Incarnate Word High School is a private,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

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 ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Midtown

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States established in 1881. It is located in the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States, and sui juris Latin Church in full communion with the pope of Rome. It encompasses in the U.S. state of Texas. The Roman Catholic Archd ...

and is a division of the

University of the Incarnate Word The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is a private, Catholic university with its main campus in San Antonio and Alamo Heights, Texas. Founded in 1881 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, the university's main campus is located o ...

History

In 1866, facing a cholera outbreak in

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...

immediately after the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and unable to summon help from American congregations, Bishop Claude Dubuis called

religious sisters A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pra ...

from France to nurse the sick. Three sisters who answered the call along with Dubuis founded the

Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word is the name of two Roman Catholic religious institutes based in the U.S. state of Texas. They use the abbreviation C.C.V.I. ( la, Congregatio Caritatis Verbi Incarnati). History Hous ...

. In 1869 Dubius nominated three sisters to start a San Antonio congregation, which subsequently established an infirmary (later to become Christus Santa Rosa Hospital), an orphanage, and a school. In July 1881 the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, with a charter from the State of Texas, first opened a schoolhouse for girls on Avenue D which later moved and in 1893 grew into St. Patrick's Academy, considered the forerunner to IWHS and also located on Government Hill. To house the flourishing congregation, in 1897 the sisters purchased acres of land from George Brackenridge. The sisters opened an all-girls boarding school that awarded high school diplomas in 1903, and, at what became College and Academy of the Incarnate Word, in 1910 awarded its first

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

. They opened the five-story administration building in the mid-1920s that served students first grade through college. Texas Association of Colleges recognized Incarnate Word as a senior college in 1920, and the school began graduate studies by 1950. As the school expanded over time, in 1950 enrollment necessitated a distinct high school building, to be constructed at the high school's current location of 727 E Hildebrand Ave, situated on the scenic hill known as Mount Erin. 1961 saw Mount Erin Chapel built, repurposing the original chapel as the testing and academic center. In 1970, the high school incorporated modular scheduling and built its science building. In 1978, despite resistance from Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word and the

San Antonio Conservation Society The Conservation Society of San Antonio (legally incorporated as the San Antonio Conservation Society) is located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. Founding members were Emily Edwards, who became the organizati ...

, the Texas Highway Department constructed

US 281 U.S. Route 281 (US 281) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway. At it is the longest continuous three-digit U.S. Route. The highway's northern terminus is at the International Peace Garden, north of Dunseith, North Dakota, at t ...

through Incarnate Word school, separating the high school from the college, with the Sky Bridge connecting the campuses as the sisters stipulated. IWHS became part of the Brainpower Connection with Incarnate Word College (now the

) in 1989.

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* Catholic secondary schools in Texas Educational institutions established in 1881 Girls' schools in Texas High schools in San Antonio 1881 establishments in Texas {{authority control