As we know Jesuit Education Delegates around the world have committed to “having a program in place that allows students from marginalized and poor sectors of society to participate in a quality education and to ensuring that schools serving the marginalized and poor reach beyond their experiences to build bridges with other people and communities.”  We at Nativity Preparatory School wanted to share some of our experiences and look forward to hearing yours!

For those who don’t know our school, Nativity Preparatory School is an independent, accredited, Jesuit middle school that provides a high-quality, tuition-free education to 4th to 8th-grade boys from low-income families of all faiths who live in Boston. Founded in 1990, we are the only private, tuition-free school for boys in the city of Boston.  Our school is located in Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood of Boston, MA. After a few years in operation, our school became sponsored by the Jesuits, and is part of a larger network of Nativity Schools, which are typically small, faith based (not necessarily Jesuit or even Catholic) schools for disadvantaged students.

We enroll up to 75 boys per year, and support over 336 alumni who have graduated from our school.  We welcome students of all, or no, religious affiliations who come from economically disadvantaged families living in Boston.  Many Nativity Prep students reside in under-resourced neighborhoods plagued by poverty, violence, and low rates of educational attainment. Against this backdrop, Nativity’s results are impressive and critical. Earning a college degree is associated not just with higher lifetime earnings, but greater civic participation, lower rates of incarceration, and an increased likelihood of one’s own children attending college. Nativity Prep, therefore, sets it as a goal and a responsibility to ensure that every boy succeeds not just in middle school, but in high school and beyond.

There is a widening disparity and an escalating crisis of college completion in the United States today that disproportionately affects under-represented and low-income students, like the young men at Nativity Prep. Boys educated at Nativity Prep have higher rates of high school graduation (100%), college enrollment (80%) and college graduation (64% of those enrolled) than their peer-sets. Nativity Prep students regularly receive full-scholarship admission to selective secondary schools and attend and graduate from some of the finest universities in the country.

Nativity is an all-boys school. When reflecting on the desirability of this, it is relevant to note that most university enrollments, including professional schools, are about 65% women. In co-ed schools, boys are much more likely to be singled out within the classroom during middle and high school for disciplinary issues, and ultimately boys often learn differently than girls.  It seems that boys need whatever help they can get to succeed in school and go to college.

The goal of Nativity’s extended-day, extended-year model of education is to close achievement gaps and prepare boys for academic success in high school, college, and beyond. A Jesuit educational institution committed to developing the whole person, Nativity’s programs promote not just the intellectual, but the spiritual, physical, social, and emotional growth of our students. A Nativity education inspires boys from Boston to become “men for others” who go on to serve their communities and the world with a spirit of generosity and gratitude.

There are three key aspects of the school’s model that set it apart and enable our students to succeed in far greater numbers than their peers:

Extended School Day – Because we also believe in educating the whole person, participation in sports, community service and other extracurricular activities is required. From 3:30 – 5 pm, students participate in a variety of enrichment activities such as sports, community service, Mock Trial, and debate team. From Monday – Wednesday students are then served a healthy dinner before participating in a two-hour Evening Study Program where they can work with volunteer tutors to complete homework and tend to academic areas that need attention.

Extended School Year – Each summer, all students participate in a mandatory summer academic and enrichment program paid for and operated by Nativity Prep. Entering 4th graders, and rising 5th through 8th graders attend a four-week session that sharpens core academic skills and prevents summer learning loss. The summer session also provides athletic and extracurricular enrichment opportunities to students who lack both access and private resources sufficient to pay for them.

Secondary School Placement and Graduate Support – Staffed by two full-time professionals, Nativity Prep’s Graduate Support Office (GSO) strives to place graduating 8th graders into secondary schools that are good matches academically, socially, and athletically. We guide 7th and 8th grade students and parents through high school visits, interviews, standardized tests, applications and financial aid forms. Because going from our small, structured and supportive environment to often elite, academically-challenging independent schools is sometimes a difficult transition to make, our Graduate Support staff provides to our high school alumni tutoring sessions and academic advising.  Social transitions can also be difficult when minority students are so underrepresented in independent and higher education.

Nativity Prep is always an open and safe space for our alumni, many of whom can be found visiting teachers and old friends each day. The Graduate Support staff regularly checks in and visits with students to provide mentorship, remind them of available resources and let them know that the Nativity community is there for them. Connecting graduating 8th graders or high schoolers with other Nativity alumni at their new schools often provides a friendly face in a new environment.

One newer aspect of our Graduate Support Program is the implementation of our Last Dollar Aid program.  For various reasons, a number of our alumni were faced with seemingly insurmountable gaps in what they could afford to pay for college and what they were expected to pay after all financial resources were tapped, including federal grants and loans, grants from their respective schools, and private scholarships.  After investing so much in our boys’ educations and high school support, we couldn’t let them leave college – or never enter at all – because of a gap of, typically, a few thousand dollars.  Funded by our generous supporters (the school is entirely funded from charitable contributions), our Last Dollar Aid has provided tuition assistance of up to $5,000 to 16 alumni, all of whom have been able to remain in college because of this financial support. 

Tapping into our generous circle of supporters, Board members and volunteers in Boston, we regularly offer internship opportunities and networking connections for alumni to explore career options. Social capital can often be just as valuable as “educational capital” and this is an aspect of our program we hope to expand.

As students move through primary, secondary and higher education, one educational institution can never provide all of the support and answers. Nativity Prep belongs to regional and national associations of Jesuit schools, which include institutions such as Boston College, College of the Holy Cross, and Fairfield University. Many of our teaching fellows have been graduates of Jesuit colleges.  Nativity Prep also has a relationship with Boston College that allows full-time faculty to receive tuition remission for advanced degrees at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education in either Secondary School Education or Elementary Education. This relationship has provided significant professional development opportunities and crucial training for Nativity Prep’s teaching fellows.

Nativity also collaborates regularly with other secondary and pre-secondary Jesuit schools such as Boston College High School (Dorchester, MA) which not only provides many of our graduates with full scholarships, but also provides physical space on their campus for our summer program and financial support through event sponsorships.

As you can see, we are blessed with a core community of supporters who are dedicated to helping these young men succeed.  You’ll find photos of our current students and our alumni in throughout the school, and the names of all of our graduates hang in the main hallway for everyone to see – both to honor them and remind us that our work does not end when the boys graduate 8th grade.  Each student is respected, valued and supported, and at the end of the day they remain valued members of the larger Nativity Prep family.