have had an instrumental impact on the success that Hudson is experiencing,” adds Laurie. “We are indebted to the school for giving Hudson and us the skills needed to enable Hudson to be successful in life.”
Gracen Fisk attended The Parish School’s early childhood program for two years before transitioning to a traditional school setting in 2005. Early on, it was evident that Gracen had a talent for being on stage and thrived when it came to participating in The Parish School’s drama and music classes. She later went on to graduate from Houston Christian High School, where she became active in the theater arts program.
Under the direction of Parish’s Director of Integrated Arts & Sciences, Terri Garth, Gracen and Brandon Newell (Parish student 2005–2009) returned to Parish to perform in the 2018 Upper & Lower Elementary Musical, which celebrated the school’s 35th birthday and the past 25 years of annual musicals. The duo practiced with Parish students for weeks during the spring semester to later make their debut to a packed house of friends and families. Their performance of “Together Wherever We Go” brought a roaring applause. According to Gracen’s mom, Jill, this time spent in The Parish School’s musical was a valuable experience.
Gracen now attends Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, majoring in theater with an emphasis in acting and directing. She is excelling in school, has made the Dean’s list, and has many friends. Crediting Parish for instilling a love of the arts in her, Gracen decided to return once more to teach the drama class for The Parish School’s 2019 summer program, Camp Acorn.
Fast forward to today, and Gracen recently announced that she’s accepted a role as a cast member in Disney’s College Program. We’re so excited to see what more is to come from her!
When he first arrived at The Parish School nearing his 6th birthday, David had a hard time forming sentences of more than three words. With a seemingly endless list of learning and social differences, parents Jennifer and Chris were afraid David would forever have a hard time fitting in amongst the “normal” crowd.
In the six years that David spent at Parish, he gained the communication, social and academic skills needed to succeed in school. After aging out of Parish’s program, David has gone on to attend a public middle school. The transition was tough at first due to an increased workload and responsibilities, but his parents are happy to report that after a few weeks of settling into
a routine, David managed to exceed their expectations in his new environment. In fact, shortly after arriving at his new school, their special education liaison recommended to remove David’s in-class support, deeming it unnecessary – he didn’t require any additional help to keep up in his classes. David is now making all A’s and excelling in a public middle school.
Where he truly blossomed, though, was in Adventure Play, the afterschool program at The Parish School where children create their own playground using nothing but their imagination and scrap materials. It was at AP that David found a place he truly loved and was able to make lasting friendships.
For his 12th birthday, Jennifer and Chris offered to take David to dinner, bowling, a movie…wherever he felt like going to celebrate. David respectfully listened to their suggestions but had already made up his mind – he wanted to go back to Adventure Play. Jill Wood, Director of Adventure Play, was delighted to accommodate David’s request.
“He couldn’t stop smiling on the ride home, beaming over how he got to lead the younger students on a walk through the tall grass before making himself at home again on the various structures that he’d seen assembled over the years,” said Chris. “Most of all though, he was happy to be reunited with Jill. ‘I just love her,’ he told us.”
David continues to attend Parish functions when he can, including this year’s Adventure Play 10-year anniversary celebration, Flight’s going away party and the annual Spring Fling. Additionally, he is volunteering as a Junior Playworker with the Adventure Play summer camp, where he helps other kids to expand the space he’s grown to appreciate so much.
Nearing his 3rd birthday, Dan arrived at The Parish School with the same attitude he carried into any new experience – optimism and a big smile. Dan had some physical and learning disabilities from complications he sustained when he was born three months premature, and later contracting Group B strep meningitis while still an infant. As fate would have it, Dan’s grandmother was one of Parish School founder, Robbin Parish’s earliest supports, and knew exactly where to find the best help for Dan.
Recalling his time at The Parish School, Dan remembers that he especially enjoyed writing in his “Good News Book.” Many of his entries were tied to his love of sports. He decided at an early age that he wanted to be a sports announcer. The Parish School set him on the road to developing his writing and speaking skills with confidence. Additionally, he became avid reader. These were the building blocks he needed to reach his future goals.
After graduating from boarding high school and passing the New York State Regents Exam, Dan was determined to go to college. He first attended St. Edwards University in Austin. When his girlfriend mentioned how strong the radio and journalism departments were at nearby Texas State University, Dan decided to transfer. In 2014, Dan graduated with a degree in Mass Communications and later married his beautiful girlfriend, Amber.
Today, Amber and Dan live in Houston where Dan works at his family’s commercial real estate company. He is also a contributor for FanSided, a growing sports website, where he writes articles about what’s going on in the world of Houston sports. Continuing his dream, Dan is currently working to launch his own sports website.
The Parish School was the right place at the right time for Dan. He has always been appreciative of the many people who helped him along the way. When visiting the “new” campus recently, he and his family were amazed at the growth of the school.
