Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Mount St. Mary Academy

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Type
  
Private, All-Girls

Directress
  
Sr. Lisa D. Gambacorto

Grades
  
9–12

Phone
  
+1 908-561-7102

Established
  
1908

Faculty
  
57.6 (on FTE basis)

Tuition
  
20,000 USD

Founded
  
1908

Mount St. Mary Academy

Religious affiliation(s)
  
Roman Catholic, Sisters of Mercy

Address
  
1645 US-22, Watchung, NJ 07069, USA

Motto
  
Tradition empowering the future

Similar
  
The Pingry School, Immaculata High School, Union Catholic High Sch, Oak Knoll School of the Holy, Mother Seton Regional

Profiles

Shadow at mount st mary academy


Mount Saint Mary Academy is a four-year private high school for girls, located in Watchung, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen, the school operates financially independent of the Diocese. The Academy was founded in 1908 by the Sisters of Mercy of New Jersey and opened with 77 students. A fire destroyed the main building in 1911, but the school reopened in the following year and has grown steadily. In the 1980s and 1990s it was a boarding school that housed local, out of state and international students.

Contents

As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 350 students and 57.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 6.1:1.

Mount Saint Mary Academy has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1937. It holds membership in the National Association of Independent Schools, the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools, the National Catholic Educational Association, the College Board, and the Educational Records Bureau.

Campus

The campus is situated on a ridge of the Watchung Mountains, overlooking surrounding suburban towns and the skyline of New York City, which is 23 miles (37 km) to the east.

The school, a sponsored work of the Sisters of Mercy, is a nonprofit organization governed by a Board of Trustees. Its Alumnae Association, composed of about 4,100 graduates, provides support for a number of school functions. The school’s physical plant is owned by the Sisters of Mercy of New Jersey.

The recent $4.2 million renovation on windows, doors, and structure are one of many changes to the school. The average tuition is in the range of $17,600 for the 2011-12 school year. Students are required to purchase a tablet PC, which costs approximately $2,250 or can be leased for $640 per year.

Awards, recognition and rankings

In 1984, Sister Mary Eloise Claire Kays became Directress of Mount Saint Mary Academy. Under the direction of Sister Mary Eloise Claire, the Academy enjoyed national recognition as an "Exemplary Private School" a designation bestowed on it by the US Department of Education. During the 1984-85 school year, Mount St. Mary Academy was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.

In 1984–85, Mount Saint Mary Academy was one of 65 private schools in the United States to receive the Council for American Private Education’s Exemplary Private School Recognition Project award.

Mission statement

The mission of Mount Saint Mary Academy is to challenge each student to develop her fullest potential in a Christian atmosphere of love and caring. As a private Catholic secondary school, founded by the Sisters of Mercy of New Jersey.

Future

In 2001, state-of-the-art science laboratories and science and math classrooms greeted students as they began the school year. Several months later, a student center/cafeteria and school bookstore were completed in the newly renovated lower corridor of the Saint Joseph’s building.

In 2008, The Angels of Victory field was completed, a turf field for soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, and track and field.

Athletics

Mount St. Mary Academy competes in the Skyland Conference, which is made up of public and parochial high schools spanning Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren counties in northern New Jersey, operating under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). Prior to the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had participated in the Mountain Valley Conference, which included public and private high schools in Essex County, Somerset County and Union County.

The swim team won the Non Public - B state sectional championship with a 116-54 win vs. Pingry School.

References

Mount St. Mary Academy Wikipedia