Barat Academy is an independent,

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

college-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to state school, public, Independent school, private independent or p ...

located in Chesterfield,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Founded in 2007, it serves students in grades 6 through 12. The

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

is rooted in the educational traditions of the

Society of the Sacred Heart The Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (; ), abbreviated RSCJ, is a Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of pontifical right for women established in France by Madeleine Sophie Barat in 1800. History Madeleine Soph ...

History

Barat Academy opened to a class of freshmen in 2007, and added the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades over the following three years. It graduated its first class in May 2011. It is founded in the traditions of the

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

. The school was named after

Madeleine Sophie Barat Madeleine Sophie Barat, RSCJ, (12 December 1779 – 25 May 1865), is a French saint of the Catholic Church who founded the Society of the Sacred Heart, a worldwide religious institute of educators. Early life and family Barat was born on the nig ...

, founder of the

. An anonymous gift of about $1.65 million in 2007 covered tuition for the school’s inaugural class of 150 students. Barat Academy opened in 2007, initially located in Dardenne Prairie. The school relocated to Chesterfield in 2011 due to financial difficulties after the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, which led to the collapse of its mortgage-holding bank. This relocation resulted in a decline in enrollment, dropping from 250 to 210 students. During the 2009–2010 school year, Barat had 181 students in grades 9 through 11. That increased to 250 students for the 2010–2011 school year as Barat added a 12th grade. The cross-county move cost Barat Academy about 40 students. The school was sued for eviction in 2022.

Challenges

In April 2023, the school announced a pause in in-person instruction for the 2023–2024 academic year, affecting 20 local students, as it planned to vacate its leased facilities in June. This decision followed a lawsuit filed by its landlord, Midland States Bank, seeking eviction due to the school’s financial struggles.

Curriculum

Barat Academy provides students with choices in electives. Students can also take a number of AP courses and advanced college credit courses with other universities. The Service Learning program is part of the curriculum through which they read in English, experiment and study in science, and engage in discussions in social studies and theology.

Ranking

According to

Niche.com Niche.com, formerly known as College Prowler, is an American company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that runs a ranking and review site. The company was founded by Luke Skurman in 2002 as a publisher of print guidebooks on U.S. col ...

, Barat Academy received an overall grade of “A” in its ranking of private high schools in Missouri and was ranked 20th among 92 college-prep schools in 2022.

Athletics

In 2013, the Barat Academy Boys Golf Team won the Missouri Class 1 Boys Golf State Championship. Team members achieved top individual placements during these tournaments. In 2014, the Barat Academy Boys Golf Team won the Missouri Class 1 Boys Golf State Championship for the second subsequent year.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Roman Catholic secondary schools in St. Louis County, Missouri Educational institutions established in 2007 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis 2007 establishments in Missouri Buildings and structures in St. Louis County, Missouri