A 1999 graduate reflects that “It was the doors of Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy that opened me up to a world where Men are for Others. That has been the mantra for my life since attending and leaving the Academy. I am forever grateful.” Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy serves a vulnerable population of middle school boys in Baltimore, Maryland. Students in Baltimore City lack access to government public schools that prepare them for high school and university, for forming an interior life and for civic understanding rooted in social justice. The Academy is a Nativity School that has been transforming the lives of boys for 25 years.
The first Nativity school started in 1971 at Nativity Mission Center in New York City as a school for boys in grades six through eight. The school’s educational approach became the basis for the Nativity School Model, and in the early 1990s other Nativity style schools began to open in Boston and in other areas of New York City. In 1993, Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy in Baltimore was started based on that same model. Today, there are 17 Jesuit Nativity Schools in the United States and Canada.
Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy, like all Nativity Schools, is a free school and does not charge tuition to students. Families typically are qualified to enroll their child because they are living below a set income level and receive some form of government subsidies or assistance. In the United States, our schools rely on charitable donations to operate with little to no government funding. In Canada, there can be some government funding to support school operations. Being engaged with our school connects a donor in a personal and meaningful way to help improve the life outcomes for a child.
Nativity Schools serve the marginalized and vulnerable population in their area. In the United States this most often correlates to urban families, mostly African-American or Latino and frequently recent immigrants to the USA. At St. Ignatius, only 7% of students are Roman Catholic and many are un-churched without a faith tradition. Nativity Schools provide students:
• An education that is rooted in a faith that does justice which develops a student’s interior life and the ability to reflect on it.
• A longer school day, usually starting with students eating breakfast together and lasting until 5:00 or later with organized activities and study time. At some schools, a dinner meal is provided as well.
• A longer school year, usually lasting about 11 months, that includes all students participating in an overnight camping experience that lasts from one to three weeks.
• Smaller class sizes, usually well under twenty students in each classroom.
• Support for the schools’ graduates throughout their secondary and university level education. This includes counseling and academic support, guidance for parents, and specific programs that help students transition to and be successful in high school.
At Saint Ignatius, these model components work together to form young men prepared for secondary schools, university and ready to lead lives as Men for and with Others. 
In Baltimore City, about 64% of males graduate from high school. Over our Academy’s 25 years, 98% of students graduate from high school, and 88% attend university or other post-secondary
education. These results are dramatically higher than the regional and national rates for the socio-economic population the Academy serves. All Nativity Schools have similar results. A graduate from the class of 1998 observed that the Academy, “is one of the main reasons for success in both my professional and personal life. It gave me the foundation to understanding the importance of team building and service to others.” The Academy’s alumni are old enough now that we have graduates working in a variety of careers from police officers to chefs to lawyers to IT technicians. Five graduates are now teachers at the Academy, forming and inspiring young men who can look up to teachers who sat where they do now and serve as role models for education transforming lives.
