Education in St. Louis

This article is about education in the city of St. Louis, Missouri. For education in the region, see Education in Greater St. Louis.

Education in St. Louis is provided by the St. Louis Public Schools, private schools, charter schools, several colleges and universities, and the St. Louis Public Library.

Primary and secondary education

The St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) is the only school district in St. Louis. It operates more than 75 schools, including several magnet schools. SLPS operates under provisional accreditation from the state of Missouri and is under the governance of a state-appointed school board called the Special Administrative Board, although a local board continues to exist without legal authority over the district. Since 2000, charter schools have operated in the city of St. Louis using authorization from Missouri state law. These schools are sponsored by local institutions or corporations and take in students from kindergarten through high school. In addition, several private schools exist in the city, and the Archdiocese of St. Louis operates dozens of parochial schools in the city, including parochial high schools.

Several secular private schools also exist in the city, such as Crossroads College Preparatory School.

Missouri School for the Blind, a state-operated K-12 boarding school, is in the city.

Colleges and universities

The city of St. Louis is home to many universities and colleges, including Saint Louis University, Harris-Stowe State University, Washington University in St. Louis (although part of Washington University is located in adjacent Clayton, Missouri), and Stevens Institute of Business and Arts.

According to William Barnaby Faherty, Rev. Peter Verhaegen, SJ., was a key leader in building Catholicism in the West from his arrival 1823 to his death in 1853. As the first Jesuit president of St. Louis College, he Americanized the Jesuits, created a curriculum to fit frontier needs, integrated the school into Catholic life, moved the school to a bigger campus, and established a medical department.

Libraries

The St. Louis Public Library operates 16 branches and a central library building, and it maintains a borrowing agreement with the adjacent St. Louis County Library.

Miscellaneous education

The St. Louis Japanese School, a Japanese weekend supplementary school holding classes for Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals, holds its classes at Webster University in nearby Webster Groves, Missouri.

See also

• Education in Missouri
• History of education in Missouri
• List of high schools in Greater St. Louis
• List of colleges and universities in Greater St. Louis

Further reading

• Christensen, Lawrence O. and Gary R. Kremer. A History of Missouri: vol IV 1875 to 1919 (U of Missouri Press, 1997) pp 53-62.

• Christensen, Lawrence O. et al. eds. Dictionary of Missouri Biography (University of Missouri press, 1999); 700 short biographies by experts; 848pp.

• Faherty, William Barnaby. “Peter Verhaegen: Pioneer Missouri Educator and Church Administrator,” Missouri Historical Review (1966) 60#4 pp 407-415; a leading Catholic 1820s-1840s.

• Gersman, Elinor Mondale. "Education in St. Louis, 1880-1900: a case study of schools in society" (PhD dissertation, Washington University in St. Louis, 1969; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1969. 7010952).
• Gersman, Elinor Mondale. "The Development of Public Education for Blacks in Nineteenth Century St. Louis, Missouri." Journal of Negro Education 41.1 (1972): 35-47. onlne
• Gersman, Elinor Mondale. "Progressive reform of the St. Louis school board, 1897." History of Education Quarterly 10.1 (1970): 3-21. online
• Kirkendall, Richard S. (2004). A History of Missouri: 1919 to 1953. Vol. V. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. ISBN 0826204945.; pp 99-114, 452-454.
• Larsen, Lawrence H. (2004). A History of Missouri: 1953 to 2003. Vol. VI. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. ISBN 0826215467.

• McCandless, Perry. A History of Missouri: Volume II, 1820-1860 (U of Missouri Press, 1971) pp 190-205.
• McIntyre, Stephen L. "Our Schools Are Not Charitable Institutions: Class, Gender, Ethnicity, and the Teaching Profession in Nineteenth-Century St. Louis." Missouri Historical Review 92 (October 1997): 27-44. online
• McMillan, Margaret, and Morris, Monia Cook "Educational Opportunities in Early Missouri." Part I: Missouri Historical Review 33 (April 1939): 307-325, deals with boys . online
  • Part II: Missouri Historical Review 33 (July 1939): 477-498. deals with girls, especially in St Louis . online

• Olson, Audrey Louise. "St. Louis Germans, 1850-1920: The nature of an immigrant community and its relation to the assimilation process" (PhD dissertation, University of Kansas; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1970. 7025388).

• Parrish, William E. (1973). A History of Missouri: 1860 to 1875. Vol. III. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. ISBN 0826201482. pp 170-189.

• Parrish, William Earl; Jones, Charles T.; Christensen, Lawrence O. (2004). Missouri, the Heart of the Nation (3 ed.). H. Davidson. ISBN 9780882958873.; university textbook
• Phillips, Claude Anderson. A history of education in Missouri (1911) online; a standard scholarly history.
• Primm, James Neal. Lion of the Valley: St. Louis, Missouri, 1764-1980 (1998) a major scholarly history of the city.online
• Troen, Selwyn K. "Popular education in nineteenth century St. Louis." History of Education Quarterly 13.1 (1973): 23-40. online
• Troen, Selwyn K. The Public and the Schools: Shaping the St. Louis System, 1838-1920 (1975), a major scholarly study online