City Academy in North St. Louis city is celebrating 15 years of providing families in underserved communities with access to a quality early education.
“We created something really unique and special where students leave ready for new challenges,” said Don Danforth III, president and co-founder of City Academy.
City Academy was founded in 1999 with only 42 students schooled within the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club. Danforth, along with co-founder Duncan Marshall, set out to create a “top-flight” school, Danforth said, that was equal to any school.
The school currently serves 165 students age three through sixth grade in its 40,000 sq. foot stand-alone facility at 4175 N. Kingshighway Blvd., across the street from the club. The school’s 10th class of sixth graders will graduate next month, and next year the oldest class of graduates will be seniors in college.
City Academy is a private school accredited by the Independent Schools Association of Central States, with 100 percent of families qualifying for financial assistance and tuition. And 56 percent of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
City Academy serves families from across the metro area, and 90 percent of its families live in communities served by underperforming or unaccredited schools.
Kathleen Hall chose City Academy for her daughter Sydni because she was looking for a school with a challenging curriculum. Now she is impressed that her third-grade son, Steven, is already dissecting animals in his science classes.
“I didn’t start dissecting until I was in high school,” Hall said.
She commended the school’s small class sizes and the family-like environment it created.
“Because the class sizes are so small,” she said, “they’re able to focus on each child’s weaknesses and strengths.”
The school also places a high emphasis on its STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) program.
Julie Bugnitz, an early childhood and art teacher at City Academy, bounced from table to table on Monday, overseeing students working on the day’s assignment.
Evan Henderson, a third-grader at City Academy, explained that they were told to construct 3-D houses using solely paper materials.
Bugnitz said art develops critical thinking skills and instills confidence in students. It also develops an appreciation for aesthetically beautiful things, which she said is just as important.
City Academy incorporates a specialist model into its curriculum. Children learn from teachers who are experts in their field, like Laurie Reycraft, who teaches the Suzuki method on violin and viola to first through sixth graders. Reycraft has played as a substitute with the National Symphony Orchestra and is currently a regular substitute with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Kip Warr, a sixth grade humanities teacher, said he developed a sixth-grade economics class incorporating the same subject matter you find in AP high school economics classes.
Graduates like Hall’s daughter Sydni are thriving as leaders and scholars in some of the area’s most competitive secondary schools. From 2010-2013, an average of 85 percent City Academy graduates matriculated into area independent or private educational programs, according to the school. In 2012-2013, 100 of the sixth grade graduates were accepted to private independent secondary schools. Over the last four years, City Academy graduates were awarded over $1 million in financial/scholarship support from their secondary schools.
Sydni is a freshman at the Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School, or MICDS. Graduates transition from secondary schools to some of the nation’s leading colleges, universities, and HBCUs.
Sydni has not yet zeroed in on a particular college or university, but said she plans to become a doctor of pharmacy.
Sydni is also involved in the college prep component of City Academy’s Strive Program, run by Nikky Doughty, director of placement and alumni relations. At City Academy, Doughty said, there is an expectation that students matriculate into high-performing schools.
“City Academy maintains contact with a majority of our college-aged graduates,” said Anne Heinrich, director of communications and marketing. “Of that group, 97 percent are pursuing higher education and have been accepted into 31 colleges or universities across the country.”
Doughty said there has been an “educational paradigm” shift in terms of the impact City Academy has had in the lives of families and students.
“We’ve been able to provide them with an opportunity to experience what a strong educational model looks like,” Doughty said.
She said City Academy has had an impact on the greater community by broadening people’s perspective of what an urban education looks like.
Danforth looks ahead to the next 15 years.
“There’s always room for growth,” he said. “We’re never satisfied and always looking critically at how can we prepare more students for success.”
Follow this reporter on Twitter: @BridjesONeil.
