Helias, Calvary make A+ list

The completed expansion sits at Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City on Friday, January 13, 2017.
The completed expansion sits at Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City on Friday, January 13, 2017.

Calvary Lutheran High School and Helias Catholic High School have been approved this year to be A+ schools, in the first year non-public high schools have been eligible to participate in the program.

The A+ program provides graduating students at eligible schools the opportunity to earn a scholarship which reimburses them for the unpaid balance of their tuition and general fees - after receipt of non-loan federal financial assistance - at participating public community colleges and vocational or technical schools, or at some private two-year vocational and technical schools.

"It's one more way Calvary can offer students their best path forward," said John Christman, executive director of Calvary Lutheran and a teacher of theology.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for anyone to be able to attend college regardless of (what) their financial (need) is," Jan Heislen said. In addition to being the school's A+ contact, Heislen teaches Spanish at Helias and is leader of the Student Intervention Team.

Before a private school can become a certified participant in the A+ program, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has to make sure the school's curriculum is aligned with state standards, specifically in the areas of tutoring and mentoring.

Before A+ was a possibility, Christman said, Calvary Lutheran aligned its curriculum with the college and career readiness standards put out by the ACT, but was not required to be in line with state standards.

Christman said the review of their counseling program was about making sure students were being moved forward, were growing and being held accountable - things they had been doing before, but "putting that in writing wasn't something we had necessarily done before."

Heislen said something similar of the curriculum alignments at Helias, measures "we really were already doing, we just hadn't formally put them down on paper."

For students to be eligible to receive scholarships through the A+ program, they have to complete at least 50 hours of unpaid service work in mentoring or tutoring of other students, and must meet or maintain other academic and legal goals. The students they can tutor may be from other schools, including in elementary grades.

Helias already has a 30 hours of service requirement for its students to graduate. "For our seniors this year, we are allowing them to use up to 30 of their service hours if they're applicable (towards the 50 for the A+ program)," Heislen said. "Juniors are allowed to use 15 of their 50 service hours if they are applicable."

She said next year's juniors and students thereafter will be required to complete the 50 hours for the A+ program separately from their 30 hours for Helias, for a total of 80 hours of service.

"Truly, they have four years to get their hours in, so 80 shouldn't be a problem," she said, and added students have up until graduation to get their A+ hours in.

At Calvary Lutheran, Christman said maybe about a quarter of the current senior class of 39 students has expressed interest in the program this year. "If they are pursuing A+, then they are probably in the process of getting those tutoring hours," he said.

At Helias, Heislen said 31 seniors are signed up. Fifty students in total are signed up counting other freshmen, sophomores and juniors.

The tuition amount eligible for reimbursement for students who complete the program and attain their scholarship is capped at the published standard per credit hour rate charged by State Technical College of Missouri.

Students with questions about the A+ program at Calvary Lutheran can contact Denise Crider or Erich Ahlers. The school is having a meeting on April 3 at 6:30 p.m. for interested families.

Helias students with questions can contact Heislen.

The passage of SB 638 last spring by the state legislature and then-Gov. Jay Nixon's approval of the bill made it possible for the first time for private schools like Calvary Lutheran and Helias to participate. The bill became effective as law in August.

The original Senate bill was sponsored by state Sen. Jeanie Riddle (R-Callaway County). State Sen. Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) and Rep. Jay Barnes (R-Jefferson City) were among the fellow legislators who were key supporters of the inclusion of private schools in the A+ program.