Serviam Girls Academy

Cultivating the potential of young women through challenging, holistic education rooted in the Ursuline tradition. <br><br>Serviam Girls Academy's roots date back to 1971 and the all boys, Jesuit middle school, Nativity Mission, founded on the lower east side of Manhattan. Having opened its doors in 2008 to a group of eager and spirited 5th and 6th grade students, Serviam is proudly educating 57 girls in grades 5 through 8, and supporting 100 alums in both high school and college.

EMPOWERING YOUNG WOMEN, CHANGING THE WORLD.

Goal One: Provide a rigorous academic curriculum designed to bring our students academic levels in line to compete for elite high school acceptance standards.

Goal Two: See our Graduate Support Program service all alumnae and ascertain how Serviam can support and assist them in succeeding with their respective career goals.

Goal Three: Expand our base of donor support to ensure the financial stability of our organization.

Serviam Girls Academy holds monthly professional development days for faculty and staff to address educational best practices, promotion of social/emotional health, and emergency safety. Additionally, each faculty and staff member has identified one or two goals they would like to achieve within the year; administration provides professional development opportunities to help them achieve those goals, and schedules regular check-ins with each employee to assess progress and offer additional support. The Board’s Committee on Directors’s responsibilities include identifying and vetting new Board members who will fill a gap in the skillset and perspective of the current Board, ensuring all members have the opportunity to learn from each other and grow in their own leadership experience. The Board hosts an annual retreat during which a particular leadership need is explored with the group as a whole. Additionally, a New Board Director Orientation is held annually.

Though a year for the history books, fortunately, Serviam Girls Academy has weathered the storm well. Relatively seamlessly, Serviam adapted to virtual learning overnight in March 2020, created unique online learning opportunities for its 2020 Summer Program, and then adapted to a hybrid model with two cohorts alternating between weekly in-person and distance learning in September, 2021. Serviam also shortened its school day to 8 hours, incorporating a modified, primarily virtual enrichment program into the school day. However, because ~⅔’s of our 5th & 6th graders are new to Serviam, are unfamiliar with Serviam’s culture and academic expectations, and who possessed a noticeable lack of technological know-how, Serviam transitioned the 5th/6th-grade cohort to 100% in-person learning that October. The impact was profound; these young students quickly became actively engaged in their education. By April, all students were happily in school full-time. Serviam is acutely aware that the most profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is on our students’ mental health and their capacity for engagement and performance. Due to hunger, loss, or homelife, limited broadband services, lack of technical skill, or challenges learning virtually, students are struggling. Thus, Serviam returned to a fully in-person 2021 Summer Program and 2021-22 academic year. Furthermore, recognizing that their adolescent students are at a pivotal point in developing their sense of self and the world around them, Serviam’s nimble and responsive team adapted its delivery of relevant material in other ways. As social justice issues rocketed into the national conversation while global pandemic raged on in summer 2020, Serviam designed the Social Equity Initiative. Before the seeds of self-doubt and inferiority created by systemic injustice and racism take root, Serviam students are engaging in challenging educational discussions leading to self-discovery, confidence, empowerment.