Momentum in Education

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. St. Louis Post-Dispatch article