Jesuit schools are not modern residential schools, former principal says

Gonzaga Middle School, the private Jesuit school set to open this fall in the North End, has drawn criticism recently from some members of Winnipeg's indigenous community.

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Larry Morrissette and James Favel raised a number of concerns in a recent opinion piece for CBC. They argued Gonzaga will immerse children in Catholic culture rather than teach them "about the beauty and wisdom inherent in our own indigenous cultures."

The two say the creation of a Catholic school in the North End shows the church has "apparently learned nothing" from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and crimes committed in residential schools.

Regina's Mother Teresa Middle School opened in 2011 and was the impetus for Winnipeg's Gonzaga Middle School, Gonzaga's principal Tom Lussier said in November.

CBC's Marcy Markusa spoke with Curtis Kleisinger, former principal and executive director of Mother Teresa Middle School, on Thursday to find out more about the school Gonzaga is modelling itself after.

Marcy Markusa: What's the effect your school has had on the wider community?

Curtis Kleisinger: It's still kind of in the process of developing, but we believe we've had an awesome impact on the community. I think it's brought the community together. It's created a lot of trust between different communities. We're starting to see some academic outcomes in kids and kids staying in school. My first group is just in Grade 10 now, so all my kids that finished with us are still in high school and still working towards their high school degree.

We've had an awesome impact on the community.- Curtis Kleisinger, Mother Teresa Middle School

Trust between communities. Which communities and in what way?

When we first started, sitting across the table from perhaps grandmothers or parents who were raising their kids, I was kind of selling them on an idea: "Here's what we're doing and if you're interested and this is a good fit for your family, we'd love to talk more." 

Like I said, there's a history of mistrust through the residential schools and things that have happened. It's not a community that trusts very easy but over time, we've been able to really, I think, partner with the family, which is our main goal. Over time we've been able to create some trust, some credibility within the community.

• Gonzaga principal promises it's not a residential school despite 'genuine' concerns

People do compare the schools like yours, a Jesuit school, and the one proposed for here to residential schools of the past. What do you think of that comparison?

I think a lot of the comparisons are based on misconceptions about what the school's about and what the mission of the school is. First of all, people are here voluntarily. If this is a good fit for a family or for a student great, but I'm not forcing anybody to be here. 

We're not residential. People don't live here, they live with their families. The families are the primary educator and we are totally focused on building identity and helping students create their identity and find their identity as opposed to strip it away in any way, shape or form.

In Saskatchewan, we have publicly funded Catholic education, so the majority of my students come already out of Catholic school. 

What does Mother Teresa Middle School in Regina do to incorporate aboriginal education into the curriculum?

First off, we teach the government of Saskatchewan curriculum, and that includes treaty education and includes history of the residential schools. Our teachers are constantly embedding aboriginal content throughout the curriculum. For example, our science textbook was written in consultation with and approved by a group of elders.

There's always connections from the science to the aboriginal culture. As much as what we teach, it's also how we teach it, and we're very conscious of the eight aboriginal ways of developing cultural competence, the eight aboriginal ways of learning.

We bring in experts if need be, we do beading, we do quilling, we do dance, we do drumming. But we also do larger projects where, for example, we're just in the middle of a project right now with SaskPower and First Nations University of Canada.… We planted seedlings, now we have a piece of land around First Nations University.

We've worked with mask-makers from the West Coast, all sort of things.

'We do beading, we do quilling, we do dance, we do drumming.'- Curtis Kleisinger, Mother Teresa Middle School

Here critics have been vocal about the Winnipeg school's plan to remove the "best and brightest" from the community, eventually send them to private high schools outside of the community, and people fear that's creating a disconnect. What does your experience speak to around that?

When we started there were some misconceptions. We focus on need. Our kids start at two to three grades below when they come to us. It's not the brightest of the bright.

When they come to us, we have them for three years, and then we follow them to the time they're employed. We have a graduate support team that follows them through high school, university, post-secondary, if they chose, and acts as kind of a coach, an advocate, a liaison with the families all the way through.

We have kids in nine different schools, depending on the program and how it meets their needs.

Our goal is to build leaders that are going to be men and women that will go back and pay it forward and be leaders in their communities. Our goal is never to strip them out of their communities but on the contrary, go back and be leaders in their communities.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.