For Dr. Cyndy Weldon-Lassiter, head of St. Andrew’s School, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into efforts she had consciously made four years ago to extend the school year and school day for her students. “It was tough,” she admits. “We have an extended year and extended day program on purpose, to decrease the likelihood that students are out of school for an extended period of time.” Luckily, she and her staff have been able to move resources online for their students pretty quickly, and she is encouraged by the results.
St. Andrew’s School, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, was started by Grace Arents in 1894 with the purpose of offering space to working-class families. The Oregon Hill school’s mission is to provide quality education to children from lower-income families through a full scholarship for every child. The school has 96 students who are chosen based on an extensive application process that includes meeting with their families to make sure that collaborative efforts can be achieved.Efforts such as music education that includes violin lessons for all students and a “farm-to-school” dining program are particularly important to student growth.
“We have created a whole-child approach, which includes several key areas of our programming that meet the needs of a child,” says Dr. Weldon-Lassiter, who has been with the school since 2010. “We’re not just thinking about the academic piece, we’re thinking about the social and emotional piece, we think about nutrition and wellness, we think about the performing and visual arts and how that impacts student academics.”
Sponsored by St. Catherine's School
