Academics

At its heart, St. Paul’s is a student-centered Episcopal school that fosters a family atmosphere, which is palpable to both children and parents. Academically, St. Paul's continually explores new methods, practices, and programs, which create an educational environment of boundless opportunity. The faculty and administration are taking the current curriculum and making it even stronger by integrating community service, innovative technology, and an increased focus on the skills needed for an ever-changing world. For generations, a hallmark of St. Paul’s has been to use accepted learning methodologies which recognize and address individual differences and needs. The mission of our academics is simple but profound: to provide a classroom that engages, inspires, and prepares students for college and life.

St. Paul’s Episcopal School is extremely proud of the academic achievements of our students. With graduation requirements of four years of English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and two of a foreign language, their preparation is superb. Students consistently perform well on standardized tests and as graduates they do exceptionally well at the college level.

With any college preparatory school, the best evidence of superior performance is academic success in college. Annually, St. Paul’s receives a detailed report from Auburn University and the University of Alabama indicating the first semester grades of our former students. The St. Paul’s graduate’s grades were, on average, higher than those of the general population of freshmen at the two universities.  Sixty-eight (52%) of St. Paul’s graduates of 2011 attended these two institutions. Of the sixty-eight, twenty-six were admitted into an Honors College and one of these is a University Fellow at the University of Alabama.

Additionally, St. Paul’s students attain superior performance on standardized tests. Over the last three years, St. Paul’s has had more National Merit Finalists than any other school in Mobile or Baldwin county. When viewed as a percent of the senior class the numbers are even more impressive. For the class of 2012, St. Paul’s has four National Merit finalists, one National Merit Achievement finalist, and six National Merit Commended Scholars.  Equally impressive are the Advanced Placement scores St. Paul’s students attain. This past year, 195 AP tests were taken; eighty-four percent scored a three or higher with fifty-nine percent scoring a four or five (five is the top score). In 2011 of the thirteen AP classes offered at St. Paul’s, the average score of St. Paul’s students exceeded the national average in twelve of the classes. In four of the thirteen disciplines, the average score was greater than four. The class boasts a total of forty-four AP Scholars with an average score of 4.12. Twenty students were AP Scholars, seven were AP Scholars with Honor, sixteen were AP Scholars with Distinction, and one was a National AP Scholar.