An Introduction from our Principal
Dear St. Regis Academy Community and Friends,
I cannot believe it has been over five years since I stood before so many of you in our Church during the State of The School Address to announce that St. Regis would be reborn under a new name, with a new look and with a recommitment to our faith through a Catholic, Liberal Arts Education. At the time, we held over $500,000 in debt to our Diocese, our enrollment was declining, our curriculum needed attention and our community was in desperate need of some consistency in leadership. The future looked grim to say the least. Despite the challenges, we remained hopeful. We knew that God had a plan for us and that our mission here was not complete. I remember praying with Father that very same evening and asking for God to surround our scholars and families with his love, to give our staff strength, and to use us as vessels to do His Will here at St. Regis Academy.
I believe that it is a true testament of God’s Will, in conjunction with the immense support of our community, that I have the opportunity to reflect on the past five years of service and the opportunity to look forward as we continue to build towards a Sustainable Future.
Celebrations and Growth Since 2018
Our community is rich with abundant blessings! Each year, I am more and more thankful for the incredible ways that God blesses our community. This year, we are celebrating an increased enrollment, continued and increasing diversity within our staff and scholar body, the addition of targeted STREAM courses and the efforts of charitable giving and service within our House System. We are grateful to celebrate the many successes of our scholars and staff. Our community has much to be proud of!
As an Academy, we are always focused on continuous improvement. While we celebrate our successes, we also recognize our opportunities for growth. Academic and social emotional growth are essential to our scholars’ future. As we look ahead, we have six main areas for targeted improvement including: (1) Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment (2) Early Education (3) Inclusive Education (4) High Quality Personnel (5) Family and Community Engagement and (6) Finance and Operations.
God’s love continues to shine radiantly through the St. Regis Community. It is this love that encourages a fruitful future. As we look back on the beautiful journey of our past, I am truly humbled and incredibly joyful to present our long-range action plan to serve as a roadmap for sustainability and St. Regis Excellence into the years ahead. (2027-2028)
Robin Fisher M.Ed
Principal
I cannot believe it has been over five years since I stood before so many of you in our Church during the State of The School Address to announce that St. Regis would be reborn under a new name, with a new look and with a recommitment to our faith through a Catholic, Liberal Arts Education. At the time, we held over $500,000 in debt to our Diocese, our enrollment was declining, our curriculum needed attention and our community was in desperate need of some consistency in leadership. The future looked grim to say the least. Despite the challenges, we remained hopeful. We knew that God had a plan for us and that our mission here was not complete. I remember praying with Father that very same evening and asking for God to surround our scholars and families with his love, to give our staff strength, and to use us as vessels to do His Will here at St. Regis Academy.
I believe that it is a true testament of God’s Will, in conjunction with the immense support of our community, that I have the opportunity to reflect on the past five years of service and the opportunity to look forward as we continue to build towards a Sustainable Future.
Celebrations and Growth Since 2018
- Renewed our commitment to our Catholic faith through Liberal Arts Education.
- Rebrand - Renewed Mission & Vision, new logo.
- Adopting new curriculum: History, Latin, Grammar, Composition, Science, and Math.
- Supporting our community during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- High-quality Professional Development with our STREAM Cohort
- Provided leadership and support for other Catholic Schools pursuing the Classical, Liberal Arts Model.
- Paid off all outstanding Debts to the Diocese
- Increased staff to fulfill vital roles within the Academy
- Academic Dean; Inclusive Education Coordinator; Counselor; Marketing and Development Coordinator; Academy Financial Coordinator; Math Interventionist; Behavior Interventionist; Increased number of Paraprofessionals
- Received over $1,500,000 in generous contributions to support tuition assistance, high quality professional development, curriculum purchases and to hire high-quality staff.
- Supporting families with a long-standing Just-Tuition model.
- Received Diocesan Support for enrollment, marketing and recruitment and teacher retention bonuses.
- Developed key partnerships with charitable foundations across Kansas City.
Our community is rich with abundant blessings! Each year, I am more and more thankful for the incredible ways that God blesses our community. This year, we are celebrating an increased enrollment, continued and increasing diversity within our staff and scholar body, the addition of targeted STREAM courses and the efforts of charitable giving and service within our House System. We are grateful to celebrate the many successes of our scholars and staff. Our community has much to be proud of!
As an Academy, we are always focused on continuous improvement. While we celebrate our successes, we also recognize our opportunities for growth. Academic and social emotional growth are essential to our scholars’ future. As we look ahead, we have six main areas for targeted improvement including: (1) Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment (2) Early Education (3) Inclusive Education (4) High Quality Personnel (5) Family and Community Engagement and (6) Finance and Operations.
God’s love continues to shine radiantly through the St. Regis Community. It is this love that encourages a fruitful future. As we look back on the beautiful journey of our past, I am truly humbled and incredibly joyful to present our long-range action plan to serve as a roadmap for sustainability and St. Regis Excellence into the years ahead. (2027-2028)
Robin Fisher M.Ed
Principal
Download the full report here:
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The following goals, targeted improvements and shared metrics have been established as a summary of community feedback during our 2022-2023 Accreditation process, ongoing surveys and regular evaluation of our ministry to our scholars, families and parish.
We thank all of the wonderful parishioners, parents, faculty and staff who served on the accreditation committee:
We thank all of the wonderful parishioners, parents, faculty and staff who served on the accreditation committee:
Diocese of Kansas City, St. Joseph Catholic Schools Office
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Staff and Community Participants
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St. Regis is proud to be Accredited by Missouri Nonpublic Accrediting Association
Goal 1: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment - Provide educational opportunities to assure all scholars build a strong foundation and achieve high academic growth.
