From learning ABCs to writing a master’s thesis, St. Joseph offers quality education for all levels of learners. Residents and commuters from small towns and across the state can find education for multiple professions.
Well-educated children help build a well-educated community. Several organizations in St. Joseph work together to build healthier, better-educated youth and families in this community. From birth, the St. Joseph School District (SJSD) offers the Parents As Teachers program to help parents learn to be their child’s first teachers to nurture the mental, physical, and emotional development of their child. The United Way “Success By Six” program is another way community members hope to help children start their education off strong by the time they begin kindergarten.
Community partnerships help keep kids in school. Organizations like the St. Joseph Youth Alliance and Heartland Foundation continue this mission to help educate the youth, who will become the next generation of the workforce in this region. Empowering young adults to become responsible citizens through volunteering in the community, making real-life decisions, and learning business etiquette skills helps further a child’s education beyond a formal classroom.
St. Joseph proudly starts their youth out right with these supportive community partners who work hand-in-hand with the many pre-schools in the city. Well-prepared, these kindergarteners can attend one of the elementary public schools with the SJSD. Families can also choose to begin their child’s education at one of the city’s private schools like St. Joseph Christian School, Children First School, St. Paul Lutheran, South Park Christian Academy, and others, or in one of the Catholic elementary schools.
As St. Joseph’s population grows, so must its educational facilities. Construction is currently underway to build two new elementary schools to help reduce large class sizes in some schools and help even out the population in the schools as the community grows on the northeast side of town. Some elementary schools in St. Joseph have received the prestigious national Blue Ribbon school award and strive to keep earning awards like these year after year.
St. Joseph educators are proud to say that the city’s high school graduation rate of 88.6 percent is higher than the state rate of 85.7 percent. These high school graduates do not have to travel far to earn a post-graduate education degree. In St. Joseph, Missouri Western State University (MWSU), along with other schools of higher education, offer a wide variety of programs in which to enroll.
With 6,100 students enrolled, Missouri Western State University provides a quality higher education opportunity. The university campus has constructed new buildings and added a growing number of post-baccalaureate degrees to its course offerings. Some high school graduates tend to further their education at other career centers in St. Joseph, including Hillyard Technical Center and Vatterott College.
St. Joseph is proud of the growth of its community and proud of the education that its schools provide to help the community continue its growth.