25 Employees | 300 Volunteers | 60 Young Men Served Yearly
A Jesuit middle school for boys who have the potential for college preparatory work, but whose progress may be impeded by economic or social circumstances. The Loyola community conducts a challenging program that supports families in preparing each student to achieve his full human potential. In the Ignatian tradition, the school inspires its students to lives of service and leadership through the use of their God-given talents.
In the late 90’s, city educators were consistently finding that despite their best efforts at recruitment and retention, low income students were failing to reach their academic potential and, in many cases, were dropping out altogether. In the fall of 1997, a committee was formed to discuss the problems that many low income students were experiencing and to investigate ways to help them succeed. The result was Loyola Academy of St. Louis, which welcomed its first class of students in September, 1999. The school differs from other educational institutions in that it was determined that Loyola would:
All of these have been proven to increase academic success among the target population and The Dana Brown Charitable Trust is a large supporter of this success.
Through an extended day and extended year approach, as well as wrap around services typically not offered at other schools, Loyola aims to break the cycle of poverty through education, one young man at a time. It costs Loyola approximately $17,000 per student, per year. Tuition, which is based on household income covers only 5% of the budget, while government support covers an additional 3%. The remainder of the funds necessary to support operations must be secured from individuals, foundations and corporations. Funds from Dana Brown have been used to fill this gap between tuition and the actual cost of educating a student at Loyola.
Young men exposed to socio-economic distress living in the City of St. Louis and its immediate suburbs are graduating from public high schools at a rate of less than 60%. As they approach our 17th year of operation, 264 young men have graduated from Loyola Academy, with 254 of these young men currently enrolled in or having graduated from high school or a GED program. This is a 96% success rate. Further, Loyola boasts a 76% matriculation rate into college for its alumni. The Dana Brown Charitable Trust is truly a partner in their students’ success.
