Updated 5:10 p.m. Aug. 13:
St. Louis Public Schools has released its attendance figures for the first day of school:
- 20,283 students in Kindergarten through 12th grade attended classes today
- According to SLPS, the number shows a 10.25 percent increase over the previous year’s first day attendance of 18,397
Three new schools opened to address the closing of six Imagine charter schools in St. Louis. The new schools had the following first-day attendance numbers:
- Academy of Environmental Sciences & Mathematics Elementary School:567
- Academy of Environmental Sciences & Mathematics Middle School: 279
- College Preparatory High School at Madison: 274
Original Story posted Aug. 12 at 2:46 p.m. addressing an effort to ask church congregations to assist in getting students to school:
This morning about 2,000 people packed Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist on Martin Luther King Drive.
It’s one of 25 churches district administrators visited today, spreading the message that it’s every community member’s responsibility to make sure young people are in school.
St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams said community support is a critical factor in deterring student success.
“1,743 [students] graduated last school year, I can guarantee you 50-percent didn’t have the kind of family structure that supported them,” Adams said “But there were other persons in the community that made sure they got through.”
Church goers erupted in applause.
He added that in town like St. Louis, where everyone asks: “what high school did you go to?” education is the backbone of the community.
“Those schools are important because they connect people together," Adams said. "And they provide them the kind of support they need, not only for one or two years, but sometime for the rest of their lives.”
The District will also open the door to three new schools on Monday and is currently making $150 million in improvements to its buildings.
Last school year the district added 37 additional early childhood classrooms.
Follow Tim Lloyd on Twitter: @TimSLloyd
Follow Kelsey Proud on Twitter: @KelseyProud
