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A SYNERGY OF SUPPORT
Corporate, Church and Civic Leaders Collaborate
for Cardinal Ritter Prep's Success
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By Susan Caba
Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School is a sleek addition
to the Grand Center cultural district, with its mix of historic
buildings—the Fox Theatre, for example—and contemporary architecture,
epitomized by the Pulitzer Museum.
But the school, built in 2003 on a 16-acre campus, is more than
just a suitable northern anchor for the district. Cardinal Ritter
is an example—one of the first—of an unusual business model
for a faith-based private school.
Tuition and student fees cover just 55 percent of the school’s
annual $3.6 million budget. The Archdiocese of St. Louis contributes
another 12 percent—even though the school is independently governed
by a lay board. What is, perhaps, most unusual is the participation
of the City’s business community, which covers almost one-third
of the annual operating costs.
“It is very unusual for the corporate community to have this
level of involvement in a private high school,” says Michael
Salsich, vice president of Cardinal Ritter. “As far as I know,
this synergy of corporate, church and civic leaders energetically
supporting a school like Cardinal Ritter is unmatched anywhere
in the country.”
With long-term civic support from Commerce Bank’s Chairman,
President and CEO David Kemper, the list of corporate supporters
is long and reads like a business directory of the City: Enterprise
Rent-A-Car, Commerce Bank, Anheuser-Busch, Laclede Gas Co.,
Schnuck Markets, Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., A.G. Edwards,
Alberici Constructors, Nestlé Purina PetCare and Energizer,
to name just a few. Emerson Electric has contributed $200,000
to the endowment since 2005 and matched an additional $221,000
in other donations.
Corporate support has allowed Cardinal Ritter to maintain the
lowest tuition of any private high school in St. Louis—$5,500
a year, even though the actual cost of educating each student
is about $10,000. Business leaders participated in design decisions
for the new school and in the creation of the lay board of directors
that governs the school.
“We treat all of our donors as investors,” Salsich says. “It
is our responsibility to report to them how their capital is
being used to literally change students’ lives.”
Robert M. Cox Jr., senior vice president of administration at
Emerson, says the company has a history of involvement with
Cardinal Ritter going back to the school’s location in Walnut
Park. The company donated $1 million to the building fund and
then decided to “get the ball rolling” when the school made
an appeal for scholarship funding.
“The bottom line is, I was swept off my feet at the celebration
of the school’s 25th anniversary. Every graduating senior is
accepted to a college and most get scholarships,” says Cox.
“There are very worthy African-American students who can’t afford
Cardinal Ritter’s tuition. If the key to their college success
is having a scholarship to Cardinal Ritter, then we have an
obligation to make that happen.”
In addition to financial support, the surrounding arts community
in Grand Center has opened opportunities for collaboration with
students. And the school, again with the support of area employers,
offers a five-year internship program that connects students
with a local company right through college. The idea is that
those students will have the contacts to return to St. Louis
when they finish college.
Cardinal Ritter’s mandate may be one reason the school draws
the support of the business community.
“Our primary goal is to develop and keep these young men and
women in our region,” says school president Leon Henderson,
who predicts the school will become a national model for urban
education. “As a partnership between the Archdiocese, business
and the community, Cardinal Ritter will be known for its commitment
to high academic standards, innovation, and community involvement.”
Higher education after graduation is an absolute expectation—and
the school boasts that 100 percent of its students do go on
to college. And while many of the students are “the cream of
the cream,” others might not ordinarily be expected to get into
a college prep program.
“We have some who wouldn’t get in on the basis of their test
scores or grade point average or because of some kink in their
performance,” Henderson says.
“We open up the possibilities. From the moment you enter the
school, you are greeted with the notion that you will be going
to college. We provide the support systems to get them there.”
“We don’t let students fail, even if they make a mistake or
an error,” says Michael Blackshear, associate principal. “We
hold them accountable, but we also give them guidance on how
to grow from the experience.”
The aim is to create the city’s future leaders, and particularly
African-American leaders. Cardinal Ritter was located in Walnut
Park for more than two decades. Historically, the student body
has been largely—though not exclusively—black. Nor is it exclusively
Catholic. In fact, about 75 percent of the students aren’t Catholic,
says Henderson.
But faith development is one of the three prongs of Cardinal
Ritter’s curriculum. The other two are academic excellence and
development of leadership skills. The combination, says Henderson,
“leads to civic responsibility, a commitment to service to others,
something bigger than yourself.”
“A majority of our students are from families with strong ties
to some religious faith,” Henderson says. “The parents like
the fact that we are faith-based, that we offer not only a solid
education, but one that celebrates and thinks about a life of
morals and ethics.”
