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.

History

In December 1854, four Ursuline nuns arrived in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. Several days after their arrival from nearby

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, 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 some schools in the American K-12 system, in which students have fewer but longer classes per day than in a traditional academic schedule. It is more common in middle and high ...

(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: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

(4.5 units),

Math Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

(4 units),

Social Studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...

(3 units),

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

(3 units),

Foreign Language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a specific country. Native speakers from that country usually need to acquire it through conscious learning, such as through language lessons at schoo ...

(2 units),

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

(4 units),

Computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

Application (.5 unit),

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

(.5 unit),

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

(1 unit),

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

(.5 unit), and Personal Finance (.5 credit). Twenty classes are offered in an honors format, such as

American Literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...

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

Algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...

Geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, 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 whi ...

Anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal 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 scien ...

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

World History Human history or world history is the record of humankind from prehistory to the present. Early modern human, Modern humans evolved in Africa around 300,000 years ago and initially lived as hunter-gatherers. They Early expansions of hominin ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, and Spanish,

Vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

Music. Eighteen classes are offered at an AP level as well, including

Calculus Calculus is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations. Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the ...

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

, Human

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

Statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

, US

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

, and US

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. SUA also offers many elective courses, including

Film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

Speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

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

Women's Health Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Often treated ...

, and others.

Student life

Campus Ministry

Campus Ministry focuses on spiritual growth and sponsors service projects and class retreats retreats, including

Kairos ''Kairos'' () is an ancient Greek language, Greek word meaning 'the right or critical moment'. In modern Greek, ''kairos'' also means 'weather' or 'time'. It is one of two words that the ancient Greeks had for 'time'; the other being (). ...

. 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

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

, cross country,

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

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), ...

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

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact 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 w ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, 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 Summ ...

. 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, Ohio, Toledo that are from Toledo Public Schools, along with one high ...

for all athletic competition until joining the

Three Rivers Athletic Conference The Three Rivers Athletic Conference was an Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) high school athletic conference that began athletic competition in 2011 and lasted until 2023 with 10 high schools from Northwest Ohio, seven of which were ...

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

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

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

State championships

Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

- 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 Summ ...

- 2004, 2010 *

Softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

- 2004 *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

- 1983

Clubs

Language and culture clubs are popular, such as the

Afro-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

Club,

Anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

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 (MUN), is an educational simulation of the United Nations, which teaches students about diplomacy, international relations, global issues, and how the United Nations is run. During a model UN confe ...

, and

Student Council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

. Academic and leadership clubs are available, such as the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...

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

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

Joan Breton Connelly Joan Breton Connelly is an American classical archaeologist and Professor of Classics and Art History at New York University. She is Director of the Yeronisos Island Excavations and Field School in Cyprus. Connelly was awarded a MacArthur Fell ...

1972 - American classical archaeologist and Professor of Classics and Art History at New York *

Marcy Kaptur Marcia Carolyn Kaptur ( ; born June 17, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Ohio's 9th congressional district. Currently in her 22nd term, she has been a member of Congress since 1983. A member of the Democr ...

1964 - US Representative from

Runa Lucienne Runa Alyse Lucienne (born August 6, 1988) is a Guyanese and American model, actress, and social media influencer with over 3 million followers across social media. Beginning her career in her late-teens, Lucienne has appeared in numerous televisi ...

2006 - model and actress *

Shirley Murdock Shirley Murdock (born May 22, 1957) is an American R&B singer-songwriter. She is best known for her guest appearance alongside Charlie Wilson on Zapp and Roger's 1986 single " Computer Love", as well as her 1986 single, "As We Lay". The latt ...

1975 - R&B/gospel singer-songwriter * Elizabeth Hall Witherell 1973 - editor-in-chief of '' The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau''UCSB Library Waves
/ref>

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