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Building Momentum
Education: ACCESS Academies transform middle-school experience Into a positive launching pad for St. Louis youth.
By Tom Nolan
When a child embarks for the first day of school, it begins a journey of aspirations. But what are the odds those aspirations can be met in an elementary school system in which 75 percent of the students, most minority children, qualify for national poverty programs; or when 64 percent are being raised by only one parent; or where many, when the school day ends, return to neighborhoods with the highest crime rates in St. Louis? Conventional wisdom says “not good,” especially when those students hit a brick wall called middle school.
And yet, aspirations are on the way to being fulfilled today at four schools in St. Louis - Central Catholic School & Academy, Holy Trinity School & Academy, The Academy at King of Glory Lutheran School and St. Cecilia School & Academy - through a rigorous program that is turning middle school into an academic launching pad. The results achieved to date by non-profit ACCESS Academies at these schools are truly remarkable, with 96 percent of ACCESS middle school graduates accepted to college-preparatory high schools. Even more significant is that 92 percent of the first class to complete the three-year ACCESS curriculum graduated from high school within four years; 82 percent of all ACCESS graduates are now enrolled in college or post-secondary programs.
Successful education is about sustaining momentum. Any parent, affluent or not, will tell you that the adolescent years are steeped in distractions that can easily cause academic performance to deteriorate. Further, countless studies involving low-income, middle school students show a slide in achievement that makes success in high school and beyond an enormous challenge. ACCESS sustains momentum by making a seven-year commitment to its students, one that begins in sixth grade and ends with high school graduation. The dysfunctional environment that poverty can beget is transformed by the 40-year-old NativityMiguel education model.
NativityMiguel is a faith-based program that includes an extended school day (typically, from 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.) and an extended school year. A student entering an ACCESS middle school is immersed in a curriculum dedicated to developing a disciplined frame of mind essential for success in the high school years. Focused time "on task" creates a work ethic that accelerates performance in math, the language arts and reading. After school programs in the extended day reinforce positive habits, while mitigating the negative effects of idle time in troubled neighborhoods.
Meanwhile, ACCESS parents are required to get their kids to school on time, support the school's discipline code and make sure children do their homework. For teachers, the success of ACCESS energizes instruction throughout the school, including primary and elementary grades. It amplifies the teacher's sense of mission to close the gap of opportunity faced by underprivileged children.
Equally important is the ACCESS Graduate Support Program (GSP). Transitioning from middle school to high school is difficult enough, more so for youngsters raised in poverty and newly introduced to college prep high schools in both the city and suburbs. The GSP provides counselors who make regular visits to high schools to counsel graduates and help schools meet challenges to ensure the students remain on track for graduation. To help sustain academic momentum, GSP also offers tutoring, ACT preparation, financial aid and help with transportation to supplement resource-deprived home environments.
When ACCESS was founded six years ago, three of the four schools hosting its program were on the verge of closing. Today, these schools are achieving performance results not seen for decades. But a program of this quality and scope is not without cost. Total cost for each middle school student in the ACCESS program is $8,887 a year. Participating schools charge an average of $2,800 tuition, or less than 35% of the cost. Even then, many students require substantial tuition assistance. Since 2005, ACCESS has raised more than $7 million to support the program, much of it coming from the business community which has embraced an initiative based on academic discipline and measurable outcomes.
Based on activities and outcomes, the NativityMiguel model can be viewed as a charity. Yet with broader community support, it has the potential to play a transformative role in breaking the cycle of poverty by repositioning more schools as "centers of educational excellence." In turn, those repositioned schools become valuable neighborhood assets and inspire other disadvantaged communities to follow the lead of their peers.
In poor neighborhoods, the first day of school shouldn't mark the beginning of a ramble that ends at a brick wall. It should begin and sustain momentum that ultimately leads to the fulfillment of a lifetime of aspirations.
Tom Nolan is executive director of ACCESS Academies and a former member of the St. Louis School Board. He has been involved in urban education for nearly 20 years. For more information about ACCESS Academies, visit www.accessacademies.org.