The Loyola School, Inc
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Mission Statement
The Loyola School (TLS) in Mount Vernon offers a scholarship-based education for children of Baltimore City families of limited financial means. Presently TLS serves 104 children aged two through the second grade. TLS provides scholarships and full-day, year-round educational programs for preschool and elementary school students during their critical early years of development. Our dedicated faculty honors the uniqueness of each child and nurtures the promise of all children by providing a caring and supportive environment where they can be active, engaged, and reflective learners. We partner with our parents as our students develop the competence, character, and confidence to become leaders in their classroom, their school and, ultimately, the greater Baltimore community and beyond.
About This Cause
Founded by Rev. William Watters, S.J., in 2017 to address the lack of outstanding early-learning opportunities for children and families from underinvested communities in Baltimore City, the Loyola Early Learning Center (LELC) began as a licensed preschool and early-childhood education program. In June 2021, LELC changed its name and expanded its mission to include an elementary school, grades K-4 by 2025. The combined preschool and elementary school was renamed, The Loyola School (TLS). The school launched a Capital Campaign to fund the reconstruction of five row houses at Calvert and Madison Streets in Mount Vernon into a contemporary elementary school (K-4). The newly refurbished building will have ten classrooms; a library with computer facilities; a science lab; a tech-computer center; a multi-purpose facility (cafeteria, recreation, sports); a nurse’s suite; ample storage space; and offices for teachers and staff. This new building will make it possible to extend the Jesuit educational mission of The Loyola School’s preschool (ages 2-5) at 801 St. Paul St. (adjacent to the five row houses) to include Kindergarten through 4th grade (ages 5-10). The new school will open Fall 2024. Our overarching mission is to remedy the socioeconomic disparity in kindergarten and middle-school readiness among children living in underinvested communities. With the opening of our new school building in 2024, we plan to expand our program to fourth grade in 2025. Our enrollment will grow from 104 students to 199 students by 2027, when we reach our projected full enrollment of PreK-2, PreK-3, PreK-4, kindergarten, first, second, third, and fourth-grade students. TLS serves children (regardless of faith) from 22 different zip codes across Baltimore City. Most of our students qualify for free/reduced lunch based on the National School Lunch program guidelines. Average family income is $31,348; 64% of students have one or more siblings at home, and 55% are from female head-of-household families. Many families struggle with serious challenges in addition to poverty, including single/teenage parenting, addiction, incarceration, anger/emotional issues, unstable housing and employment, and inadequate nutrition. Several families are recent immigrants who face language barriers. Our parents understand that every child needs impactful early childhood learning experiences to be successful. They recognize that their own children are less likely to have an adequate education available to them. Based on classroom learning assessments as well as high-school and college graduation data from St. Ignatius Loyola Academy, TLS realizes the trajectory of a child’s life can be significantly influenced by opportunity and prompt access to a high quality, rigorous education that promotes the growth of the whole child. Providing such an opportunity for disadvantaged children is both the moral imperative of our time and the path to a healthier, more economically sustainable, and safer society. Maryland leaders agree. Noting the educational disparities between the state’s poorest and wealthiest children as well as the long-term negative impacts of such disparities, the 2020 Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education report, the Kirwan Report; prioritizes accessible early childhood education for all young Marylanders but particularly for those who are most economically vulnerable, as is the case for so many children in Baltimore City. Similarly, Governor Wes Moore’s education plan for the state specifically calls for children like those served by The Loyola School (children whose family incomes hover around the state poverty line) to be afforded high quality early education to “better ensure our youngest Marylanders are positioned to succeed in life and in the workplace” (From Cradle to Career 4). Such an education would be holistic, as is the case at TLS, attending to children’s “social and emotional” development and would individualize instruction as much as possible to meet each student’s unique needs (4, 6). The school offers high-quality academics, effective teachers, individualized student support, and a parent engagement program which empowers parents to become co-educators. It serves a diverse group of children and focuses on the holistic development of children—promoting physical, emotional, cognitive, creative, social, behavioral, and cultural growth. We offer a rigorous curriculum which includes literacy and language arts, science, mathematics, fine arts, religious studies, historical and social studies concepts, and Spanish. Our students benefit from small classes with one accredited lead teacher and one assistant teacher in the preschool; additional subject teachers support classes in the elementary school. This engaging experiential learning program is integrated with a digital-learning component and scheduled library time that encourages our students to discover new areas of interest and to become better readers. To support the mental health safety and overall wellbeing of our students, we have two school social workers who provide socioemotional learning sessions for students and connect families to resources, a mindfulness instructor who comes weekly to work with our students and the Expressions Lounge for students in need of quiet time away from class. To accommodate developmental delays, we partner with outside agencies to provide speech and occupational therapies. Our social workers partner with teachers and parents to address students' behavioral, academic, or developmental concerns, taking a holistic approach to ensure all the obstacles in the child's life that could be impacting their progress at school are addressed (e.g., family emergency support, transportation assistance, private speech therapy services, mental health services for a parent). Additionally, our students benefit from the Reading Buddies program with Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy students and “Mindfulness” workshops, provided by a volunteer CNP (Certified Nurse Practitioner) to teach techniques to help our children with calming down and centering when they are stressed. Our goals are to: a) increase the proportion of young learners who are developmentally on track for kindergarten and for middle school; b) increase the proportion of at-risk young learners who have access to high-quality early childhood education programs; c) increase the proportion of young learners and parents who get preventive mental health care in school; and d) increase the proportion of young learners with developmental delays who get intervention services by age 4 years. The school operates as a community and is family oriented. We support parents and caregivers with monthly parent education classes. Parents donate $40 per month to support student activities and families volunteer 10 hours per semester in service to the school. Our Parents Association expands on these and other community building efforts to support our families. TLS is guided by highly qualified faculty and staff members, a committed Board of Trustees, and a Parents Association. Individual donors, family foundations, and friends fund our scholarship-based school. We are open to receiving students and families for tours and interviews throughout the year through a rolling enrollment program and provide opportunities for parents to sign up for our wait list. Our application is available online and our administrators and teachers visit a variety of community sites to answer questions about the school. Visit us at http://www.loyolschoolbaltimore.org