A visit to Rosati-Kain Academy

Over the past many years, I’ve written several posts about Rosati-Kain Academy, the only all-girls high school remaining in the City of St. Louis.  The school is located at the prominent corner of Lindell and Newstead. A 2014 article featured a groundbreaking ceremony for a $4.5M 12,000 s.f.  3-story addition that features a learning commons area, an expanded chemistry lab, and research area for technology. Then in 2022, there was a post about the possible closure of R-K due to declining enrollment and revenue.

Well, never underestimate the determination of generous, committed alumnae, and the tireless efforts of President Dr. Maggie Sullivan to turn the school’s fortunes around.

In a recent letter to the community Dr. Sullivan reported: “We have exceeded enrollment targets for this time of year! In addition to having a larger freshman class than the past few years, we have accepted transfer students for next year’s 10th and 11th grades. We receive numerous inquiries every single day and we will continue to review applications and enroll students until August.”

When I visited with Dr. Sullivan, above, and CWEnder Boo Henderson, Director of Major Gifts.  Dr. Sullivan said that they hope the student body will increase from 130 students to 300 in 3 to 5 years. Forty students are enrolled in the 2024-25 Freshman class, up from 27 last Fall. They hope to enroll as many as 50 by August. In addition, every member of the faculty—90% of whom hold advanced degrees—is returning for the 2024-25 school year.

Rosati-Kain Academy’s alumnae send their daughters to the school as it has “the best academic program in the city,” and 100% of R-K graduates are accepted into college. The class of 2023 attends universities from Hawaii to Dublin, including Harvard, Brown, Ohio Wesleyan, Lincoln University and Rhode Island School of Design.

The high school,  which was founded in 1911, was the first high school to integrate in St. Louis. The student body is  45% white, 33% black, 12% Hispanic, 5% Asian and 5% multi-racial. Students come from 41 different zip codes, including Illinois and St. Charles. 40% of students are non-Catholic, and over 70% receive financial support through academic merit, or need-based aid.

Distinguished alumnae include 3 African-American judges: CWEnder Evelyn Baker, who was the first Black Circuit Court Judge in Missouri, Missouri Circuit Court Judge & CWEnder Nicole Cobert-Botchway, and Anne-Marie Clark, Family Court Commissioner for the City of St. Louis. Award-winning civil rights attorney Areva Martin, author and on-air legal commentator, grew up in North St. Louis and graduated from Rosati-Kain in 1980. Martin will be the keynote speaker for Alumni Weekend starting May 3.  Attorney Barbara Geisman, who served as Director of Development for the City of St. Louis from 2001 t0 2010, is also a graduate of R-K.

Today, April 30, there is a 24-hour fundraiser for Rosati Kain, “Past-Present-Future-Forever“with the goal of raising $250,000. With the generosity of matching donors, gifts will have 4x the impact.  If you have interest in supporting this Central West End institution, a gift of any amount will be appreciated. And with the donors’ matching gift, you can make a big difference to continuing the stellar education offered by Rosati-Kain Academy.

For potential donors who live in the neighborhood, there is a special CWE page (CWE LOVES Rosati Team Page) on the 24-Hour Campaign site right here.

Next up: Meet CWEnder and Rosati-Kain Junior Gabrielle Hurt.