ST. GEORGE —Faced with closure by the state of Utah, the roller coaster challenge of COVID-19 and a nationwide difficulty to attract support staff, St. George Academy has survived each body blow.
The academy’s uphill battles began in late 2019, when the Utah Charter School Board voted to close the school but later rescinded that decision, placing the school on one-year probation to shore up its finances and meet enrollment expectations of 350 students.
Christy Hall, St. George Academy’s executive director, has been with the school since it opened.
Although attendance remains relativity flat at approximately 250 students, Hall said she is optimistic about the future and the academy’s financial health. And because of internal changes, St. George Academy was able to prove to the state board the school could rely on stable enrollment.
“We want to grow to be at 300 students, but we want to remain a small school and not grow too much past that number,” Hall said.
The school was recently taken off probation and downgraded to warning status.
“We have met all of the metrics the Utah State Charter Board has given us, and we are no longer in danger of closing,” Hall said. “We check in with the board, make sure that everything is going well, and we expect the warning status to be lifted very soon, but we don’t have a firm date yet. We are very excited about this.”
St. George Academy is a public charter school that opened in 2017 to teach grades 8-12, focusing on college preparatory. As a tuition-free school, the academy receives funding from the state based on enrollment.
The state charter board monitors authorized schools for fidelity to their charters and general compliance standards established by the Utah State Board of Education.
When schools fail to meet their charter agreement or to comply with school board rules or legislative statutes, the Utah Charter School Board can revoke charters or close schools.
To bolster its financial health St. George Academy renegotiated the lease on its building, established a targeted amount in savings and insured restricted and unrestricted funds are kept separate.
Following several layers of internal analysis, it was determined that the steps the academy was taking to trim expenses, prior to being placed on probation, proved successful.
Hall credits the school’s turnaround to the outpouring of support from her staff, students and the local community of Washington Fields.
“I think our community involvement, and everything our stakeholders did, including our parents and students, that the state found the school was meeting the student’s educational needs,” Hall said. “I think this was pivotal in having the state give us a second chance.”
For a while there, Hall added, it was touch and go.
“The state didn’t tell us we were in danger of closing, they told us they were going to close our school,” she said. “We had to convince them what we were doing was essential and that’s what our community did for us. We are really excited even though there were challenges. We have been able to move our vision forward and correct our direction.”
With the threat of closure lifted, the staff at St. George Academy has been able to focus its efforts on enhancing its programs.
“We offer our core disciplines – math, English and science – as accelerated subjects,” Hall said. “When students come to our school they will get more material, more quickly than they would in a regular school honors program.”
The goal, Hall added, is to have at least two-thirds of the school’s students enrolled in advanced placement courses by the time they reach their junior year in high school.
“We want them to be on a path for a successful university experience,” she said. “The idea is not only to give our students the academic background that they need to choose whatever career path they want to achieve but to also make a difference in the world.”
Communication skills, leadership and collaboration are key to achieving this goal, she said.
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