Both the faith development and the leadership components are
woven into the curriculum. Students take a world religions class
each year. Students attend a mass once a month and the liturgy
becomes the topic of a wider discussion of values. For example,
in November, the school celebrates All Saints Day and All Souls
Day.
“We celebrate those who have passed in our lives,” says Henderson.
“It allows us to enhance a student’s faith, no matter what it
is.”
“Prayer and speaking of our faith is very much a part of the
day-to-day curriculum,” says English teacher Sandy Reid, who’s
been at Cardinal Ritter for 18 years. “Students aren’t required
to buy into it, but they are required to respect the curriculum.
Discussing the beliefs and rituals leads into conversations
with students who aren’t Catholic or Christian about their values
and beliefs.”
Reid also teaches a mandatory class for incoming freshmen (about
120 each year) based on “The Seven Habits of Highly Effec-tive
Teens,” a book by Sean Covey. Students work through the exercises
in the book, keep a journal and write a mission statement.
“It’s part of being organized and setting priorities,” says
Reid. “It forces them to look beyond high school and makes them
look at their principles and ethics. It connects into our mission
to provide character-based education—academics without character
is useless.”
Juniors, too, take a mandatory leadership class. Seniors have
the option of a third class. In addition, there are two leadership
groups at Cardinal Ritter, The Brotherhood and The Sisterhood.
They are open to students who embody the mission of the school.
Brotherhood members are hand picked by the faculty. Girls can
be nominated or apply for The Sisterhood, but they must be voted
in by the faculty. Three “no” votes means no membership—and,
once accepted, the girls must reapply each year.
“We train our students to ask hard questions,” says Reid. “We’re
small, we give our kids personal attention. It’s a real nurturing,
strengthening environment.”
Principal Carmele Hall, whose son graduated from Cardinal Ritter,
also uses the word “nurturing.”
“This is a family,” Hall says. “We really take seriously our
commitment to our students and to our parents. We want them
to see themselves as leaders.”
Applicants to Cardinal Ritter are interviewed personally and
asked to write a short essay on the spot about why they want
to attend the school. The responses can be both amusing and
telling.
“I believe that God gave me a gift to play basketball,” wrote
one boy. “If I can play basketball here, we can make it to the
championship.”
“I want to go to Cardinal Ritter because I heard that it was
a lot of fun. I also want to go there because it is a newly
designed school and everything is clean and also they have new
textbooks that are not missing any pages, ” said another.
And one put it simply: “I have my eyes set on the future.”
| Cardinal
Ritter College Prep INTERN LEADERSHIP PROGRAM |
How do you keep talented college graduates in St. Louis
— or lure them back, if they’ve gone to school out of state?
One way is to hook them up with a local company in high
school, one that keeps in touch all through the college
years and is likely to offer a job at graduation. And that’s
just the idea behind the Intern Leadership Program at Cardinal
Ritter College Prep High School.
The school teams up with St. Louis-area firms to offer on-the-job
training and internships to high-achieving Cardinal Ritter
students, starting after their junior year and continuing
right through college.
“This work-based learning opportunity will provide incentives
for talented African-American youth to choose to live in,
work in and provide leadership in the St. Louis region after
college graduation,” according to the program’s brochure.
The Danforth Foundation provided a grant to get the program
going when Cardinal Ritter opened its new building in 2003.
The first participants in the program will be graduating
from college next year. But—even before they graduated from
high school—more than one would-be pharmacist has been permanently
hired at Walgreens while participating in the program.
“Our goal is to retain our college graduates in St. Louis,
which would in turn increase the quality and diversity of
future generations of St. Louis leaders,” says Cardinal
Ritter President Leon Henderson. About 150 students are
participating.
To qualify, they must have completed their junior year with
a grade point average of 3.0 or above, have a good record
of attendance and punctuality, and demonstrate dependability,
maturity and responsibility.
In return, they may receive scholarships or tuition stipends,
training in areas like resume writing, interviewing, and
business etiquette, and the opportunity to intern at a local
business for as many as six summers. The idea is that the
student will be committed to St. Louis, will have developed
contacts at a local company, and may even secure a job before
graduation.
Companies that have participated since the start five years
ago are A.G. Edwards & Sons, Ameren, Commerce Bank, Enterprise
Rent-A-Car, and Laclede Gas Co. They were joined the following
year by Edward D. Jones & Co., Grimco Inc., and UniGroup
Inc. The program continues to grow—in the third year, Anheuser-Busch,
Bank of America, Smurfit-Stone Container, Schnuck Markets,
US Bank and the VA Medical Center joined.
For more information on participating in the Intern Leadership
Program, contact April D. Cotton at (314) 446-5521 or email
her at acotton@cardinalritterprep.org. |
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