Storman Academy (Saint Louis, MO)

Storman Academy

On September 7 1981 the doors of Storman-Stufflin School were first opened. The creation of Storman-Stufflin was prompted by the lack of educational opportunity for many Black children in our public schools. The founder Jacqueline Storman Turnage was appalled over the deaf ear approach she was receiving from higher officials in the public school system where she was teaching. Jacqueline Turnage envisioned a school where every child would see success in school where every child would see himself productively where students would develop proper attitudes toward school and community where students would develop acceptable and communicative attitudes and habits and where teachers would be provided techniques to teach the basics within the framework of innovation. Through the years the school has grown steadily from two students to two hundred. The student body encompasses more than 16 zip codes in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Storman-Stuftlin School educates children from age 2 through grades 9. A high school preparatory which emphasizes strong academics and individual attention to every student within the school is our approach. Students are expected to seek higher education. Our curriculum is developed with an emphasis on African-American culture and heritage. In 2007 Storman-Stufflin was renamed Storman Academy. Storman Academy also has the distinction of being the first Black Independently owned non-sectarian private school in the state of Missouri. Storman Academy is funded solely by tuition and the fundraising efforts of parents staff and supporters of Storman Academy. Storman Academy is a not-for-profit organization. Reading for our Preschoolers begins with pre-reading skills and phonics exercises. Daily drills of recognition of the alphabet and the sounds of letters are introduced at the beginning of the school year. The 4-5 year old class begins with the assumption that the student can recognize the alphabet. Sight word vocabulary is introduced at this level along with short sentences and comprehension of those sentences. The teacher will read to the students for a minimum of 15 minutes each day. Sentence construction begins with. copying from the board. Beginning and end punctuation is introduced . Creative expressien-threugb-dramatic play-activities-is a-daily plan. Development of readiness skills such as recall sequencing and following patterns are given emphasis. Community life school life and family background and relationships are seen through units on various topics. Students learn to write their names addresses and other family information. Students go through neighborhood walks to discuss the make-up of a neighborhood. We begin with a unit on soft and hard objects. Preschoolers discuss weather and climate on a daily basis. Exploration of plants and animals investigation of the five senses basic anatomy and nutrition are all seen in in-depth units. Hands on experiences encourage the children to participate in active exploration of the world around them. Music appreciation vocal and listening exercises are introduced along with recognition of various children s standards. Rhythmic exercises are used as well as the beginning use of musical instruments. Number concept and number recognition begins. Writing numbers in sequential order and learning ordinal numbers are used the first semester. Four - five year olds continue to write numbers to 1 000. Number dictation is given on a weekly basis. One-to-one correspondences place value through hundreds patterning sorting and graphing are introduced at this level