Friends, Our campus changes a bit during exam week. Common spaces are kept quiet, reserved for studying. Middle schoolers leave their routines behind for learning in the field. During exam week, the gym is set up with rows of desks in neat lines. There’s an order to it that is satisfying. Students file in, find their seats, listen to directions, and...

Last week, celebrated local painter Cbabi Bayoc, father of Crossroads students Jurni (11th), Ajani (9th), and Birago (7th), spent the morning in our lobby at work on a portrait of American soul and jazz musician, Gil Scott-Heron, and visited with art students. Scott-Heron is best known as a spoken word performer, especially for his composition The Revolution Will Not Be...

Friends, This year, we’ve taken the revision of our mission statement as an opportunity to reaffirm our work to align all facets of our academic programs, student experiences, and institutional decision-making with the mission of Crossroads. Crossroads College Preparatory School strives to be an exemplary and engaging learning community committed to justice and equity. Though the words “college preparatory” only...

Friends, I hope you are relaxing with family and friends, with hobbies and food you enjoy, and without too many regular obligations. I am spending my time away from school with friends-who-are-family in Portland, Oregon, feeling grateful for them and for the opportunity to connect. As part of her research for The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown investigated the relationship...

The 2017-2018 Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest is kicking off at Crossroads! Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, the contest asks students to memorize and recite a poem for in-school competition, with the opportunity to advance to regional, state, and national finals. According to the organization, “since 2005, Poetry Out Loud has grown...

Originally from China, Olivia Wang came to St. Louis during her undergraduate years through an educational partnership between Guangxi Teacher University and Webster University. She graduated with bachelors degrees in both English and teaching. Olivia stayed in St. Louis to teach Kindergarten at The Chinese School, one of three charter schools within the St. Louis Language Immersion Schools (SLLIS) program, an experience...

Friday, December 1, 2017 and Saturday, December, 2, 2017 For the last seven years, Crossroads has held our Book Fair at Left Bank Books in the Central West End. We especially appreciate the partnership because Left Bank and it’s leadership are committed to social justice — not to mention it’s an excellent independent bookstore with knowledgeable booksellers. How it works: 1)...

Friends, Recently, the director of the COCAbiz program asked me a provocative question: What do schools contribute to the region? I value that we are a private school with a public purpose. The primary way, of course, that we strive to improve the health of our region is through our students. As I see it, though, Crossroads’s commitment to equity and...

Chaley Poth was a student herself this time last year, completing her degree in mathematics and secondary education at St. Louis University, also her parents’ alma mater. In many ways, Chaley finds herself right where she’d hoped to be after graduation. “I was forced to like math growing up,” Chaley says, “and now I love it.” Why the emphasis on math...

Since 2003, Crossroads has offered our high school students the opportunity to design and execute a semester-long Mastery Learning Project (MLP), an in-depth inquiry drawn from an existing area of student interest. English department chair Sarah Pierson Wolff directs the program, which she and colleagues see as particularly valuable preparation for the independent thinking required by collegiate and professional work....