Incarnate Word Academy's Board of Trustees has decided against opening a second campus in St. Charles County, keeping the all-girls Catholic school in its historic home in Bel-Nor, where it has operated for nearly 100 years. The decision ends consideration of a second campus in St. Charles County.
The board's move followed what the school described as extensive due diligence, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. The Business Journal reported that trustees rejected a dual-campus model. Incarnate Word has operated in Bel-Nor for nearly 100 years.
Herb Ehrhard chairs the academy's Board of Trustees.
The St. Charles County Proposal
The board ultimately rejected a dual-campus model that would have added a St. Charles County campus.
That split reflects where Incarnate Word's students actually come from. The academy enrolls girls from more than 30 ZIP codes, drawing about half its student body from north St. Louis County and roughly a third from St. Charles County, and it runs a daily bus route to St. Charles to accommodate that commute. Connie Johnson, who attended the academy four decades ago, told the Post-Dispatch she sees benefits to a St. Charles move but is glad the school is staying in north county, saying it “welcomes students from all backgrounds” and has “made leaps and bounds.”
Enrollment at About 500 Students
Incarnate Word is home to about 500 students.
That local rebound stands apart from the broader regional picture. Catholic-school enrollment across the Archdiocese of St. Louis fell 38% over the ten years tracked in a brief from the PRiME Center, and roughly 50% since 2001-02. In St. Louis City and county specifically, enrollment dropped 57.5% between 2001-02 and 2019-20, with a 43.9% decline occurring just between 2009-10 and 2019-20, per the same brief. Nationally, Catholic-school enrollment shrank nearly 34% from 2001 to 2020. Against that backdrop, mapping from STLtoday.com shows that Catholic schools near fast-growing cities like Chesterfield, Wentzville, Warrenton and Washington posted the biggest enrollment gains in the Archdiocese between 2017-18 and 2022-23.
A New Building at Notre Dame
With the dual-campus idea shelved, the academy is turning its attention to its existing grounds. The school expects to upgrade its technical systems and make its grounds more accessible for people with disabilities. Academy leaders also plan to tour nearby Notre Dame High School's new addition for ideas, the Post-Dispatch reported.
That addition offers a template of sorts. Notre Dame High School, also an all-girls school, unveiled a 16,000-square-foot academic building on Aug. 9 focused on science, technology, religion, engineering, arts and math, according to the St. Louis Call Newspapers. The three-floor building includes classrooms for science, music, art and religion along with a merchandise store, and Notre Dame's president said the three-year project was well worth the effort.
On the Field, a Program Already Thriving
The Red Knights earned a Class 6 state title in March.
