St.

Francis de Sales Academy

STEM-Arts Education for Young Women
Powhatan, Virginia
I. The Need For STEM-Arts Education
Saint Katharine Drexel used millions of dollars of the Drexel fortune to build St.
Francis de Sales High School (SFDS), a state-of the art facility in Powhatan, Virginia at
the end of the 19th century, to educate African American girls for the 20th century. She did
so because she recognized that education would be the key to their success and to the
success of their future communities. During its seventy-two years of operation (1898
1970) SFDS graduated several thousand young women who subsequently made
significant contributions to their communities and country.
FrancisEmma, Inc. must now find visionaries who, in the tradition of Saint
Katharine Drexel, are willing to partner with us to provide the finest 21st century STEM1
Arts Education for young women of color. FrancisEmma visualizes a two-year
residential, college-preparatory school on the site of the former SFDS, primarily for young
women of color who have completed their high school educations, and who need
additional preparation to encourage and enable them to pursue STEM fields in college2
and beyond.
Women constitute slightly more than 50% of the population of the United States,3
and [a]lthough the number of women earning college degrees has been increasing, they
1 The term STEM education refers to teaching and learning in the fields of science,

technology, engineering, and mathematics. It typically includes educational activities across

all grade levelsfrom pre-school to post-doctoratein both formal (e.g. classrooms) and
informal (e.g. afterschool programs) settings. See, Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM) Education: A Primer, by Heather B. Gonzalez and Jeffrey J. Kuenzi
Congressional Research Service (2012) at: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42642.pdf
(last visited March 15, 2016) (hereinafter referred to as STEM Education: A Primer, by
Gonzalez and Kuenzi).

2 There are many good and fair reasons to invest in increasing the number of women of

color in STEM and not least among these is the social justice argument that the opportunity
to pursue personal and professional success is a fundamental right for all of our citizens.
See, If Not Now, When? The Promise of STEM Intersectionality in the Twenty-First Century,
by Kelly Mack, Orlando Taylor, Nancy Cantor, and Patrice McDermott, in Peer Review, (Spring
2014, Vol. 16, No. 2) at: https://www.aacu.org/peerreview/2014/spring/reality-check (last
visited March 15, 2016).

3 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, females constituted approximately 50.8% of the U.S.
population in the 2010 census and as recently as 2014. See,
http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045214/00 (last visited March 15, 2016).

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hold less than a quarter of STEM jobs nationally.4 Additionally, by the year 2060,
minorities, now 37 percent of the U.S. population, are projected to comprise 57 percent of
the population.5 Already, the demographic profile of the U.S. student-age population is
changing.6 Yet, despite these facts, the numbers of women of color in the fields of
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are alarmingly low.7 Our
country cannot afford to waste the potential talent residing in young women from
historically underrepresented groups.8 We must help to prepare them for the 21st century

4 See, STEM Education: A Primer, by Gonzalez and Kuenzi, at p. 26.

5 See, Census Bureau News Release CB12-243, U.S. Census Bureau Projections Show a Slower
Growing Older, More Diverse Nation a Half Century from Now, at:
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb12-243.html (last
visited March 15, 2016).

6 See, STEM Education: A Primer, by Gonzalez and Kuenzi, at p. 23.

7

See, Kristine De Welde, Sandra Laursen and Heather Thiry, Fact Sheet on Women in Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) at: http://www.socwomen.org/wpcontent/uploads/2010/05/fact_12-2007-stem.pdf (last visited March 15, 2016):
Across all STEM fields [in education], the proportion of women of color is small, and drops at
each level of degree attainment (NSF 2007a, CPST 2007). [In employment] White women
comprise some 20% of the 4.9 million S&E workers, Asian-American women 4%, Black
women 2%, Hispanic women 1.2%, and American Indian/Alaskan Native women just 0.1%.
Because they are represented above their level in the general population, Asians are not
considered an underrepresented minority in S&E. In general, across disciplines and sectors
of employment, whites outnumber all minorities by almost three to one. (Id. at p. 1)
See also, Disparities in STEM Employment by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin (American
Community Survey Reports -24, by Liana Christin Landivar, September 2013) at
http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2013/acs/acs-24.pdf
(last visited March 15, 2016).

