ACCESS is pleased to report the academic gains made by middle school students attending our Academy Summer School programs at our three archdiocesan partner schools.

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ST. LOUIS, MO. July 1, 2016 –ACCESS Academies would like to welcome Mrs. Mary Loux as the new principal at St. Cecilia School & Academy.

For the past several years, Mary Loux has served the students at St. Cecilia School & Academy, first as a Jesuit Volunteer then as an educator teaching reading and writing. Before assuming her new role as principal, Loux taught Mathematics for grades 6, 7, and 8, and worked as the ACCESS Academies school-based Academy Director. She is fluent in Spanish and holds her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master of Arts in Instruction from St. Mary’s University in Minnesota. Later this month she will graduate with her Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from the University of Notre Dame.

St. Cecilia School and Academy, located at 906 Eichelberger Ave., has been an institution in South St. Louis since its founding in 1908. It offers a non-tuition based education for students in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade through the support of the St. Louis Archdiocese, the Today and Tomorrow Foundation, and ACCESS Academies.

Students in Kindergarten through Fifth Grade receive a strong academic base due to a carefully cultivated curriculum that offers:

• Small class sizes
• Instruction in core subject areas
• Technology integrated into instruction and learning
• After school tutoring and mentoring
• Enrichment activities

Upon entering middle school, students are enrolled in the school-based ACCESS Academy program, which:

• Extends the school day and school year to provide additional academic support. This includes a robust academic curriculum, homework assistance, service projects, and enrichment.
• Encourages family involvement to further support the physical, social, emotional, and academic well-being of each student.
• Eases the transition to high school and into college through graduate support. This includes, but not limited to, tutoring, mentoring, academic scholarships, and monitoring each student’s individual academic growth and achievement through high school and into college.

For more information regarding this release, please contact Julie Linder, Public Relations for ACCESS Academies, by calling (573) 268-0639.

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Students from St. Cecilia Plant Monarch Garden for Riverfront Butterfly Byway

We would like to thank Catherine Werner, Sustainability Director for the City of St. Louis Mayor’s Office, for sharing the following message with our office:

Thanks to a $40,000 grant award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and ScottsMiracle-Gro, Mayor Francis Slay has launched the St. Louis Riverfront Butterfly Byway.

The 1,500 square foot portion of the Riverfront Butterfly Byway in Bellerive Park has been planted by students of St. Cecilia School & Academy and Carondelete Leadership Academy, as well as four local community groups. Over time, the Byway will be become a pollinator pathway along a 19-mile stretch of the Mississippi River in the City of St. Louis. Not only will the gardens provide important pollinator habitat consisting of native prairie plants, but they will serve for educational opportunities for residents to connect with nature and learn the importance of pollinators to our ecosystem. The effort is an expansion of Milkweeds for Monarchs: The St. Louis Butterfly Project, which aims to bolster the dwindling monarch population while better connecting people with nature.

For more information regarding this announcement, please click here or visit the City of St. Louis Sustainability Office at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/sustainability/

 

 

Photos provided by Catherine Werner, Sustainability Director, City of St. Louis Mayor’s Office

“AIMING HIGH: ACCESS ACADEMIES” By: Alexa Beattie, Town & Style Magazine

 

Pictured: Terry Mehan, Joan and John Vatterott; Photo by Colin Miller of Strauss Peyton Photography

 

Belief is a powerful force. Expectation is the key to success, says Carolyn Dubuque, ACCESS Academies’ director of mission effectiveness. ACCESS stands for Academies Creating Challenging Education for St. Louis Students, and since its founding in 2005, it has dispatched 98 percent of all its eighth-grade graduates from three city Catholic schools—St. Louis the King School at the Cathedral, Most Holy Trinity School & Academy and Saint Cecilia School and Academy—to private and Archdiocesan college-prep secondary schools such as St. Mary’s, Bishop Dubourg and Notre Dame high schools, Chaminade, Villa Duchesne, Christian Brothers College and Nerinx Hall. The vast majority of students come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and all benefit from homework assistance, service projects, extended school day, summer school programs, and enrichment programs that begin when a child enters sixth grade and last throughout middle school. “Middle school is a critical time for kids,” Dubuque explains. “They can excel or they can go off the rails.” But ACCESS, she says, holds their hands. “We give them opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have: dance, poetry, book and track clubs and one-on-one tutoring. By always talking to students about high school and college, they have a goal to work toward.”

