As we look forward to the first day of school on Monday, August 13, there is much to be excited about in the Saint Louis Public School District. Thanks to the hard work of our students and teachers, the District is making progress and on the right track.
Last year, SLPS earned six accreditation points for the first time ever during the Missouri School Improvement Program IV Cycle. To top that off, 16 District schools earned Adequate Yearly Progress as recognized by the No Child Left Behind Act. We look forward to even greater academic improvement this year.
Moving forward, this year all District 3rd grade students will participate in the iPad initiative. Our 3rd grade teachers are being provided with additional professional development to help our students use iPads in the classroom as additional learning aids. The District is also piloting the iPad initiative with selected 4th grade students this year.
We added 37 additional early childhood classrooms during the past school year to open up preschool opportunities for more than 700 additional children in St. Louis City. Our commitment to providing the youngest children in our community with access to high-quality preschool classrooms taught by certified teachers continues this year. We are proud to offer our full-day preschool classrooms on a tuition-free basis for St. Louis City residents.
The St. Louis Public School District is joining other districts nation-wide in embracing the Common Core Standards for mathematic and language arts. These standards will improve teaching and learning to ensure that all children will graduate high school with the skills they need to be successful. Parent guides to these standards are being developed for each grade level and will be available on the District website at www.slps.org under the parents and students tab.
During the summer months the District has also continued moving forward with our Proposition S facility improvements and upgrades. Thanks to the generosity of St. Louis City voters, the District is in the process of making more than $150 Million in improvements to our school buildings. Our students will enjoy new state-of-the-art science labs and cafeterias, upgraded technology and added security features, as well as improved athletic facilities.
The summer was an exciting time for more than 5,400 students who attended the St. Louis Public Schools summer school program. During the month of June, children in preschool – 12th grade participated in project based learning, enrichment programs, credit recovery programs and transition programs, all offered to help our students become better prepared for the upcoming school year. As the final bell rang for summer school, more than 1,600 students were recognized for achieving perfect attendance for the entire summer school schedule.
For the first time in years, St. Louis Public Schools is opening three new schools this fall. The schools are being opened to help accommodate the students formerly attending Imagine Charter schools. The new schools are the College Preparatory High School at Madison, the Academy of Environmental Science and Mathematics Elementary School and the Academy of Environment Science and Mathematics Middle School. Bell times, addresses and other school information for these schools is included in our School Listings directory found on page 1 of this issue of School and Home.
Finally, I’d like to welcome all new students and their families to Saint Louis Public Schools. If you are enrolling in our schools for the first time, or coming back after attending other schools, please know that we are happy to have you as part of the SLPS family. We strive every day in SLPS to make our schools a safe and welcoming environment for all students and staff.