8 Many business, academic, and policy leaders assert that U.S. STEM education weaknesses

have contributed (or will soon contribute) to national S&E (science and engineering)
shortages and that this labor supply problem has diminished U.S. global economic
competitiveness and threatened national security (or will do so in the future. See, STEM
Education: A Primer, by Gonzalez and Kuenzi, p. 15, at:
https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42642.pdf (last visited March 15, 2016). (The authors
also note that some analysts disagree with this view. Id. at p. 15).

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careers in STEM9, and by so doing help to prepare our country for one of the largest
demographic shifts in our history.10
II. The Importance of Arts Education
An appreciation of the arts helps us to value life, human beings and other species
with whom we share this Earth, the Earth itself, the Universe, and God, who is the source
of all being. As our world becomes more dependent on technology, it will be ever more
important to be reminded of the beauty of life in all its manifestations. Arts education
plays an essential role in helping to create and maintain a civil, civilized, and enlightened
society.11 Excellent arts education went hand in glove with a superior academic education
at St. Francis de Sales throughout its history. This storied tradition12 must continue.13
III. Why STEM-Arts at FrancisEmma?
9 The urgent need for science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) higher education

reform in the United States is fueled by projections that our labor market will require greater
expansion for those trained in science and engineering than in any other sector in the
twenty-first century. This challenge is compounded by the fact that improved global
economies and opportunities abroad will no longer allow this country to rely on foreign-born
talent to meet its STEM workforce demands. To remain competitive within this shifting
context, America must aggressively pursue the full participation of all of its college-age
populationand most especially the women and women of color who embody an untapped
source of talent for meeting the nations needs. See, The Twenty-First-Century Case for
Inclusive Excellence in STEM, by Kelly Mack and Patrice McDermott, in Peer Review, (Spring
2014, Vol. 16, No. 2) at: https://www.aacu.org/peerreview/2014/spring/mcdermott (last
visited March 15, 2016).

10 Our nation is facing a STEM pipeline crisis in a world where both our workforce needs

and the growth of our international competition are growing at an ever accelerating pace.
Students who live at the intersection of race, gender, ethnicity, and class are
disproportionately absent from the STEM enterprise, and yet they constitute the
fastest growing college-aged population in the United States (National Science Board
2010). In view of the current and future racial and gender demographics of the US college
population, the United States cannot continue its global leadership in STEM without an
acceleration in its production of women in general and women of color in particular for the
STEM workforce. (Emphasis added). See, If Not Now, When? The Promise of STEM
Intersectionality in the Twenty-First Century, by Kelly Mack, Orlando Taylor, Nancy Cantor,
and Patrice McDermott, in Peer Review, (Spring 2014, Vol. 16, No. 2) at:
https://www.aacu.org/peerreview/2014/spring/reality-check (last visited March 15, 2016).

11 See, The Necessary Role of the Arts in Education and Society: Finding the Creative Power

Within Us to Control Our Lives and Shape Our Destinies, by Eric Oddleifson, Chairman,
Center for Arts in the Basic Curriculum, at:
http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/Arts%20in%20Education/The
%20Center%20for%20Arts%20in%20the%20Basic%20Curriculum/oddleifson2.htm (last
visited March 15, 2016).

