ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — They stop in their tracks when they see her in the hallways.
"Look, there's Frankie!" said one student.
"Oh my gosh, hi Frankie!" said another.
To say Frankie the three-legged chihuahua-pug mix is a celebrity at St. John's Parish Day School, is not an exaggeration.
"The students adore her, love her. They look for her when she’s not here," said Steve Springer, the head of the school.
Springer started his position in July. He moved from Los Angeles where he adopted Frankie. She was hit by a car and brought to a rescue. Veterinarians had to amputate her front leg.
The injury did not affect her sweet and gentle disposition.
"I think it's rare you find a dog you completely trust. There’s not a mean bone in her body, she just loves to be around people," said Springer.
He started bringing Frankie into school over the summer and the staff fell in love. He continued to bring her in once classes started and the students quickly fell in love too.
"She’ll go out when kids are coming in and greet them in the morning," he said. "She goes to classes and reads with the kids, she does math with them."
Frankie has a basket full of fan mail from the students, filled with notes and drawings. She has her own school uniform, her portrait hangs outside the front office and she's a certified therapy dog.
"You can always tell where she is," said Brooke Wakeman, a second grade teacher. "Inevitably there will be a group of kids on the floor surrounding her and giggling and having a great time."
Wakeman said Frankie not only provides comfort to the kids, her disability also serves as a teachable moment.
"At our school, we talk a lot about social and emotional learning and just kindness and empathy and compassion and she brings that out in people naturally," she said.
"We talk about that sometimes in life, people have differences but they learn to adapt. She’s like any other dog, she can run, she can jump," said Springer.
"It's important for us to recognize that in people around us, that even though we may be different, people may have to adapt because of a situation in their life but in the end, we’re all the same."
