Ursuline Academy is a private, all-girls' Roman Catholic high school in Oakland, Missouri. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis.
Video Ursuline Academy (Oakland, Missouri)
History
Ursuline Academy in St. Louis was founded by three Ursuline Sisters from Austria-Hungary and a young woman from Bavaria who was preparing to become a nun. They arrived in St. Louis on September 5, 1848, and on November 2, 1848, the women opened the school that would become known as Ursuline Academy located on Fifth Street, near the old French market. In 1850 a larger school building was needed, and the school moved to 12th and Russell Streets (today the site of St. Joseph's Croatian Church).
As the twentieth century dawned, the building on 12th Street was in need of major repairs and was no longer adequate for the kind of education the Sisters wanted to offer. Towards the close of 1914, a beautifully wooded 28-acre tract with a fine old colonial-style mansion was offered for sale near Oakland, Missouri. The Sisters purchased the property, and in the spring of 1915 the mansion was furnished and arranged for a school and the Sisters' quarters. A high school was opened there in September 1915.
In 1925, ground was broken for a new convent and academy. By August 1926, the present main building facing the pond, now known as Merici Hall, was ready for occupancy. In 1960, a west building, now known as Brescia Hall, was added. This expansion offered a new library, additional classroom space, and a new gymnasium.
By 1988 the original mansion which had previously been torn down was replaced with a new residence for the Ursuline Sisters, where they lived until the summer of 2005. This made possible the school's expansion into what had been the convent facilities on the third floor of Merici Hall.
In 1988 and 2002, the United States Department of Education recognized Ursuline Academy as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.
In 2005, Ursuline opened the Convocation Center, a new multipurpose space utilized for athletics, liturgies, and assemblies, as well as O'Hara Hall, a lobby space utilized for meetings, banquets, art exhibits. This addition to the campus added new locker rooms, athletic office space, fitness center, as well as a new health classroom. With the opening of the Convocation Center, the former gymnasium in Brescia Hall has become a multi-purpose facility housing fine art performances, school assemblies, and additional athletic practice space. In 2013, updates to campus included: expanded "Bear Den" spirit shop, expanded and updated Broadcast Center, new fitness center equipment, and the auditorium received new stage lighting, stage floor, sound equipment, curtains, improved acoustics with sound clouds, and more.
In 2017, Ursuline Academy proudly opened Hartnett Hall, a new facility dedicated to STEM and Fine Arts education. The new facility includes new labs for all science classes, a dance studio, and a chorus/band room. The building also physically links Merici and Brescia Halls making the campus fully accessible for the first time in the school's history. Hartnett Hall is named for Mrs. Thelma Hartnett, a current Ursuline coworker who has been with the Academy for over fifty years.
In 2006, Dr. Tina Reichardt was named as the current President of the Academy. In 2010, Dr. Mark Michalski became the current Principal of the Academy.
Maps Ursuline Academy (Oakland, Missouri)
UA School Song - Never Say Goodbye
It was only a short while ago, when we stepped through your doors for the first time. So alone, so afraid; but not for long, you took us in and made us feel like a part of Ursuline. It's here you teach us to give of ourselves, and to show good will toward one another. It's a lesson that's seeded deep inside and grows throughout the years. It's a word called Serviam: it's a gift called love. Your spirit's a part of our lives, a happy feeling in our hearts; Please never leave us, never say goodbye. And now we'll tell you how proud we are, to be a vision of your dreams, of your dreams. Your spirit's a part of our lives, a happy feeling in our hearts, Please never leave us, never say goodbye. Please never leave us, never say goodbye.
Senior Verse: Yet like the geese on the pond that fly away in the fall, we have to go, but we'll never say Goodbye. Your spirit's a part of our lives, a happy feeling in our hearts; Please never leave us, never say Goodbye. So if we shed a few tears, it's only because we have to go. But we'll never say goodbye.
Notes and references
External links
- School Website
- Facebook site
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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