St. Ursula Academy is Toledo's oldest, fully accredited, all-female, Catholic, preparatory school helping girls in grades 6 to 12 for college entry, since 1854. St. Ursula's motto is ''"Soli Deo Gloria,"'' meaning "''For the Glory of God Alone."''

History

In December 1854, four

Ursuline nuns The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of consecrated women that branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula, in 1572. Like the Angelines, they t ...

arrived in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. Several days after their arrival from nearby Cleveland, Ohio, they began to operate classes on Cherry Street in downtown Toledo. These classes were offered roughly 200 students, ranging in grade level. The nuns moved into a property located on Cherry and Erie Streets in 1859. The early curriculum consisted of courses in English, German, French, History, Art, Music, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Cooking, and Sewing. There were two primary departments in the school: Elementary and Collegiate. In 1905, the school relocated to Collingwood Boulevard to a recently purchased facility that included a new convent and academy. As the school began to expand and

Mary Manse College Mary Manse College was a Catholic institution of higher education located in Toledo, Ohio from 1922 until 1975. The college was founded in 1922 at the request of the Bishop of Toledo, Samuel Stritch. Operated by the Ursuline Order of nuns, Ma ...

opened in 1922, the Ursulines decided to move to a new location on Indian Road. The new building opened for the first time for classes in 1959. Renovations in 2000 included the addition of the Mary Ann LaValley Activities Center, which added four new classrooms, athletic offices, a field house, fitness center, and a dance studio. Further renovations in 2018 added a black box theater, a welcome lobby, an updated Dining Commons, and a state-of-the-art science lab.

Academics

SUA operates on the collegiate

block schedule Block scheduling or blocking is a type of academic scheduling used in schools in the American K-12 system, in which each pupil has fewer classes per day. It is more common in middle and high schools than in primary schools. Each class is schedu ...

(also referred to as the 4x4 Collegiate Block). Students take four 80-minute classes in each semester and rotate most classes at the end of the first semester. Exceptions to this format are extended AP courses and nine-week, "term-long" classes. In the middle of the day, students also have a "seminar" period during which they can work on assignments, seek assistance from teachers, and collaborate on group projects. Core courses provide a student with 23 academic credits for graduation, out of 31.5 units of academic credit required:

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

(4.5 units), Math (4 units), Social Studies (3 units),

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

(3 units),

Foreign Language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a given country, and that native speakers from that country must usually acquire through conscious learning - be this through language lessons at school ...

(2 units),

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

(4 units), Computer Application (.5 unit),

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

(.5 unit),

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

(1 unit),

Physical Education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

(.5 unit), and Personal Finance (.5 credit).http://www.toledosua.org/uploaded/Admissions/College_Profile_2014-15.pdf Twenty classes are offered in an honors format, such as

, American Literature,

Pre-Calculus In mathematics education, precalculus is a course, or a set of courses, that includes algebra and trigonometry at a level which is designed to prepare students for the study of calculus. Schools often distinguish between algebra and trigonometr ...

Algebra Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary ...

Geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

, Chemistry,

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

World History World history may refer to: * Human history, the history of human beings * History of Earth, the history of planet Earth * World history (field), a field of historical study that takes a global perspective * ''World History'' (album), a 1998 albu ...

, French, and Spanish, Vocal Music. Eighteen classes are offered at an AP level as well, including

Calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithm ...

, Chemistry, English Literature, Human

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

, Statistics, US

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

, and US

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

. SUA also offers many elective courses, including Film, Speech,

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

, Single Survival Life Skills, The Art of Musical Theater, Dance,

Women's Health Women's health differs from that of men in many unique ways. Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not mer ...

, and others.

Student life

Campus Ministry

Campus Ministry focuses on spiritual growth and sponsors service projects and class retreats retreats, including Kairos. Campus Ministry encourages students to reach out by volunteering and helps them to earn 60 hours of volunteer credit required for graduation. Each year, SUA students volunteer more than 10,000 hours working in nursing homes, tutoring underprivileged children, and assisting with disaster relief, among other efforts.

Athletics

St. Ursula Academy has summer athletic camps, a fitness room to support its 13 varsity sports, including

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involved ...

, cross country, dance,

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

, soccer,

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, track, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

. SUA had been a member of the

Toledo City League The Toledo City League is an Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) high school athletic conference that was formed in 1926 and comprises the six high schools in Toledo that are from Toledo Public Schools. Membership The current member ...

for all athletic competition until joining the

Three Rivers Athletic Conference The Three Rivers Athletic Conference is an Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) high school athletic conference that began athletic competition in 2011 and has 10 high schools from Northwest Ohio, seven of which are from the Toledo metrop ...

in 2011. After the 2022-2023 academic year, SUA will join the Catholic High School League based in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

area, but will also play independent matches in some sports.

State championships

* Dance - 2014 (Pom and Jazz), 2015 (Pom, Jazz, and Hip Hop), and state championships in pom and jazz through 2022; the Dance Team also won a national title in small pom in the 2020 season *

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

- 2004, 2010 *

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

- 2004 *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

- 1983

Clubs

Language and culture clubs are popular, such as the

Afro-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

Club,

Anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

Club, Spanish Club, and French Club. Government and law clubs include the

Mock Trial A mock trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisti ...

Team,

Model UN Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

, and Student Council. Academic and leadership clubs are available, such as the National Honor Society and Ambassador Society. Many other clubs are created each year. Some of these include the Art Club, Fashion Club, Yearbook, Zonta Club, Harry Potter Club, STEM Club, and Spirit Squad.

Campus

SUA's campus on Indian Road sits on a property adjacent to the Ursuline Center. The school campus includes the school building, a softball field, and a multi-use recreational field. Soccer and lacrosse games take place on this space in the fall and spring, respectively. Recent renovations include an improved Dining Commons, a Black Box theatre, and a new science lab.

Notable Alumnae

* Marcy Kaptur 1964 - US Representative from

* Joyce E. Jesionowski 1965 - author of ''D. W. Griffith: Thinking in Pictures'' * Dr. Linda Sheidler Doyle 1967 - Retired President and CEO of Harvard Business School Publishing Company * Dr. Joan Breton Connelly 1972 - American classical archaeologist and Professor of Classics and Art History at New York * Elizabeth Witherell 1973 - editor-in-chief of '' The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau'' * Tricia Martineau Wagner 1974 - author or ''African American Women of the Old West'' *

Shirley Murdock Shirley Murdock (born May 22, 1957) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger's hit single " Computer Love". Her lead vocal special guest appearance w ...

1975 - R&B/gospel singer-songwriter * Laurie Winters 1977 -

Milwaukee Art Museum The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) is an art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its collection contains nearly 25,000 works of art. Location and Visit Located on the lakefront of Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee Art Museum is one of the largest art museu ...

curator * Philana Marie Boles 1994 - author of Glitz, Little Divas, In the Paint, and Blame It on Eve *

Runa Lucienne Runa Alyse Lucienne (born August 6, 1994) is a Guyanese and American model, actress, and social media influencer with over 3.35 million followers across social media. Beginning her career in her late-teens, Lucienne has appeared in numerous telev ...

2006 - model and actress * Josie Fouts 2009 - Cyclist, Team USA. 2018 Paralympics Track Cycling National Championships, individual pursuit & time trial, gold

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Ursula Toledo Catholic secondary schools in Ohio Girls' schools in Ohio High schools in Toledo, Ohio Educational institutions established in 1854 1854 establishments in Ohio