ACCESS makes a seven-year commitment to its students by easing the transition from middle to high school and providing assistance with the college process through one-on-one counseling with their graduate support director, ACT test prep, college tours, college application and essay support, and FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) counseling. All services and programs are free, made possible by donations from foundations and individuals, and by fundraisers. The largest of these, the annual scholarship dinner, takes place June 1 at the Four Seasons Hotel. All money raised is shared among the high school students and goes directly toward their tuition scholarships. ACCESS awards scholarships based on need; the balance is paid by the families themselves and school financial aid.

“We exist because we want to end the cycle of poverty through education and make sure our kids attend quality high schools,” says Terry Mehan, associate graduate support director at Saint Cecilia School and Academy. “In the city of St. Louis, going to a public high school is not always the best fit.” Graduate support directors build strong relationships with parents, teachers and counselors, often serving as advocates for families, some of whom don’t speak English (96 percent of all ACCESS students are African-American or Hispanic). Many students are the first generation in the family to go to college. The process is new and hard to navigate. “Some of our families have pretty daunting challenges, but they all want a better life for their kids,” Mehan says.

Like a proud parent, Mehan (a volunteer) has seen 109 of his students off to college; 94 percent of graduates are admitted to post-secondary institutions each year. Although the support director’s official role comes to an end at that point, Mehan says he and former students often stay in touch via Facebook and other means.

“Our message to all our kids is that a successful future is possible,” Dubuque says. To give students a taste of that possibility, ACCESS leads field trips to colleges like Saint Louis University, University of Missouri-St. Louis and Ranken Technical College. “We give them exposure, we show them what to reach for.”

The eighth annual ACCESS Academies Scholarship Dinner, sponsored by the Vatterott Foundation, takes place June 1 at the Four Seasons Hotel-St. Louis. Pictured on the cover: Students Leslie V., David T. and Evett A. For information and tickets call 314.898.0430 or visit accessacademies.org.

Cover design by Julie Streiler | Photos by Colin Miller of Strauss Peyton Photography
Pictured: Terry Mehan, Joan and John Vatterott

 

Patton Awarded Ray of Light Award by United 4 Children

We would like to congratulate Richard Patton, Executive Director for Vision for Children at Risk and ACCESS Board member, for being named a Ray of Light Award recipient by United 4 Children for his leadership in prioritizing the well-being of all children in our region.

Patton was honored at the 10^th annual Lighting the Way Gala, held April 7^th, at the Marriott’s St. Louis Grand Hotel.  A copy of his bio can be found by clicking here.

Class of 2020 Receives Letters of Acceptance to Area’s Best College-Prep High Schools

More than 30 ACCESS students from the class of 2020 received acceptance letters to the area’s best private, college-prep high schools for the 2016-17 school year.

“To prepare ACCESS students for high school, we partnered with three Archdiocesan middle schools to provide an extended school day and extended school year filled with enrichment and support services,” said Betsy Liberatore, Executive Director.

Overall, ACCESS Academies will be supporting a total of 138 Academy graduates from Most Holy Trinity School & Academy, St. Cecilia School & Academy, and St. Louis the King School at the Cathedral at the following schools for the upcoming school year:

1. Althoff Catholic High School
2. Bishop DuBourg High School
3. Cardinal Ritter College Prep
4. Chaminade College Prep
5. Christian Brothers College
6. Crossroads
7. De Smet Jesuit High School
8. Incarnate Word Academy
9. Lutheran High School-North
10. Lutheran High School-South
11. Nerinx Hall
12. North County Christian School
13. Notre Dame High School
14. Rosati-Kain High School
15. John Vianney High School
16. Joseph’s Academy
17. Louis Christian Academy
18. Louis University High
19. Mary’s High School
20. Trinity Catholic High School
21. Ursuline Academy
22. Villa Duchesne High School

Since its founding in 2005, ACCESS Academies has prepared and propelled 98% of all its 8th grade graduates- approximately 300 students- to private, college-prep high schools.   Once there, ACCESS students receive academic scholarships and support services through the Graduate Support Program, which provides tutoring, mentoring, post-secondary counseling, ACT preparation courses and more to ensure continued success.

For more information regarding this release, please contact Julie Linder, Public Relations for ACCESS Academies, by calling (573) 268-0639.