Cole School. 3935 Enright Ave. was built in 1936. Now it’s the Gilkey Pamoja Preparatory Academy @ Cole — click for info on this market educating program
The St. Louis Public Schools recently became fully accredited again — a result of vast improvements from a decade ago when barely more than half graduated and there was a huge budget deficit:
Today, the high-poverty, majority-African-American district has a 72 percent graduation rate and 95 percent attendance rate. The district had a $19.2 million surplus in June. The district has improved its students’ test scores year after year.
Still, Superintendent Kelvin Adams and the appointed Special Administrative Board acknowledge that the district is not meeting its academic goals.
“It’s really about the young people … who deserve to have the kind of education we all want for our kids,” Adams said after the board’s vote. “We’re not going to stop until every single kid can read, every single kid has that opportunity.”
About 37 percent of students who took state tests last year scored proficient or advanced in English, and 26 percent did so in math. Only 12 percent of district high school graduates who were tested scored at or above the national average on the ACT. (Post-Dispatch)
In the recent non-scientific Sunday Poll just over half the readers said they’d send their kids to a St. Louis Public School:
Q: Assume you have a child ready to start 1st grade. Agree or disagree: Now that they’re accredited, I’d send my child to St. Louis Public Schools.
- Strongly agree 10 [21.28%]
- Agree 6 [12.77%]
- Somewhat agree 14 [29.79%]
- Neither agree or disagree 0 [0%]
- Somewhat disagree 0 [0%]
- Disagree 4 [8.51%]
- Strongly disagree 9 [19.15%]
- Unsure/No Answer 4 [8.51%]
A couple of comments on social media do a good job summarizing
Celia Watson on Facebook:
This is a tough one to answer. I love my kiddos SLPS magnet school, but our neighborhood school is still not a consideration for us. I do feel that SLPS is well run, and employs excellent teachers and staff.
Jason Stokes on Twitter:
Have a current kindergartener. Moving to STL next month. Will send him to SLPS.
The more good students attend the schools the better they’ll do. The more involved parents & prospective parents are in the schools the better they’ll do.
— Steve Patterson
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