Local private school leaders say Catholic education in the St. Louis area is undergoing a “landscape change.”
This fall, De Smet Jesuit High School added students in grades 6–8 to its ranks, incorporating a middle school “campus within a campus” in its current building. A feasibility study for the expansion “indicated significant interest from families with boys enrolled in public schools.” At the same time, Saint Louis Priory School brought sixth graders into its all-boys Catholic academic program, which previously served grades 7–12.
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Villa Duchesne is investing in a distinct middle school, giving girls in grades 6–8 their own space, rather than being split between the co-ed lower school and all-girls upper school. Alice Dickherber, assistant head of school for strategic initiatives, says that overall middle school enrollment is growing, but the sixth-grade class is shrinking as boys’ middle school programs expand elsewhere. Therefore, it made sense to shift Villa’s approach—to “reimagine and rethink the middle school experience in a way that fits in with our landscape in St. Louis,” she says.
“The ages between 11 and 14 represent the most intense period of brain development across the entire human lifespan,” she continues. “If we provide them an incredible space that is purposefully designed for them and a program that meets them exactly where they are developmentally…they are going to thrive in middle school.”
A new middle school principal will work with deans for each grade in a redesigned space in the main building. The renovated middle school floor is slated to reopen in August 2026 with an inviting common area, flexible classrooms, study spaces, and teacher offices.
Visitation Academy currently enrolls about 180 students in grades 6–8 and is similarly converting a monastery into a dedicated middle school for next school year. “The classrooms will have modern technology, and we have flexible layouts to accommodate all sorts of learning styles,” says middle school principal Angie Jung. “That central area, the gathering space, really is an area for collaboration and community building…a space that middle schoolers can call their own.”
With the Visitation sisters’ blessing, the renovation will create nine classrooms and a few intentional gathering areas while maintaining the original chapel and an outdoor terrace. “Because of our 10-plus years of experience in middle school, we feel like we really have a good line of sight on how these spaces can be best used,” says head of school David Colón.
Cor Jesu Academy, a college preparatory Catholic school for girls in grades 9–12, is working closely with students in grades 6–8 from various schools across the St. Louis area to make private education more accessible in underserved communities. It launched its RISE program almost three years ago to assist middle school girls in overcoming admission challenges and succeed in any private high school.
“A lot of these families may never have applied for tuition assistance or financial aid before,” says Brittany Peek Seabaugh, director of leadership giving. “In addition to helping raise up these girls, it’s also helping educate the families on the process.”
Teachers or a representative from the sixth-grader’s school can nominate an interested female student in the fall. If accepted, she’ll participate in an academic- and social-emotional intensive program during the summer before grade 7 and continue meeting with her cohort until grade 9. The inaugural 21 members who completed the RISE program will head to nine different high schools this year.
“The hope is that as the alum of RISE go to various high schools,” says RISE program director Rita Thoopul, “they could come back to RISE as ambassadors of those high schools.”
