ST. LOUIS — La Salle Middle School in north St. Louis will close its doors at the end of the current school year.
La Salle Charter Schools, Inc. announced it will be voluntarily giving up its charter school status and closing the middle school effective June 30, 2023. The school, which is located at 1106 N. Jefferson Ave., said it has 20 employees and 120 students in sixth through eighth grade.
Marcia Sullivan, board chair of La Salle Charter Schools, Inc., said in a news release that she was "disappointed" to announce the closure, explaining that it was due to unmet academic standards.
“La Salle Middle School is well managed, safe, financially stable and had been making very good academic progress between 2017 and 2019," Sullivan said. "Despite the terrible impact COVID had on our academic progress, and through the hard work of our teachers and school leadership, we are on track to make some incremental academic improvements by the end of this year. Unfortunately, the Board understands these improvements will not be significant enough to gain the confidence of our sponsor and DESE as we head toward charter renewal in 2025.”
The middle school will continue to provide all classroom, after-school and enrichment programs, special services and breakfast and lunch programs through the rest of the school year. MAP testing will continue as scheduled.
Tuition support for high school that is paid to some graduates will continue to be honored.
Sullivan said the school has a "sound budget" and teachers and staff will be paid on schedule. The school said it would be in partnership with the Missouri Charter Public School Commission to help parents of its 67 sixth and seventh graders place them in a different school next fall.
La Salle Charter Schools posted more information on the school's closure to its website.
