Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee
In 1999, we began the Jubilee Schools program with 29 students at St. Augustine Elementary School. Within the past five years, we have re-opened another six inner-city schools, successively added grades at each school and established two initiatives for scholarship assistance and transportation to currently serve a total of 1,049 students at our seven Jubilee schools and two initiative schools.
Passing grades would have been amazing enough for these children. But our Jubilee Schools students are actually outperforming their peers. Students in Jubilee Schools consistently test better than their neighborhood public school counterparts on comparable standardized tests and students average at or above grade level in the areas of reading, language and math.
This school year, we are proud to have our first 6th and 7th grade graduating classes. These students will go on to continue their education at established Catholic middle and high schools such as Bishop Byrne, Memphis Catholic or one of our other Catholic schools. Our Jubilee Schools are obliterating the barriers of low income and low expectations.