History
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Corps and Alumni
St. Louis
Teach For America • St. Louis brings hundreds of the top college graduates to our community, effecting enormous change in our schools. Ultimately, their presence puts thousands of our region’s neediest children on the path to stay in school, go to college and become the next generation of leaders in St. Louis
- Maxine Clark, President and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop
Teach For America • St. Louis is playing a critical role in improving schools and communities. This year, a corps of more than 190 of the nation’s top recent college graduates is working in underserved schools across St. Louis to ensure that students facing the challenges of poverty are given the educational opportunities they deserve. Our alumni are leaders in the classroom, in education more broadly, and across all sectors. Together, they are making educational equity a reality in St. Louis. Learn about living and teaching in St. Louis.
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Press | |
Corps Impact | |
Alumni Impact | |
Regional Supporters | |
Contact Us | |
Executive Director |
Press
Recent press releases
Recent press coverage
Corps Impact
During the 2009-10 school year, more than 190 corps members are directly impacting the lives of more than 13,500 students in St. Louis. Adrian Larbi-Cherif is one example of the tremendous differences our corps members are making.
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Adrian Larbi-Cherif
(St. Louis Corps '07) |
Adrian Larbi-Cherif received degrees in physics and math from the University of Texas – El Paso and a masters degree in engineering from the University of Texas – Austin before joining the St. Louis corps as a high school physics teacher. As a second-year teacher at Cleveland NJROTC High School in St. Louis Public Schools, his principal nominated him to the school’s leadership committee and requested he start an Advanced Placement physics program. Last year, Adrian’s students were the second-highest performing in the district— just behind the gifted and talented program at Metro High School. By working relentlessly, Adrian led his students to increase an average of 20 percentage points on the district-wide benchmarks in a single year and ensured his students would master high school physics.
Principal Satisfaction
- 94 percent of recently-surveyed principals (in schools with Teach For America corps members) reported that they would hire another Teach For America teacher.*
- 92 percent of principals surveyed regard Teach For America teachers as effective as, if not more effective than, other beginning teachers in terms of overall performance and impact on student achievement.*
*"Teach For America 2009 National Principal Survey,” Policy Studies Associates, July 2009
Impact on Student
Achievement
A growing body of research shows that corps members have a positive impact on their students' achievement. Read more about our impact.
Student Profile
- Students served who are eligible for free/reduced lunch: 80%*
- Students served who are African-American and/or Latino: 84%*
*Percentages vary depending on school district
St. Louis: Corps Member Placement
| Assignment | % of Corps* |
|---|---|
| Pre-K, Kindergarten | 2% |
| Elementary School, Lower (1-2) | 5% |
| Elementary School, Upper (3-5) | 15% |
| Secondary Math | 15% |
| Secondary English | 30% |
| Secondary Science | 17% |
| Secondary Social Studies | 5% |
| Secondary Foreign Language | 6% |
| Secondary Other | 4% |
| Special Education | 21% |
*Percentages are rounded and do not add up to 100 percent; corps members who teach bilingual, ESL, or special education are also accounted for in the grade-level/subject placement percentages
Characteristics of the 2009 Corps
| Corps Profile |
|---|
| Average GPA: 3.6 |
| Average SAT: 1344 |
| Held leadership
roles on campus: 89% |
| People of color: 30% |
*Percentage of senior classes who applied to Teach For America
Alumni Impact
Fostering Alumni Leadership for Systemic Change
As the number of corps members grows, so does our alumni base. By 2010, we will have nearly 300 Teach For America • St. Louis alumni pursuing professional careers and impacting educational reform from every sector.
- Nationally, more than 65 percent of corps members continue to work in education,
including more than 360 who are school leaders. - 93 percent of all alumni report they are supporting Teach For America’s mission
through their career, volunteer activity or graduate study.*
*Self-reported data as of April 2007. Represents 57% of our alumni network.
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Deva Rashed-Boone (St. Louis Corps '04) |
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Alexis Webb (St. Louis Corps '02) |
Alexis Webb and Deva Rashed-Boone are two of the many alumni continuing to work toward our vision in St. Louis. Alexis is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Washington University. She is a leader in the University’s Young Scientist Program, where she organizes their educational outreach series. Deva is a 2008 Building Excellent Schools Fellow, working tirelessly to open a new college preparatory middle and high school in St. Louis city in 2010.
Regional Supporters
We are grateful to have many supporters who generously contribute to our movement in St. Louis. The foundations, corporations and individuals listed below have made it possible for Teach For America to continue to recruit, select, train, and support teachers who are working to eliminate educational inequity in our city.
| Advisory Board |
|---|
| Sheryl Andrasko Vice President, Systems Development MasterCard Worldwide |
| Maxine Clark (Chair) Founder & President Build-A-Bear Workshop |
| Donald Danforth, III Founder & President City Academy |
| Steven Fox Managing Director Harbour Group |
| Kristen Gulley-Holton President AHM Financial Group |
| Cary Hobbs Senior Vice President, Business Management and Integration Centene Corporation |
| Ward Klein (Vice Chair) CEO Energizer Holdings, Inc. |
| Jim Murphy CEO Murphy Company Mechanical Contractors |
| Ron Rubin CEO The Republic of Tea |
| Ellen Sherberg Publisher St. Louis Business Journal |
| Anthony Thompson President & CEO Kwame Building Group, Inc. |
| Corporation, Foundation and Public Support Show more + |
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We thank the following lead corporate supporters for their extraordinary support of our work:
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$250,000 and up |
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Emerson Monsanto Fund** |
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Contact
To support Teach For America • St. Louis with a gift or to request additional information about our impact or finances, please contact:
Teach For America • St. Louis
Scott Baier, Executive Director
815 Olive Street
Suite 14
St. Louis, MO 63101
p 314-621-9100, f 314-621-9127
scott.baier@teachforamerica.org
Executive Director
Scott Baier was appointed Executive Director of Teach For America • St. Louis in October 2008. Scott first became involved with Teach For America as a 1997 Los Angeles corps member, where he taught language arts at Audubon Middle School. Following his corps commitment, Scott worked as a curriculum developer and product manager at WestED, a Bay Area nonprofit research, development, and service agency. In 2004, he moved to Philadelphia to become the coordinator of the Sayre-Penn Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Program. In this role, Scott created the Medical Pipeline Program that exposed students to academically rigorous medical curriculum by incorporating resources from the University of Pennsylvania with science courses at Sayre High School in West Philadelphia. Later, he was promoted to director of the Sayre-Penn Partnership, Netter Center for Community Partnerships, where he developed a range of academic partnerships between Penn faculty and teachers and students at Sayre High School with the goal of establishing connections with the core curriculum and providing support so that all partners achieve research, educational, and community goals. Scott graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in English and History.
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