ST. LOUIS – A partnership between Saint Louis University’s School of Education’s Herrmann Center for Innovative Catholic Education and St. Louis Catholic Academy has yielded improved test scores and student outcomes in the middle school population after its first year. The SLU School of Education provides resources to St. Louis Catholic Academy’s middle school.

“Across all subjects, more than 93% of students were tested in the spring, with 78–85% showing growth from fall to spring. On average, students exceeded expected growth benchmarks by 114% in language, 109% in reading, 84% in math, and 88% in science - demonstrating strong academic progress throughout the year,” said Alexandra Boyd, Ph.D., executive director of school and community partnerships in the School of Education.

In addition to improved student outcomes, 100% of the middle school faculty and administration are returning for the upcoming school year.

“Our role here is to support the middle school,” said Angela Moret, Ed.D., director of the Billiken Teacher Corps at Saint Louis University. “I’m really proud of the work SLCA did this first year, and to see the teachers all return is a great sign of a positive school culture that the Middle School Director built in collaboration with the teachers.”

As part of the partnership, SLU participated in the hiring of middle school staff for the 2024-25 school year.

SLU began its relationship with St. Louis Catholic Academy, a K-8 school operating within the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Louis, in 2016 when a Billiken Teacher Corps teacher was placed at the school to teach first grade for her two years in the program. In 2020, SLU partnered with St. Louis Catholic Academy through Access Academies. Access Academies propels middle school students who have been historically underserved through high school and on to college and career success with enrichment, counseling, and scholarships.

St. Louis Catholic Academy traces its roots to 1891 and has served students in northeast St. Louis as demographics and parishes have shifted and merged. During the 2024-25 school year, St. Louis Catholic Academy served 180 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Kwira Vickers was named the school’s first Middle School director. She led the hiring of four new faculty members during the summer of 2024. The team from SLU provided professional development to the middle school faculty throughout the year.

“They would come to SLU’s campus every other month or so for half-day development sessions,” Moret said. “And on the alternating months, we would visit the school and lead collaborative conversations focused on student growth.”

St. Louis Catholic Academy revamped the learning program throughout the middle school, with the goal of bringing students up to grade level and beyond in various subjects, but especially in reading and math. Moret said one of the areas of focus for the faculty was to really understand testing data and how to use the baseline information to improve student outcomes.

“We wanted to build a positive school culture around testing,” she said. “We did a deep dive on where test scores were at the start of the school year and looked at ways to engage students and parents in a culture of academic improvement.”

St. Louis Catholic Academy implemented a cohort model, rather than grade levels for core subjects, and an in-house competition between grades and classes in order to foster positive relationships between students both inside and outside the classroom. Students took NWEA tests in the fall, winter, and spring.

“The students were excited about setting goals and seeing their own growth,” Moret said.

Moret said she and her colleagues in the School of Education, including Boyd and Deanna Childress, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in the PRiME Center, saw the School’s work with St. Louis Catholic Academy as an extension of SLU’s Jesuit mission.

“I think of our work in terms of Cura Personalis or care for the whole person,” Moret said. “We were looking to care for the whole middle school and accompany them as they learn and grow.”

St. Louis Catholic Academy had 55 students enrolled in the middle school for the 2024-25 school year. Sixty-five students are enrolled in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades for the upcoming school year.

Herrmann Center for Innovative Catholic Education

The Herrmann Center for Innovative Catholic Education houses SLU’s Catholic educational leadership degree programs as well as the Billiken Teacher Corps, a program for recent college graduates that supports new teachers as they begin their careers teaching in Jesuit or underserved Catholic schools.

The Center conducts research to inform best practices in Catholic schools and supports local and global partnerships. The Center is led by executive director Michael Boyle, Ph.D., an advocate for students with disabilities who has researched and published extensively in the domain of Catholic education.