ST. LOUIS 鈥 Within the walls of the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience is a success story taking shape in 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools.
It鈥檚 captured on a slip of paper inside the main office: math scores that outdid Ladue, Clayton and Marquette high schools in 最新杏吧原创 County this past spring. Upstairs, in a pathophysiology class, freshmen and sophomores work on a year-long project to solve the murder of a fictional character, using a fusion of math and science. In another classroom, they鈥檙e learning Latin.
One out of four students at Collegiate comes from a high-performing suburban district. Students are drawn to the school鈥檚 science focus, its diverse student body and its access to medical internships.
鈥淭he science classes at this school are the most hands-on that I鈥檝e ever had,鈥 said Helen Ingley, a sophomore, who transferred to Collegiate this fall.
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But not just anyone can get into the school.
Collegiate is among a growing group of campuses within 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools that restrict admission to those who can meet and maintain certain standards. At Collegiate, it鈥檚 a high bar 鈥 with a 3.0 grade-point average among the requirements. Other schools are less selective.
Since 2008, the number of selective-admission schools has grown to 13 from three in 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools. Their enrollment has increased more than fivefold to 5,181 students 鈥 making this the fastest-growing segment of the district鈥檚 portfolio.
As a group, these schools offer hope to an urban system that has struggled academically for decades. Metro High School, Kennard Classical Junior Academy and McKinley Classical Leadership Academy 鈥 three of the city鈥檚 schools for gifted and accelerated learning 鈥 have long ranked as top performers in Missouri. And now Central Visual Performing Arts High School, Cleveland NJROTC Academy and the Collegiate School are posting math and reading scores that meet or exceed the state passing rate.
The gifted and accelerated learning schools are the most popular with parents. Children take an intelligence test to see if they qualify for admission.
鈥淭he other schools are kind of rough right now,鈥 said Christopher Briggs, a city parent, who sends his three sons to a mix of district magnet, private and charter schools. 鈥淪ome of these schools right now are so busy correcting they don鈥檛 have time to teach.鈥
The schools are part of the district鈥檚 magnet and choice schools 鈥 buildings that offer a specialized focus of study, such as the performing arts, international studies or sciences. To district officials, they present a tantalizing upside. They attract families who tend to be more affluent and who might otherwise leave for the suburbs. They also draw some families back to the city 鈥 though not in huge numbers.
Of the 133 children from 最新杏吧原创 County who attend 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools this year, 113 attend selective magnet schools, according to the Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation. Under the desegregation court settlement, non-African-American students from some parts of the county can enroll in city district schools.
鈥淵ou need to have a mix of parents in the community to make schools work,鈥 Superintendent Kelvin Adams said. 鈥淵ou have to have a mix in any city to keep an urban district in the right direction.鈥
A TIERED SYSTEM
But selective-admission schools also can present challenges. In any urban district, they can create a tiered system that concentrates a city鈥檚 top students in a few schools, leaving the most challenged students in the rest of the buildings.
Students in these lower-performing schools 鈥 most often neighborhood schools with no entrance requirements 鈥 feel the rub.
Last month, more than 100 students at Vashon High School walked out of their building to protest poor learning conditions, such as a high number of substitute teachers and a lack of challenging classes.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 care about our school,鈥 said Jazmyn Holmes, a Vashon student who held a sign. She said she believed Clyde C. Miller Career Academy and Gateway STEM High School 鈥 both with selective enrollment criteria 鈥 had access to more resources and better teachers.
This is despite the fact that Adams has sent an additional $6.4 million to the 18 lowest-performing schools 鈥 most of which are neighborhood schools 鈥 for intense tutoring and other support.
When asked if there was danger in isolating some of the best students in a few district schools, Adams said no. The selective requirements help create schools that provide better environments for students serious about learning, he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking kids who really want to do well, and we鈥檙e pushing them, and we鈥檙e encouraging them to do well.鈥
Adams also said that many of the selective schools were accessible to a broad range of students. Most often, the admission requirements are a 2.5 grade-point average.
鈥淧arents have so many choices right now,鈥 Adams added. 鈥淐hoice is what people are looking for, more than anything else.鈥
City parents also have a growing list of charter schools scoring high on Missouri鈥檚 annual performance report. Among them: City Garden Montessori, Lift for Life Academy High School, North Side Community School, Gateway Science Academy, Grand Center Arts Academy and KIPP: Inspire. These schools have no entrance requirements, through critics often accuse them of 鈥渃reaming鈥 the best students.
Charter schools are tuition-free public schools that operate without affiliation with school districts.
Even with the increasing number of schools that are performing well by state standards, about 19,000 children in the city 鈥 about 60 percent of those enrolled in public schools 鈥 still attend schools that fall below that mark, according to a study released last summer by IFF, a Chicago-based nonprofit.
THE RIGHT MIX
On Oct. 1, city parents for magnet and choice schools for 2015-16. For some city parents, the process can be overwhelming.
鈥淭here鈥檚 just a lot of time and research involved,鈥 said Angelee Brockmeyer, a former Chicago teacher who moved to 最新杏吧原创 in 2010 with her husband, Paul.
The couple, with three children, sought to untangle the process by creating an online school guide. The guide can be found at .
Once parents have a list of potential schools, 鈥淭hey really should visit each one,鈥 Brockmeyer said.
As of Monday, 1,353 applications had come into the district鈥檚 Student Recruitment and Placement Office. Half of them were for admission to the gifted or accelerated learning schools, including Collegiate, said Louis Kruger, executive director for the placement office.
Getting accepted into the Collegiate school is like applying for a prestigious college or university. In addition to meeting the academic threshold, students need to submit two letters of recommendation and an essay, plus interview with the principal.
鈥淵ou know as well as I do, if the academic piece wasn鈥檛 there, or the rigor, we wouldn鈥檛 be taken seriously,鈥 Principal Chip Clatto said.
In its second year, the school鈥檚 student body is one of the most diverse in the district. About half of Collegiate鈥檚 students are African-American, 20 percent are white and 23 percent Asian.
鈥淭he mix is such a great thing,鈥 said Allen Mehta, who lives in the Lindbergh School District and sends his twin son and daughter to Collegiate.
The student body is also more affluent than in most district schools, with 34 percent coming from poverty last year, Clatto said. Most of the students live in the city. But that could change next year. Of the 30 students who鈥檝e completed the application process for 2015-16, just three are attending other schools in the city school system, Clatto said.
The school is outgrowing its brick building at 450 Des Peres Avenue, in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood. The enrollment is 112 students and rising. Another location for Collegiate is to be announced before the end of the month, Adams said.
鈥淵ou can get great results,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t goes back to this notion of having a real focus.鈥
