Established 1868 Principal Linda Fryoux Harvison Phone +1 225-383-7207 Colors White, Red | President Jan Rhorer Breen Tuition 9,185 USD Founded 1868 | |
Type Private College Preparatory Motto Sanctity, Joy, and Action Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Congregation of St. Joseph Address 3015 Broussard St, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA Similar Catholic High School, Baton Rouge Magnet H, St Joseph Cathedral, Redempt High School, University Laboratory School | ||
St. Joseph's Academy (SJA) is an all-girls Catholic school established in 1868 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille. It is located on a live oak shaded campus in Mid-City Baton Rouge, Louisiana, within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge.
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SJA has been recognized four times as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. In 2002, the Academy was recognized as a school of technology excellence by the U.S. Department of Education, one of only three in the nation.
The Academy is a college preparatory school and its curriculum is built on a technology immersion program created by former Principal Sister Judith Brun, CSJ. Current leadership includes Jan Rhorer Breen as President, who serves as the first lay President and Linda Harvison, who serves as the first lay Principal in the history of the Academy. Breen is a 1969 graduate of SJA. Harvison is a 1966 graduate of SJA. Other notable graduates of the Academy include Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ (author of Dead Man Walking and an anti-death penalty advocate).
The Broussard Street campus is the second for the school. The original school was located in the downtown Baton Rouge area.
Mission
The mission of St. Joseph’s Academy is to educate young women as responsible and unifying members of the world community. In the spirit and charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Joseph’s Academy offers opportunities for faith development in the Catholic tradition, academic excellence, and personal growth.
Faith development
Guiding young women in Catholic faith traditions and in Catholic theology is a priority at the Academy. Daily prayer, monthly Eucharistic liturgies, traditional rituals, a required religion curriculum at each grade level and required service hours are standard at SJA. In addition, each grade level attends an annual retreat, as do the faculty and staff. Academy students make annual mission trips to Honduras, Nicaragua, Kansas, Arizona and New Orleans, to name a few. SJA operates an active student ministry program that includes outreach to all of the Catholic elementary schools in the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Some of the specific programs include: Serve Together which focuses on poverty in the Baton Rouge community and enables students to learn about, reflect on and give service in the areas of education, health care and criminal justice; and Adopt-A-Family, a Christmas outreach project for needy families (through Catholic Community Services).
Technology
In 1999, Compaq Computer Corporation approved SJA as the first high school to maintain its own student-run help desk. St. Joseph's Academy is also among the first high schools to implement a 1:1 laptop program fully supported by a student-run help desk, and the first to have only high-school girls as technicians. From testing, selecting, and readying the systems to repairing and replacing parts, the students are integral participants in the school's IT operation. Since 1999, SJA is one of three schools in the nation recognized by the United States Department of Education for excellence in technology. SJA received the 2010 Spotlight School Award from the Lausanne Laptop Institute. The award recognizes schools whose laptop/tablet computer programs serve as international models of innovation and expertise. In June, SJA rolled out the new T730 Fujitsu tablet computers to students, faculty and staff.
Athletics
SJA competes in the highest designation in Louisiana (Class 5A) high school athletics. The team is known as the Red Stickers in a nod to its host city, Baton Rouge. The Academy has been very successful in volleyball (winning eight state titles, including four in a row from 2001–04), swimming (winning state titles in 2003, 2011-2015), and cross country. In the past, they successfully competed on the national level in competitive cheerleading as well. The school's colors are red and white.