Affordable Alternative to NoCo Parents

By Tom Anselm

Back in the olden days of the 1950s and ’60s, you couldn’t travel more than a few miles in North County before you passed a Catholic grade school. “Grade school’” became the term used for grades Kindergarten through 8th grade among those who attended. There seemed to be one in every new community that was sprouting up as a result of the Baby Boom phenomenon. So many of them were planted smack dab in the middle of the neighborhood, right next to the church. They became anchors to the community.

And so, people from all over the St. Louis area literally flocked to the region in an unprecedented upturning of farmland-into-homesteads that were solid and affordable. It is within this environment that these schools flourished, mostly staffed by religious sisters, and full to the brim with Boomer Babies. My 7th grade class sported a 70 kid-to-1 teacher ratio. And that was pretty much the standard across the area. And we still learned… amazing!

How those numbers have changed. Today’s North County Catholic grade schools may have as many as 300 students or as few as 175 across all grades. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t viable, valuable and still an excellent alternative-educational option for parents. And Trinity Catholic High School, which is the product of the consolidation of Rosary and St. Thomas Aquinas-Mercy High Schools in 2003, continues to provide secondary education based, according to their logo, on “faith, respect, tradition and service” to over 330 students in the area.

The word “catholic” comes from the Greek, meaning “universal.” And the schools in our region are shining examples of that universality. A Catholic school in North County can have students from many different religions attending. These schools have a unique mission, to provide quality education in a small-class-size environment that is faith-based, strong on discipline and affordable. Affordable, you may say? Well, there is a significant cost associated with keeping pace with the demands of technology and programming that allows students to thrive. Couple that with attracting quality staff, who almost all work for far less than they could earn in other settings, and the numbers add up quickly. So tuitions are a necessity. But programs exist for financial assistance at each and every school operating in the area.

There were easily over a dozen grade schools when I was that snot-nosed kid in navy slacks, powder blue button-down shirt and blue tie. Today, in the Florissant and Hazelwood region you can count them on one hand. Just this year, in an effort to consolidate services, three of them formed into a partnership model, operating under the name All Saints Academy. St. Norbert, St. Ferdinand and St. Rose Philippine Duchesne each has their own campus, but share a parent advisory board and receive direction and guidance from the Federation of Schools, Archdiocese of St. Louis School Office.

The Academy at St. Sabina provides services for students with special needs. Sacred Heart Parish School continues to operate independent of this model. They will all be hosting open houses this coming Sunday as a kick-off to the celebration of Catholic Schools Week.

I was a public school teacher for two decades. I worked with many wonderful teachers and administrators, taught many awesome kids. Public educators have a difficult mission to accomplish, which they do quite remarkably. But sometimes people are in need of other ways of meeting their child’s educational and social-emotional needs. Alternatives. Maybe there is something different out there for your child.

Hey, worth a look, right?

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