Ursuline Academy (New Orleans)

Ursuline Academy is a private, Catholic, all-girls high school and elementary school (Toddler 2 through 12th grade) in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is located within the Archdiocese of New Orleans and under the trusteeship of the Ursuline Sisters of the New Orleans Community, part of the Ursuline Central Province of North America. Founded in 1727, the Academy is the oldest Catholic school and the oldest school for women in the United States.

History

The Ursuline Academy was founded in 1727 by the Sisters of the Order of Saint Ursula, in New Orleans. It is the oldest continuously-operating school for girls, and the oldest Catholic school in the United States.

The Academy included the first convent, the first free school, and the first retreat center for ladies. It offered the first classes for female African-American slaves, free women of color, and Native Americans.

Academics

An Ursuline education is based on the philosophy of Saint Angela Merici.

Traditions

Rally began in 1948 as a way for classes to show their school spirit in the areas of volleyball intramurals, through skits, posters, songs, and cheers. Each class was given a name (Skip, Mac, Leprechaun or Sioux (now Phoenix)) to replace existing sororities on campus and carried them until they graduated and passed them on to a little sister class.

Athletics

Ursuline Academy athletics competes in the LHSAA.

Notable alumnae

Lurita Doan, administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration
Mary Landrieu, US Senator

References

Notes

Clark, Emily, ed. (2009). Voices from an Early American Convent: Marie Madeleine Hachard and the New Orleans Ursulines, 1727–1760. Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-3446-7. OCLC 824539478.