ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The first day of school for students at Hope Hall School in Rochester kicked off with an event to help students believe in themselves.

“All of our children can learn as much and as well as everybody else, they just do it differently,” said Sister Diana Dolce.  “Here, everything we do at Hope Hall is geared toward their different way of learning, which means they can become successful and they can learn.”

Students wrote notes with the phrase, "I Can't," along with something they feel they can't do. 

Then they buried the notes in the dirt.

”I think that when you write ‘I can’t,’ it means like that you’re setting a goal for yourself and then in the future you can like try to achieve that goal,” said student April McPherson.  “And say I can, I can do this.”

Hope Hall is designed to reach those students in grades two to 12 who find learning a challenge in the traditional classroom setting.  

Students come here with varying difficulties ranging from ADD, ADHD, autism, sensory processing and anxiety disorders and more.  

This "I Can't" ceremony takes place every year at Hope Hall School on the first day of classes and has since the school opened its doors in 1994.