St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco announced that the school will open a tuition-free junior high school program beginning August 2017 with its first class of 6th graders.
Named after longtime SI president Fr. Tony Sauer, SJ, the academy will eventually offer 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys and girls from economically disadvantaged backgrounds a Catholic, Jesuit education with the expectation that these students will matriculate directly into SI for high school.
In making the announcement at the school’s annual President’s Cabinet dinner, SI President Fr. Eddie Reese, SJ, noted that “there is no clearer path out of poverty than education. Our goal is to offer a rigorous preparation for high school to low-income students from San Francisco public schools. The Sauer Academy will prepare these boys and girls for an SI college preparatory education providing them a clearer path to college.”
Academy students will be accepted based on their academic ability, recommendations, and demonstrated financial need and take part in an extended school day and longer school year than their high school counterparts.
The Academy will be held on SI’s main campus and will begin with 25 to 30 sixth graders, with the addition of one new grade over the next two years.
SI will begin accepting applications for 6th grade in January 2017. Two informational days are planned for incoming 6th grade applicants at SI.
“Our goal is to sustain Sauer Academy through an endowment,” added SI’s Vice President for Advancement Joe Vollert ’84. “SI is actively seeking partners to make this new project a reality.”
(Source: St. Ignatius College Preparatory)