In the fall of 1997, Father Paul Sheridan, S.J., formed a committee of educators and community stakeholders to explore opportunities to remove barriers to education that many low-income and minority students in the community were experiencing. The founders of Loyola Academy chose to follow the NativityMiguel Model which includes an extended school day and year, a small student body, a rigorous academic program, wrap-around services to serve the whole student and continued supports following graduation.
Loyola Academy of St. Louis welcomed its first class in September 1999 as a Jesuit middle school for 6th-8th grade young men, residing within St. Louis University High School, and moved into its currently school building in June 2008.
In the fall of 2023, Loyola Academy will welcome its first class of 4th and 5th grade students.