The Logos Narrative

Our History

On September 14, 1970, our doors opened at 3325 Washington Blvd under the name Sophia House in a warehouse in downtown St. Louis. There were four students in attendance, and they were each working to attain their GED. After the first year, the staff realized that these students needed more in-depth and individualized services, both educationally and psychologically.

In the early years, our school provided a place for students who did not conform to the structure of traditional schools. The original facility had sofas and pillows on the floor instead of desks or tables. Regardless of their academic ability, all students in attendance had various challenges that might have caused them to fail in the traditional school setting, or residual feelings of inadequacy from their previous experiences. Because of this, therapy for students was always a part of the program.

Eventually, the school grew to a four-year program to serve more students. As a result, in the early 1980s Logos began to outgrow the warehouse location. After a thorough search, a former grade school became available in Olivette, Missouri. In 1982, the staff and thirty students moved into the new building at 9137 Old Bonhomme Road. Logos continued as a four-year high school until 1991 when middle school (7th & 8th grades) were added to reach adolescents at an earlier age, before negative patterns of behavior were firmly established. In 1997, the middle school became self-contained (all classes in one room) with a second classroom added in 1998. Finally, in 2008, the middle school expanded to include 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in multiple classrooms.

Today

Logos has a constant enrollment of 95-110 students who come from a variety of therapeutic, academic, and economic backgrounds. Our school provides an innovative combination of individualized academics, individual and group therapy, and parental involvement. Coupled with a staff ratio of 6:1, our approach has proved successful for hundreds of adolescents who would otherwise be left without any options in school and, sometimes, in life. As such, Logos has become a lifeline for those students who needed more than a traditional school setting offered.

During our history, more than 2,000 adolescents have found academic and emotional success.