March 25, 2025

Lindbergh Schools will launch a new Certified Nursing Assistant program at Lindbergh High School for the 2025-26 school year with the allocation of a $400,000 limited access grant from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The grant announcement was made during the January 16 Board of Education workshop.

“I’m very excited to say that we are one of six school districts in Missouri to receive this funding. The purpose of the grant had to touch on limited access, meaning programs that students were not able to get into,” said Dr. Jaime Cavato, Executive Director of Secondary Education. “It was focused on careers in the technical or heath sciences field that have a shortage of employees. Our goal is to start implementing the grant in the upcoming school year.”

In September 2024, DESE announced that the department was providing a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Limited Access Grant opportunity to eligible local education agencies (LEAs). For the purposes of this grant, “limited access” refers to a school district that encounters barriers in providing students with CTE programming in Skilled Technical Sciences or Health Science Education.

Lindbergh Schools applied for the grant due to limited access in the Certified Nursing Assistant program offered at South Tech High School through the Special School District of St. Louis. 

“It won’t surprise you that there is a high demand for nurses.,” Dr. Greg Fick, LHS Assistant Principal, told the board during the January workshop. “The industry is growing and the demand is there for more nurses. Our students have a growing interest in the nursing field. We had more and more students applying for the South Tech CNA program that were being turned away.”

Over the last three years, more than half of Lindbergh High School students applying to off-campus CNA programs were denied due to limited capacity at South Tech:

• Fall 2024: 21 applied, 5 placed
• Fall 2023: 12 applied, 2 placed
• Fall 2022: 10 applied, 5 placed

South Tech serves 22 St. Louis school districts, capping the amount of students accepted from each district. Lindbergh Schools will now be able to serve many more students with this valuable real-world learning program.

Program Description

Students will have the opportunity for hands-on clinical training in professional environments, in addition to apprenticeships and internships. Lindbergh Schools will partner with long-term health care facilities in the St. Louis area to provide students with opportunities to obtain clinical hours.

This two-year course is for students who are interested in earning their CNA nursing certification. This course fully immerses students into healthcare through lab and patient care experiences in assisted living facilities. Students will  learn human anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, disease processes, CPR, first aid, vital signs, human relations skills, and basic healthcare skills while learning to think critically. An emphasis is placed on job readiness and professionalism in the workplace. Upon completion of the program requirements, qualified students can take the Missouri State Exam to become a Certified Nurse Assistant. 

The program will take place at Lindbergh High School, and is currently looking at converting an extra faculty space to be used for the classroom.