St. Joseph's Academy (Baton Rouge)

St. Joseph's Academy
Address
3015 Broussard Street
Baton Rouge, (East Baton Rouge Parish), Louisiana 70808
United States
Coordinates 30°26′11″N 91°9′25″W / 30.43639°N 91.15694°W / 30.43639; -91.15694Coordinates: 30°26′11″N 91°9′25″W / 30.43639°N 91.15694°W / 30.43639; -91.15694
Information
Type Private College Preparatory[1]
Motto Sanctity, Joy, and Action[2]
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Congregation of St. Joseph[1]
Established 1868[3]
Oversight Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge
President Jan Rhorer Breen
Principal Stacia Andricain
Grades 9–12[3]
Gender All-Female[1]
Color(s) Red and White         [2]
Song Alma Mater- Lift up your voices to our alma mater, pledge her your loyalty as long as she may live. Always remember the spirit and the way of sancity, joy and action, dearest SJA. High fly her banner to the world proclaiming immortal standards, in colors red and white. Red for devotion, white for purity. Imparting her wisdom through the years. This is SJA.[2]
Athletics Louisiana High School Athletic Association
Athletics conference District 5-5A
Team name Redstickers[2]
Rival Dutchtown Griffins
St. Amant Gators
Accreditation Southern Association of Colleges and Schools [4]
Newspaper Student Prints
Yearbook Shield[2]
Tuition $10,830[5]
Athletic Director Dorinda Beaumont[6]
Website http://www.sjabr.org

St. Joseph's Academy (SJA) is an all-girls Catholic school established in 1868 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille. It is the sister school of the all-boys Catholic High School, only three-tenths of a mile to the north.[3] It is located on a live oak shaded campus in Mid-City Baton Rouge, Louisiana, within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge.

SJA has been recognized four times as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. [7] 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.[3]

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 Stacia Andricain, who serves as the first lay associate Principal in the history of the Academy. Breen is a 1969 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).[8]

The Broussard Street campus is the second for the school. The original school was located in downtown Baton Rouge, but was moved to where it currently stands in 1941.[3]

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 2014, SJA rolled out the new Q704 Fujitsu tablet computers to students, faculty and staff.[9]

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, 2017), and cross country. SJA has successfully competed on the national level in competitive cheerleading as well, winning the Super Varsity National Champions title in 2018. The school's colors are red and white, with navy blue used as an accent color.

References

  1. 1 2 3 St. Joseph's Academy Mission and Philosophy
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 St. Joseph's Academy Handbook
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 St. Joseph's Academy History
  4. ↑ SACS-CASI. "SACS-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
  5. ↑ St. Joseph's Academy Financial Information
  6. ↑ St. Joseph's Academy Faculty Information
  7. ↑ National Blue Ribbon Award Winners
  8. ↑ St. Joseph's Academy Outstanding Alumnae
  9. ↑ "A Do-It-Yourself 1-to-1 Plan". The Journal. 1105 Media. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
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