Christian education on North Grand
By Gerald Pace
For the St. Louis American
Jubilee Community Church is taking an extra step to reach the community. The church recently held an open house for its new city charter school, Scholar’s Academy: A Victorious Experience (SAVE), on North Grand Avenue. The school reflects an effort to provide a new quality education option to inner-city youth.
“We want to teach our students to live by godly principles. If we offer Christ and outreach for parents, we will be able to get them to commit to their children’s education,” Jodi Jordan, executive director and principal of the new school, said.
“Our purpose for the open house was to get the doors open and let the neighborhood know what’s going on.”
SAVE is an outreach project of Jubilee Community Church and Jubilee Christian Development Corporation, both located in the Lindell Park area.
About 30 people attended the open house Sunday. Families considering enrolling their children in the new school were taken on tours and given the opportunity to speak with board members.
“We have searched for feedback from our members and neighborhood organizations and found we need a Christian school in our community,” Jordan said.
“There are a lot of uneducated youth in our community. We plan to address the issues with our school. This project is a Christian outreach to our community to give our kids a quality education,” Jubilee pastor Larry Gill said.
The curriculum for Scholar’s Academy will combine elements of several well-known advanced curricular approaches. A committee is still creating the curriculum, but has established that there will be a heavy focus on the use of classroom centers and hands-on activities.
“Children enrolled will experience multi-sensory activities because children learn by many different ways. Our approach will not be the usual and very experimental, because we want the children actively involved in their learning,” Jordan said.
“All children can learn, and every child has the potential to be a genius. We just have to find out how they learn.”
Jordan said they are currently expecting nearly 60 students to enroll and that SAVE will officially open its doors Sept. 5, 2006. There will be five teachers throughout three classrooms of pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first-grade students. She said they have plans to expand their grade levels each year. The school initially expects a largely African-American population, but hopes for more diversity in the future.
The application process includes a financial aid and enrollment application, child screening and parental interview. Tuition will range from $1,000 to $3,500 on a sliding income-based scale, and families will have the option of making monthly payments. The estimated cost of education per student is $6,000, but board members lowered the tuition to fit the needs of the community. After a family has enrolled three children, the fourth child receives free tuition.
Board members are currently raising funds for the institution and searching for grants. An endowment fund has been established to solicit corporate and private contributions, and a luncheon and tour for prospective donors is held each month. The next prospective donors luncheon is scheduled for January 12 at 11:45 a.m.
Andrew Krumsiege, director of Jubilee Christian Development Corporation, is overseeing the rehabilitation of SAVE’s building on North Grand.
“The school is going to be an excellent finished rehab project on Carter and Grand, and we will be done by late spring or early summer of 2006. This building was an old vacant grocery store and the school will really dress up that corner in a way it hasn’t been in a long time,” Krumsiege said.
The church has several outreach programs established for parents as well. The Job Alliance Program will teach parents to acquire and maintain a job as well as assist with resume writing, interviewing skills and career counseling. Victory Over Bondage, a drug counseling program, and Participants in the Apprenticeship Program will also be available for parents.
“We plan to meet holistic needs of the entire family,” Gill said.
The next open house will be Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. For more information, contact Jodi Jordan at (314) 533-5400 or jodileejordan@hotmail.com.