Photo by Chris Naffziger
Sumner High School today
Editor's note: St. Louis Magazine has reached out to Saint Louis Public Schools for comment. This story will be updated with new information as we receive it.
An ambitious proposal submitted by community-based tourism organization 4theVille; St. Louis Shakespeare Festival; community groups Sumner Renaissance and Sumner PRFC; and the consulting firm Marketing Analytics details a plan not only to save Sumner High School from closure, but also to revive the public school in The Ville by infusing it with arts education. Dr. Kelvin Adams presented the plan at a Board of Education meeting, at Clyde C Miller High School, on Tuesday night. The board voted unanimously to approve the plan.
Sumner, which opened in 1875 with 210 students, was the first high school for African Americans west of the Mississippi River. The school’s original location was in the former whites-only Washington School at 11th and Spruce. It moved again, in 1896, to 15th and Walnut, before a group of Black St. Louisans made the case to relocate the school out of Downton. The school board opted for The Ville, a small neighborhood northwest of the city proper that was transforming into the middle- and upper-middle-class hub of Black life here. (In addition to Sumner, The Ville was also home to Annie Malone’s Poro College and the Homer G. Phillips Hospital, which in addition to serving the African American population, trained future doctors and nurses.)
The new Sumner, at 4248 Cottage, opened in 1909 and was a major upgrade. The building was state-of-the-art and designed by local architect William Ittner, who served as Commissioner of Buildings for the St. Louis Board of Education from 1897–1910. Ittner also designed the Missouri Athletic Club and Scottish Rite Cathedral.
The school would become well-known not just for its Georgian Revival design but also for its commitment to academic excellence and its long list of notable students. Sumner turned out a number of students who would go on to achieve great things in academia, the military, science, activism, and the arts. Performers who were once Sumner students include opera stars Grace Bumbry and Robert McFerrin; father of rock and roll Chuck Berry; queen of rock and roll Tina Turner; comedian and activist Dick Gregory, and more.
But as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported in February 2020, enrollment in Saint Louis Public Schools dipped below 20,000 last year—the first time since the 1800s. The district is also lagging in terms of student performance. State data on academic achievement shows that in 2019, 23.2 percent of students were proficient or advanced in English, 19.9 percent in science, and just 18.5 percent in math. In December, Adams proposed closing 11 schools. The criteria used to determine which schools should close included enrollment, the building’s condition, capacity, the impact on the neighborhood, and other special considerations. In the 2019–20 school year, Sumner enrolled just 205 students, fewer than when it opened in the 19th century. The cost estimated to renovate the school is $4.2 million. Adams’ recommendation was to close.
In December, a group of arts and culture leaders in St. Louis wrote a letter to the Board of Education in support of keeping Sumner open. "Sumner ... is a special case,” they wrote. “Its cultural, historical and symbolic importance are simply too great to let it succumb to the same forces of divestment, depopulation and decline that have closed so many other schools in our region.” The letter went on to pledge support in finding a way to keep Sumner open. "If it’s creative solutions, that’s what we do best," it states.
Now, in a proposal titled Sumner High School Recovery, a number of those arts leaders, together with members of the Ville and other community leaders, lay out a plan to keep the school open. Adams recommended that the board adopt the proposal and keep the school open for three years while monitoring progress and data on the program. Evaluations would take place annually and look at students' enrollment, attendance, and GPA.
"This is a plan. We still have a lot of work to get done," Adams said. "That's why I'm asking the board to approve it tonight so we can get into the weeds of all of the details that need to take place."
The group envisions a partnership among Saint Louis Public Schools, the Ville’s community organizations, and local cultural institutions that will offer students, in addition to their core courses, an education including arts and activism starting fall 2021. The proposal currently lists four new arts “pathways”: drama, art, dance, and music. It also aims to improve teacher recruitment and retention, provide more professional development to the school’s staff, increase enrollment by 10 percent annually, and to designate Sumner as a National Historic Landmark by 2024.
The drama pathway will be led by the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and The Black Rep. It will offer up to four levels of year-round, daily drama classes for two periods and guidance in producing at least one after-school full-length play or musical.
Two St. Louis arts institutions, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis and Craft Alliance Center of Art + Design, will support the visual arts pathway. CAM’s offering will be based on its ArtReach program currently underway at Vashon High School. Sumner students will receive two art class periods, and their work will be featured in an exhibit at the museum. Craft Alliance plans to offer two to three two-period sessions that focus on drawing and painting and are based off of its current Mural Arts Residency.
Students will receive dance instruction from Ballet 314 and La Voûte. Ballet 314 plans to offer a 60–90-minute dance class twice a week. La Voûte wants to provide an after-school color guard program.
Last, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis plans to offer students a semester of intensive studio lessons. They will guide students through the roles of librettist and composer to create an original piece. They will also offer a limited number of 30-minute voice lessons and perform annually at the school.
The proposal calls for a community-based organization to work with the partners in hiring one or more program directors. The arts-based nonprofit COCA will provide 16–28 hours of professional development workshops as well as supplies to Sumner teachers.
“No other high school in the country has done more to shape American arts and culture than Sumner,” said Shakespeare Festival producing artistic director Tom Ridgely in a statement. “When you think about the collective impact—not just of megastars like Chuck and Tina, but actor/activists like Dick Gregory and Robert Guillaume, opera trailblazers like Grace Bumbry and Robert McFerrin, plus so many major figures in jazz—it’s simply staggering. As the most significant arts institution in St. Louis, it was imperative that the arts community invest all we could in ensuring its recovery and resurgence. Today’s Sumner students deserve no less.”
"Sumner is one of the most important historic institutions in the State of Missouri. Its legacy transcends any neighborhood, school district, or municipality. Its vitality depends greatly on how we as a region decide to come together and nurture the institution," said Aaron Williams, 4theVille board chairman, in a statement. "In 1907, the Colored Citizens of St. Louis made it clear that the institution of Sumner High School should be the standard-bearer of how we prepare our next generation. Our effort is a continuation of that spirit. This opportunity has the potential to welcome a new standard for our education system."
Initially, the advisory board is made up of the following members:
- Charles Berry Jr., son of the legendary rock artist, Sumner alum, and Ville resident Chuck Berry
- Warice Blackmon-Davis, an alumn and employee of SLPS
- Michael Blackshear, an alum and member of Sumner PRFC
- Thomasina Clarke, a retired educator and Ville resident
- Abby Crawford, COCA’s director of education
- Michelle Dezember, CAM’s director of learning and engagement
- Alison and John Ferring, community volunteers
- Ron Himes, The Black Rep’s founder and producing director
- Nicole Hudson, Washington University assistant vice chancellor
- Dr. Jerome Morris, UMSL professor of urban education
- David Noble, Midland States Bank director of community and economic Development
- Laura M. Hughes, Fleur De Lis CEO
- Tom Ridgely, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival producing artistic director
- Dr. Robert Salter, an alum and Market Analytics CEO
- Dr. Donald M. Suggs, St. Louis American president and publisher
- Jackie Vanderford, an alum and member of Sumner Renaissance
- Aaron Williams, 4theVille board chairman
Adams stressed that Sumner will not be transformed into a magnet school that replaces Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, a city magnet school that already focuses on the arts.
