St. Agnes Academy-St. Dominic School is an independent

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

school in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

consisting of an

all-girls Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

PK2-12th school and an all boys PK2-8th school. The school is located in the

Diocese of Memphis In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

and follows Catholic principles but is not run by the diocese. It was founded by Dominican sisters.

Background

St. Agnes Academy-St. Dominic School serves girls from

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

2 (PK2) through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

and boys from pre-kindergarten 2 (PK2) through

eighth grade Eighth grade (or grade eight in some regions) is the eighth post-kindergarten year of formal education in the US. The eighth grade is the ninth school year, the second, third, fourth, or final year of middle school, or the second and/or final ye ...

History of St. Agnes Academy-St. Dominic School

St. Agnes Academy was founded by the Dominican Sisters in January 1851 and chartered in January 1852. The founding Sisters were Magdalen Clark, Catherine McCormack, Vincentia Fitzpatrick, Ann Simpson Sr. Lucy Harper, and Emily Thorpe. Sisters Magdalen and Catherine were professed at St. Mary of the Springs, and the other four at St. Catharine, Kentucky. (The Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs and of St. Catharine, Kentucky, eventually merged, along with six other congregations, to become

Dominican Sisters of Peace The Dominican Sisters of Peace is a congregation of Dominican Sisters of apostolic life, founded on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009, from the union of seven former Dominican foundations. With general offices in Columbus, Ohio, the congregation holds l ...

, the congregation that continues to sponsor the school today.) Sr. Catherine died in August and Mother Angela Lynch replaced her with Sr. Frances Conlon. St. Agnes was situated in what were then the suburbs of Memphis (Vance and Orleans), about a mile and a quarter from Court Square, the center of the city. The doors were opened on February 4, 1851, with 20 boarders and about 15 day-students. When the school year ended on July 7, 1851, the enrollment had increased to more than 50, and an addition to the school had been completed. The Dominican Sisters also boarded orphans until 1864, when the Sisters opened St. Peter's Orphanage. In the fall of 1867 and again in the fall of 1873, Memphis was enveloped by the

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

. During these times, many Dominican Sisters died rendering service to the sick in Memphis. On May 16, 1878, after the yellow fever had faded, the academy caught fire and was reduced to ashes. Another fire in 1900 caused less damage. Neither fire, however, hindered the School's continued operation. In 1911, two wings were added to the building to accommodate the growing enrollment, a Romanesque Chapel and an auditorium. The community purchased the Porter property on the right side of St. Agnes. On October 5, 1918, the faculty of St. Agnes established the Memphis Conservatory of Music where students could acquire a B.A. degree in music. It became the formal music education center of Memphis for beginning, advanced and professional students. It was incorporated on August 4, 1923, and eventually formed the Department of Music at St. Agnes College. In 1922 classes opened at St. Agnes College, the first Catholic women's college in the Diocese of Nashville and in the tri-states. It was the first college in Memphis to offer adult evening courses. It became evident that a separate location from the academy was needed if the college was to grow. To emphasize the distinction between the academy and the college, on January 1, 1939, the name of St. Agnes College was changed to Siena College. The college eventually moved to Poplar Avenue in 1953, and closed in 1972. After 100 years at Vance and Orleans, St. Agnes Academy moved to its present site on Walnut Grove Road (Barbara Daush Blvd) in 1951. Ground was broken in 1956 for St. Dominic School, an elementary school for boys on the property with St. Agnes. A library/science portable building was added in 1974. A regulation soccer field and a quarter-mile running track were added in 1986. The campus expanded over the years with the construction of Madonna Hall in 1966, the purchase of portable buildings in 1972, and the completion of an expanded and enhanced campus library in 1988. The Buckman/Davis Building was added to the campus in 1991 as the campus center for science and mathematics. Completing the Early Childhood Center and Tot Lot in 1998 accommodated the earliest grades. The opening of the a multipurpose building, Siena Hall, in 1999 allowed removal of all temporary structures and provided a pedestrian campus. The "Reaching for the Stars and Suns" campaign created the Veritas Research Center, completed in 2008, which houses a Cybrary, Distance Learning Center, Multi-media Lab, Cyber Café, Senior Lounge, Tech Center and eight classrooms. St. Agnes is planning to build a new Early Childhood Center in 2009. It is one of 18 schools in the country to be named an Apple Distinguished School. , the School was operated as one entity by a board of trustees consisting of parents, local leaders and representatives of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. The present school offers coeducational early childhood and kindergarten education for boys and girls ages two through five, single-sex classes for girls and boys in grades one through six, coordinated junior high classes for boys and girls in grades seven and eight, and college preparatory education for girls from grades nine through twelve.

Notable people

Nellie O'Donnell Eleanor O'Donnell McCormack (June 2, 1867 – February 28, 1931) was an American educator and clubwoman from the U.S. state of Ohio. She was a teacher and principal in the public schools of Tennessee and was elected superintendent of public school ...

(1867–1837)

References

External links

St. Agnes Academy-St. Dominic School

Apple Distinguished School Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Agnes Academy, Memphis, Tennessee Educational institutions established in 1851 Girls' schools in Tennessee Private K-12 schools in Tennessee Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis Catholic secondary schools in Tennessee Schools in Memphis, Tennessee 1851 establishments in Tennessee

Background

History of St. Agnes Academy-St. Dominic School

Notable people

See also

References

External links