Action Steps:
- Emotional Development - Strengthen practices and policies focused on social and emotional development.
- Investigate a social emotional program that can be implemented by the classroom teachers school wide. (VT 7I)
- Curriculum
- St. Regis Academy will develop a schedule and a formal process to re-evaluate curriculum materials annually. (5F)
- St. Regis Academy will research the validity of the Fountas and Pinnell reading assessment as well as other assessment options that provide scholars, teachers and parents with an accurate record of reading achievement. (5G)
- Planning and Assessment
- Provide incentive for summer instructional planning where scope and sequence and learning objectives are created for the year. (6A)
- Development of variety in assessment, especially rubrics for group work and projects. This is an area St. Regis Academy would like to expand with all staff. (5G)
- Implement strategies for trauma informed teaching as learned through STARR Commonwealth through a grant from the Kauffman Foundation. (6D)
- Per the Academy Technology Use document, the Classical Method demands very intentional device use. St. Regis Academy will focus on integrating more monitored device usage in the Logic School for documentation and presentation of projects. (6J)
- Enrichment and Aftercare
- An after school program that would provide enrichment for all scholars is an idea that will be pursued for next year. An emphasis on project based learning and nature observation is preferred. (11F)
- St. Regis Academy would like to grow our cooperation with other schools or community groups in academic bowls and projects. (2H)
- Service
- More planned retreat experiences for the scholars with staff participation will be planned into the Academy schedule. (13I)
- St. Regis Academy will provide intentional opportunities for all students to participate in service projects throughout the school year. (13J)
- More intentional lesson planning that emphasizes the meaning of Social Justice and the joy that service brings. This will promote a desire to volunteer in service opportunities and promote creating service ideas. (13G)
Goal 2: Early Education - Provide a rich learning environment to support scholars in their foundational development.
Action Steps:
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Goal 3: Inclusive Education - Provide an enriching environment, rooted in Christ’s love, to foster inclusive learning where children grow up knowing and appreciating each other's unique gifts.
Action Steps
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Goal 4: High Quality Personnel - Recruit, retain, and develop highly qualified personnel.
Action Steps
- St. Regis Academy will seek a consistent adult supervisor for the Before and After Care program. (11 C)
- St. Regis Academy will complete a comprehensive assessment of each staff member’s workload in accordance with their job description.
- The Director of Operations, in collaboration with the Pastor, will provide a written job description for all staff, including the Principal. (3J)
- A full teaching staff will be hired to relieve the Principal from teaching obligations. (3O)
- St. Regis Academy will develop and maintain an ongoing orientation for mentoring new staff members. (4G)
- The Director of Operations and Safe Environment Coordinator will work with each current staff member to ensure they are compliant with all Diocesan safety regulations. (4C)
- St. Regis Academy will develop a formal process to encourage participation in professional organizations. (4.F.1)
Goal 5: Family and Community Engagement - Strengthen school, family, and community involvement and perception.
Action Steps
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Goal 6: Finance and Operations - Ensure fiscal stability through sound financial practices and ensure high quality school facilities.
Action Steps:
- Finance
- Onsight financial oversight of the Parish and Academy budget is essential for the success of all long-term plans and to ensure good stewardships of all dollars entrusted to the St. Regis community.
- A dedicated person is needed to manage all the financial needs of the school. (9D)
- Leadership
- St. Regis Academy will reconstitute a School Advisory Council. (3A)
- With support from the Diocesan Office, St. Regis Academy will provide training on the roles and responsibilities of the School Advisory Council. (3B)
- The School Advisory Council members will be provided with a policy manual. (3E)
- The School Advisory Council will develop a set of bylaws or guidelines for operation. (3C)
- Safety and Security
- In order to more adequately prepare the scholars and staff for various crisis situations, drills of each kind will be scheduled prior to the year and conducted and recorded to ensure safety requirements are being met. (7C)
- St. Regis will investigate opportunities for advanced locking systems on all doors connected to the outside. (8H)
- Facilities
- To further enhance the learning environment of the scholars at St. Regis Academy, the school would like to build an outdoor classroom adjacent to the current school playground. (8A/8L)
- St. Regis Academy will create a schedule for continued improvement to classroom aesthetics. (8C)
- Improve the physical environment, St. Regis Academy aims to update and improve the main bathrooms used by the scholars. (8C)
- Marketing and Development
- The marketing and development coordinator will identify opportunities to diversify St. Regis Academy’s funding portfolio by fostering community partnerships, seeking specific opportunities to support the Academy’s annual top three priorities as identified by the school’s strategic plan and pursue unique and consistent opportunities to highlight the great work of scholars and staff. The marketing and development coordinator will support enrollment growth through planned marketing and recruitment efforts as outlined in the marketing plan.
- Shared Metrics
- The marketing and development coordinator will identify opportunities to diversify St. Regis Academy’s funding portfolio by fostering community partnerships, seeking specific opportunities to support the Academy’s annual top three priorities as identified by the school’s strategic plan and pursue unique and consistent opportunities to highlight the great work of scholars and staff. The marketing and development coordinator will support enrollment growth through planned marketing and recruitment efforts as outlined in the marketing plan.
- St. Regis Academy will demonstrate a 10% enrollment growth consecutively over the next 3 years.
- Effective acquisition of funds to support annual needs to the school.
- Increase general school fundraising by 10% annually.
Our heartfelt thanks to our Pastor, Fr. Emmanuel Lopez and the St. John Francis Regis Parish Community whose unending support and dedication make our Catholic Academy possible. God bless you all for sharing this beacon of love at 8941 James A Reed Rd. with so many young souls and their families.