Cameron first came to The Parish School at age 2 after receiving a diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) — one of the four autism spectrum disorders. He could only utter a handful of words, most of which were hard for others to comprehend. The neurologists who diagnosed Cameron recommended several schools that could help him with his language deficiencies, one of which was The Parish School.
“We looked at all the recommended schools and were immediately drawn to Parish,” said Wendy, Cameron’s stepmom. “We could see it was such a loving environment and was focused on innovative methods for helping children overcome their language and learning differences.”
Through The Parish School’s education, training and care, Cameron gained fluency of speech and discovered his super power — his memory. Not only did The Parish School allow Cameron to gain communication skills, but it also provided him an invaluable sense of self-esteem and confidence, which continue to serve him well. Thanks to early intensive language and learning intervention, Cameron was able to transfer to a mainstream private elementary school in second grade.
Cameron, now 22, is a proud senior at Texas Tech University studying communications, who drives and holds part-time jobs.
From an early age, Cameron struggled to communicate, leaving his family and himself with feelings of frustration. During an evaluation, a specialist recommended The Parish School. From the moment they stepped foot on campus, Cameron’s family knew it was a special place.
“Thanks to the generosity of many, our family received financial assistance to attend,” said Rosie, Cameron’s mother. “Otherwise, we never could have afforded the life-changing education and therapies that The Parish School offers. The school not only helped Cameron, but changed our entire family.”
To this day, Cameron maintains that Parish is his favorite school because of the encouragement, understanding and care that was provided to him by everyone – from the teachers to the staff. Parish also awakened his love of the arts and outdoors that continues to this day.
Today, Cameron is a junior in Katy ISD. He pursues his passion for music by playing tuba in the marching band and learning the trombone for the jazz band. He recently went hiking and survived in his own tent in the Cascade Mountains near Seattle. Cameron also recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, completing a service project to make toiletry and school supply bags for homeless teenagers. He also has a passion for filmmaking and was accepted into the film program at the Miller Career Center in Katy ISD. Cameron plans to pursue a career in the film industry in the future.
“The Parish School has planted seeds with Cameron that changed the course of his life…and for this, our entire family is eternally grateful.”
As a young child, Adam had great difficulty communicating and interacting with others. With the help of teachers and classmates at The Parish School, he was able to significantly improve his communication skills and sociability.
Since transitioning from Parish, Adam has come a long way. He earned a degree in economics and political science from the University of Chicago, and dual graduate degrees in law and public affairs from the University of Texas-Austin. Currently, Adam works as a law clerk for a federal judge in El Paso and looks forward to what the future holds.
“It was a joy to visit The Parish School’s new campus several years ago and observe what a difference the school continues to make in children’s lives, as well as see quite a few of my teachers - like Nancy Mosley and Terri Garth,” said Adam. “They are still doing a wonderful job helping kids! I am convinced that The Parish School helps create bright futures.”
Brady’s young life has been filled with obstacles. With multiple medical diagnoses under his belt and enough hours of therapy to deserve a certification, a very bumpy and seemingly hopeless path led his family to The Parish School.
“It wasn’t easy finding a school that could provide Brady with the specialized education and instruction that he needs,” said mother, Rachel. “As a student at The Parish School, Brady received individualized classroom education as well as various therapies onsite.“
When Brady began attending The Parish School at 8 years old, he had few reading or writing skills. Since his first school year at Parish, Brady has achieved tremendous academic and social growth. He has found a love for drama and music through the classes offered at The Parish School. Brady has gained so much confidence and has made some wonderful friends.
“We feel so fortunate to have had our son in a school that appreciated his differences and highlighted his strengths. Our lives have been forever changed because of The Parish School!”
Gracen Fisk attended The Parish School’s early childhood program for two years before transitioning to a traditional school setting in 2005. Early on, it was evident that Gracen had a talent for being on stage and thrived when it came to participating in The Parish School’s drama and music classes. She later went on to graduate from Houston Christian High School, where she became active in the theater arts program.
Under the direction of Parish’s Director of Integrated Arts & Sciences, Terri Garth, Gracen and Brandon Newell (Parish student 2005–2009) returned to Parish to perform in the 2018 Upper & Lower Elementary Musical, which celebrated the school’s 35th birthday and the past 25 years of annual musicals. The duo practiced with Parish students for weeks during the spring semester to later make their debut to a packed house of friends and families. Their performance of “Together Wherever We Go” brought a roaring applause. According to Gracen’s mom, Jill, this time spent in The Parish School’s musical was a valuable experience.
Gracen now attends Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, majoring in theater with an emphasis in acting and directing. She is excelling in school, has made the Dean’s list, and has many friends. Crediting Parish for instilling a love of the arts in her, Gracen decided to return once more to teach the drama class for The Parish School’s 2019 summer program, Camp Acorn.
Fast forward to today, and Gracen recently announced that she’s accepted a role as a cast member in Disney’s College Program. We’re so excited to see what more is to come from her!