While Virginia has 23 Governors STEM Academies,14 all appear to be geared to

students enrolled in high school.15 Many gifted young women of color who are capable of
pursuing STEM fields in college, may not have had the opportunity to pursue STEM
studies to the extent they might have wished in high school.
STEM-Arts at the site of the former St. Francis de Sales High School in Powhatan,
Virginia would offer a STEM-Arts curriculum designed to reinforce skills acquired by
underrepresented young women in high school, so that they would be better prepared to
matriculate and graduate in STEM programs at the university level. For the following
reasons, this location would provide the ideal setting for a post-secondary, residential,
college-preparatory STEM-Arts school:

12 For example, St. Francis de Sales High School Glee Club was directed by Sister M. Elise

Sisson (1897-1982), who was a member of the New York Metropolitan Opera prior to joining
the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. The SFDS Glee Club performed at such a high level of
excellence that it was often invited to perform in such venues as Town Hall in New York City,
the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. and in
Europe. The SFDS performance of April 27, 1969 is documented in New York Magazine, p. 20.
See, https://books.google.com/books?id=dMcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=St.
+Francis+de+Sales+Glee+Club+performs+at+Town+Hall&source=bl&ots=rkHCu1ImJ6&sig=g
sUigGIAp0hzxvPkSVqsZqfEAfY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAWoVChMIquOGvOyLxgIVEO
6ACh3DQwCX#v=onepage&q=St.%20Francis%20de%20Sales%20Glee%20Club
%20performs%20at%20Town%20Hall&f=false (last visited March 15, 2016).

13 To a certain extent, the tradition continues even now. Several SFDS graduates have been

deeply involved in the performing arts since graduating from SFDS.

For example, Donna L. McLean of Philadelphia, who received her foundational voice training at
SFDS from the Sister Mary Elise Sisson, SBS (1897-1982), still gives solo performances in
Philadelphia and surrounding areas. Sister Elise, a co-founder in 1976 of Opera Ebony in
Philadelphia, continued to have a powerful effect on Donnas life even after SFDS. It was Sister
Elise who encouraged Donna to audition for the Opera Ebony chorus. Donna did so and was
successful. Donna also sang in the choir and as a soprano soloist in the Clayton White Singers.
Ms. McLean continues to study voice with Kathryna Barone of Bryn Mawr Conservatory of
Music. See, http://www.brynmawrconservatoryofmusic.com/archives/96 (last visited March
15, 2016).

14 See, Virginia Department of Education Governor's STEM Academies July 28, 2014, at:

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/career_technical/gov_academies/academies/gover
nors_stem_academies.pdf (last visited March 15, 2016)

15 Id.

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The property is within easy driving distance for families from many East Coast
cities, and even families from the West Coast could fly to major East Coast cities
and then travel to St. Francis de Sales Academy (SFDS).
The property is easily accessible to families in the Virginia area whose daughters
might benefit from post-secondary STEM-Arts education.
Likewise, the school would be easily accessible to major centers of higher
education from which seasoned and novice educators, scientists, and entrepreneurs
could travel to the school.
SFDS would be in a breathtakingly beautiful setting in the Virginia countryside, far
from the distractions that too often interfere with a students ability to focus on her
studies.
SFDS already has a legacy of educational excellence in several communities of
color, which would make it easier to recruit African American, Native American,
and Latina American women to recognize and pursue the opportunity to receive a
STEM-Arts foundation that would likely lead to excellent jobs, job security, job
satisfaction, and good salaries.
IV. The Vision for STEM-Arts on the St. Francis de Sales Property
Gifted young women (primarily of color) from financially disadvantaged
backgrounds
Excellent educators
Scientists, engineers, and mathematicians on loan from industry
Visiting artists (both as teachers and performers)
Modern high tech, residential campus with all the latest innovative features for
STEM and Arts education
State-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories

Small, state-of-the-art performance facility for theatre, musicals, dance, etc.

Land that serves as part of the research facility for biology, botany, ornithology,
etymology, etc.
Beautiful natural surroundings
Aesthetically pleasing architecture
V. Potential Partners Dreaming on the Large Scale
To achieve the vision of having a post-secondary STEM-Arts college-preparatory
school at St. Francis de Sales, FrancisEmma, Inc. (FEI) must find partners who share our
vision and values, and who are willing to invest in the future of our Nation. This means
that, in addition to relying on the hundreds of benefactors who have supported (FEI) since

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our inception, we must be willing to dream on a large scale of finding foundations or
philanthropists like Saint Katharine Drexel.