CityArchRiver 2015 contractor outreach A contractor outreach event for the construction program to remodel the Gateway Arch grounds will be held Feb. 19 at 1520 Market St.
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CAC Audited FEBRUARY 13 – 19, 2014
Vol. 84 No. 45 COMPLIMENTARY
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From jails to GED Bridges to Success connects offenders with positive resources
Kwame Mensah, an educational, vocational and re-entry manager in the Bridges to Success program at the St. Louis County Jail, helps inmates obtain a GED while still incarcerated.
By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American About a year ago, Dominique Beach, 18, was a Normandy High School student who was hanging with a “rebellious group” of teens and not expecting to graduate on time, said his mother, Detrecia Beach. Then he was arrested for a robbery that he didn’t commit. He served 10 months in the St. Louis County Jail before his case was finally dismissed and dropped. He was
See GED, A6
Adams’ contract extended SLPS super commits to two more years By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American Superintendent Kelvin R. Adams now has two more years to lead St. Louis Public Schools towards academic stability – and ideally full state accreditation. The SLPS Special Administrative Board (SAB) approved a two-year contract ext ension last week. Adams is now under contract through June 30, 2016. His base salary is $225,000 – the same since he came to SLPS in 2008. Adams said he’s proud of several initiatives he has led so far, including nearly doubling early-childhood classroom seats, creating eight autonomous schools and balancing the budget. “Dr. Adams has improved academics and stabilized the district’s finances,” said SAB Vice President Melanie Kelvin R. Adams, who led the national Adams superintendent search in 2008. “His strong leadership skills have helped to restore community confidence in the district.” This year, K-12 enrollment was 25,700, a significant increase from its 22,500 enrollment in 2012. Adams attributes the gain from the closing of Imagine charter schools, as well as the early-childhood expansion. The district now has
Photo by Wiley Price
Africa at COCA Diadie Bathily, founder of Afriky Lolo, performed in “Samba” Saturday afternoon at COCA, 524 Trinity Ave. in University City. The lead role of Samba, an African boy who struggles to respect his ancestry, was performed by Zion Thomas, a 12-yearold student in the seventh grade at Mary Institute and Country Day School.
See ADAMS, A6
State mulls unaccredited dictricts Photo by Wiley Price
Speaking of faith
Senate Chaplain preaches in St. Louis New Horizon Christian Church, 206 Emerling Dr., celebrated 16 years of fellowship on Saturday in a special way. Pastor B.T. Rice hosted his long-time friend Chaplain Barry Black, the 62nd Chaplain for the U.S. Senate, who attended with his wife, Brenda Pearsall.
Black told the congregation at New Horizon about a previous speaking engagement in Baltimore, MD. As he was headed to the pulpit, he recalled, the pastor slipped him a note. It read, “Ask the congregation to pray because there is an active shooter at the Columbia Mall.” He was referring to last month’s deadly mall shooting in suburban Baltimore that left three people dead and five injured.
By Dale Singer Of St. Louis Public Radio
“What do you do when all of sudden you are thrust into a situation and there’s absolutely nothing you can do?” Black said. “What do you do when you’re in a mall and somebody starts shooting, and there’s nothing you can do?” He said that throughout our lives we are confronted with situations that are beyond our
JEFFERSON CITY – From the start of Monday’s six-hour session considering a variety of ways to help struggling schools, the head of the Missouri board of education emphasized that the state is concerned about long-range, broad-based policy, not the operations of individual districts. But as board members heard a number of presentations on suggested reforms, the talk returned time and again to the current transfers out of unaccredited school districts and the impact on the students who live there. Board president Peter Herschend of Branson said the main consideration is to help the 62,000 Missouri students now attending schools in
See BLACK, A6
See DISTRICTS, A7
New Horizon Christian Church hosts Chaplain Barry Black By Bridjes O’Neil Of The St. Louis American
Transfer crisis looms over school board’s working session