Loyola Academy of St. Louis Receives $40,000 Grant to Support Its Nutrition Program

Loyola Academy of St. Louis announced it received a grant for $40,000 from Bayer Fund, a philanthropic arm of Bayer in the U.S. This grant will be used toward supporting the nutrition program for students at Loyola Academy.

Bayer Fund and Loyola Academy of St. Louis share a mutual goal of seeing the communities we serve flourish. Students at Loyola Academy are in attendance from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM each day. This grant from Bayer Fund will support Loyola Academy’s young men by providing a daily healthy and nutritious breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack to ensure that each student is fully fueled and engaged in the classroom throughout the extended school day. As a previous grant recipient, Loyola Academy students have outpaced their same-aged peers on the nationally normed NWEA assessment in mathematics, language usage, and science for the last nine years.

Bayer Fund supports Bayer, one of the country’s largest life sciences companies, mission of Health for All, Hunger for None by working with organizations and non-profits, like Loyola Academy, to support health and wellness and food and nutrition.

“Bayer Fund is proud to support Loyola Academy and their work to make real, sustainable impacts in their community,” said Michael Parrish, President of Bayer Fund. “Programs like Loyola Academy combat the critical issue of food insecurity, and we’re honored to play a role with helping even more people in our community have access to healthy, nutritious food.”

Last year, Bayer Fund supported more than 2,200 charitable and nonprofit organizations to help address essential needs in food and nutrition and health and wellness. To learn more about Loyola Academy of St. Louis, please visit www.loyolaacademy.org.

About Bayer Fund

Bayer Fund, a philanthropic arm of Bayer in the U.S., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the communities where Bayer customers and employees live and work by providing funding for food and nutrition, education, and health and wellness projects. For more information, please visit www.fund.bayer.us.

🎓 From Middle School to College Graduation: Our Alumni Are Finishing Strong

NativityMiguel Alumni Are Not Just Reaching College—They’re completing it at rates far above the national average.

At the NativityMiguel Coalition, graduating 8th grade is just the next step in our students’ 13+ year journey with us. We are proud to share the post-secondary completion results for our middle school classes of 2014 (corresponding to the high school class of 2018) and 2016 (corresponding to the high school class of 2020). The outcomes speak for themselves!

🎓 Class of 2014 (High School Class of 2018)

✅ 77% completed a 2- or 4-year degree or program within 6 years

📈 That’s 15% above the national average

✅ 80% of those who completed earned a 4-year college degree

📈 That’s 31% above the national average

🎓 Class of 2016 (High School Class of 2020)

✅ 63% completed a degree or program within just 4 years

📈 That’s 15% higher than the national average

💡 Why This Matters

Our alumni—many of whom are first-generation college students—began their academic journey in small, faith-filled schools where they were encouraged to become their best, most authentic selves.

Today, they are:

💼 Entering the workforce

🎓 Starting graduate school

🎖️ Serving in the armed forces

The NativityMiguel model works. Across our member schools, students receive support beginning as early as Pre-K and continuing through middle school, high school, college, and beyond. These outcomes reflect the power of combining high expectations, comprehensive support, and faith-based values to unlock each student’s full potential. We don’t simply guide students to college — we walk with them as they graduate, build careers, and thrive in life.

Please read the post-secondary completion reports by clicking here:

👉 Middle School Class of 2014 Report

👉 Middle School Class of 2016 Report

Toshiba America Foundation Grant Enables San Miguel Academy 8th Graders to Tackle Real-World STEM Challenge

Thanks to a generous $5,000 grant from Toshiba America, San Miguel Academy’s 8th-grade students took part in an exciting, year-long STEM project: "Testing the Waters: Engineering a Water Reuse Process." Guided by environmental advocate John Cronin and the Pace University Blue CoLab, students became real-world problem solvers—testing water quality, engineering their own filtration systems, and collaborating with field experts to refine their designs. This immersive, hands-on learning experience gave students the opportunity to become both engineers and environmental stewards. 

The entire 8th-grade class participated in the initiative, working with water samples from the nearby Hudson River. They explored filtration methods, applied math concepts such as measurement, ratios, and data analysis, and designed systems to clean and reuse water. Through the process, students learned not only about water pollution and science-based solutions but also how their work could contribute to cleaning up rivers, streams, lakes, and reservoirs.

This project-based approach helped students build critical skills in technology, math, and engineering while deepening their understanding of water science, environmental challenges, and the importance of managing natural resources.

“San Miguel Academy is grateful for Toshiba's role in creating grants for financial resources to support innovation within our school,” said Fr. Mark Connell, Executive Director and Acting Principal. “This project is particularly close to our hearts as it touches upon multiple aspects of our students' lives. Giving a student in Newburgh, NY, agency over their life and community is life-changing. Marked by the highest murder rate in the state of New York, San Miguel students live in a city where they are faced with navigating the social-emotional effects of living in a marginalized community every day. By empowering our students with innovative educational experiences, we are lighting the spark of curiosity and nurturing creators of solutions for the next generation.”

Thanks to Toshiba's support, San Miguel Academy 8th graders now carry the confidence and experience to approach complex environmental issues with creativity, resilience, and purpose.

Toshiba America Foundation’s grants fund projects designed by individual classroom teachers. This “direct-to-teacher” approach brings immediate results. Teachers are able to change the way they teach Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects because the grant supports equipment for hands-on experiments and inquiry-based approaches to the curriculum. At TAF, we believe that STEM is a lot more fun than just reading a textbook. TAF grants provide teachers with the tools they need to be more effective educators. The grants make the classroom a more exciting place for both teachers and students.