A Franklin Park mother is speaking out against what she describes as ongoing bullying and administrative failures at St. Vincent Ferrer School, after months of watching her son struggle emotionally without what she felt was adequate support from school leadership.
Gabriela Matos took to the Franklin Park Community Connection Facebook group to share her family’s experience, describing a troubling incident in which another student called her son out during class to fight him.
According to Matos, she was never properly informed about the confrontation and was left piecing together details on her own.
She says meetings were held and promises were made by the administration, but the situation continued, and her son remained feeling isolated and targeted.
“No parent should have to investigate serious situations involving their child because the school failed to communicate transparently,” Matos wrote in her post, which quickly drew dozens of responses from community members who said they had faced similar situations.
Beyond the individual incident, Matos raised broader concerns about how Hispanic families have been treated within the school community.
She noted that multiple families of Hispanic descent had quietly withdrawn from the school after feeling unwelcome or dismissed when raising concerns.
The post stopped short of making formal discrimination allegations but touched on a pattern that several commenters said they recognized.
The post drew a swift response from the community. Felix Hernandez shared that he and his brother attended St. Vincent Ferrer years ago and recalled being among the very few Hispanic students at the time.
He also noted that St. Patrick High School has faced similar concerns from Hispanic families about discrimination and unfair treatment over the years.
Marlene Mazzulla Barnes encouraged Matos to escalate the situation beyond the school.
“You can also contact the Office of Catholic Education through the Archdiocese,” she wrote, also asking whether Matos had spoken directly to the parish pastor.
Marlene Mazzulla Barnes
Len Patino offered practical advice drawn from a similar experience, writing that someone he knew had successfully resolved a bullying issue by creating a detailed paper trail, documenting time stamps and names, keeping all correspondence in writing, and going directly over administration to those above them. “Being persistent and escalating as needed got results,” he said.
Not everyone believed the situation could be fixed from within.
A commenter using the name HolaCola8680 wrote that many families had already left the school due to what they described as rampant bullying from both students and staff, adding,
“If you’re not part of their clique you are treated differently. Just leave the school. There are many good options in that area.”
HolaCola8680
Linda Temple Suwalski echoed that sentiment, sharing that her own family had to remove their son from a Catholic school after the principal offered no meaningful help.
She added that the boys bullying her son had parents who were active in the church community, which she believed shielded them from consequences.
Matos also revealed that the situation had roots going back to October 2025, when the mother of the child involved verbally confronted her son directly.
St. Vincent Ferrer School has not issued any public response to the post.
As the conversation continues to grow online, families in the community are calling for greater transparency and accountability from the school’s administration.
