Campus Ministry
History of SJA
1650 |
The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Bourg was founded by the Reverend Peter Medaille, SJ, in LePuy, France. |
1868 |
Four Sisters arrived by boat in Baton Rouge. The first school and the orphanage were located on what is today Seventh Street and was later moved to a location that is presently Fourth and Florida streets. |
| 1875 | St. Joseph's Academy was granted a charter under the laws of the State of Louisiana. |
1877 |
Miss Josephine Bahlinger became the first graduate. |
| 1926 | SJA was accredited by the State of Louisiana. |
| 1931 | Membership was achieved in the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. SJA continues to be certified by SACS. |
1940 |
Campus was relocated to Broussard Street. |
1947 |
Medaille Hall was built. |
1964 |
Construction was completed of the convent, children's home, chapel and cafeteria. SJA integrated its student body with four African-American students enrolled in the junior class. |
| 1966 | The SJA Foundation of Baton Rouge, Inc. was established. |
| 1968 | As part of the 100-year celebration, the Sisters appointed lay advisors to serve on the SJA Advisory Board. |
| 1970 | Kindergarten was closed after 1969-70 school year. Plans were made to phase out elementary grades. |
| 1977 | SJA became a high school, grades 9-12 only. |
| 1986 | SJA's first capital campaign for building and renovation, "A Season of Excellence," was announced. |
| 1988 | Dedication ceremonies marked the completion of the Activity Center and the renovation of the former gym and stage areas into the library/media center and foreign language department. |
| 1990 | The Sisters dissolved SJA's Lay Advisory Board and established the SJA Board of Directors, a policy-making board responsible for the viability of the school. Corporate members were charged with ensuring faithfulness to the mission. |
| 1991 | SJA was named a Blue Ribbon National School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. A 1991 alumnae was named a Rhodes Scholar. |
| 1992 | Two firsts for SJA seniors: one was named a Presidential Scholar and another received appointment to the United States Naval Academy. |
| 1993 | The mathematics center opened in the library as a result of a grant received from the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. |
| 1994 | SJA celebrated its 125th anniversary. As part of the celebration, a bronze plaque was dedicated and placed on the original site of SJA, now the site of Bank One/Albemarle. Through the work of the SJA Dads' Club, a memorial entrance was added for the main building. The iron sign that welcomed visitors to the Church Street entrance in the late 1800s and early 1900s continues that tradition today. |
| 1995 | SJA Board of Directors approved an academic audit to ensure the continuing quality of the academic program. SJA's swim team and golf team both won the state championship. |
| 1996 | SJA was again named a Blue Ribbon National School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. A record 10 percent of seniors were recognized in the 1996 National Merit Scholarship Program. |
| 1997 | SJA announced its Campaign for Advancement, a capital campaign to build a science center. The walkway between Medaille Hall and the main building was rebuilt, covered and expanded. |
| 1998 | The laptop computer program was introduced. Construction began on the Irene W. Pennington Science Center. Wireless access to the Internet was installed campus-wide. The SJA volleyball team won the state championship. Blake Ives, PhD, wrote the SJA Case study. |
1999  |
Irene W. Pennington Science Center was completed for the beginning of school. Compaq approved SJA as the first high school to maintain its own help desk. |
| 2001 | LSU and SJA partnered to receive a grant from the National Science Foundation to study the impact that technology immersion has on career choices. |
| 2002 | An SJA student received the school's first appointment to West Point. For the third time, SJA was named a Blue Ribbon National School of Excellence and was one of three schools in the nation recognized by the United Stated Department of Education for excellence in technology. |
| 2003 | The Mission Effectiveness Team was established to ensure a balance between the three pillars of the SJA mission statement: faith development, academic excellence and personal growth. |
| 2004 |
SJA implemented a new president/principal administrative model, with Sister Adele Lambert, CSJ, a 1954 graduate, becoming SJA’s first president and Linda Fryoux Harvison, class of 1966, becoming the first lay principal. |
| 2005 |
The school’s enrollment grew to more than 1,000 students as SJA accepted 250 New Orleans-area students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Nearly all returned to their homes and schools for the start of the spring 2006 semester. The Academy began to build upon its fine arts program by adding new electives in the visual and performing arts as a complement to the academic core curriculum. SJA was designated as Baton Rouge's first Local Historic Landmark by the Metropolitan Council of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge. |
| 2006 |
The SJA Foundation Board was reestablished. A full-time campus minister was hired for the 2006-07 school year. SJA was reaccredited as a member of the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). SJA has been a continuously accredited member since 1931. |
| 2007 |
SJA moved to DyKnow software, the new Office 2007 Suite and the Toshiba Tablet personal computer to enhance the effectiveness of technology in the expanding curriculum. The Mother St. Jean Fontbonne Prayer Garden was dedicated on the SJA campus to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the refounding of the Congregation of Saint Joseph in Lyon, France. |
| 2008 |
Academy students, faculty and staff contributed more than 28,500 hours of service to the community. These hours were pledged in celebration of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States and in honor of his birthday. SJA is the 2007-2008 winner of the Southern Quality Ford Cup as the most outstanding overall athletic program in Class 5A. SJA is the first all-girls school to win the competition. |
| 2009 |
SJA celebrated the 10th year of its laptop computer program and student-run Help Desk. |
| 2010 |
Students, faculty and staff dedicated more than 35,000 hours of service. SJA continued its 10-year tradition of sponsoring summer service immersion trips both in the United States and abroad. Renovations to Mother Alice Hall were completed, transforming the Sisters of St. Joseph’s former residence and children’s home into spacious classrooms for theology and visual arts, a cooking lab, sewing lab, art lab and gallery and weight room. The use of Mother Alice Hall is a gift from the Congregation of St. Joseph valued at $6 million. To honor its patron, St. Joseph, the original Academy building was renamed St. Joseph Hall. 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 June, SJA rolled out the new T730 Fujitsu tablet computers to students, faculty and staff. |
| 2011 |
The Academy will continue as an accredited member of the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), following a two-year process of self-study to assess the academic effectiveness of SJA’s programs. SJA has been continuously accredited by SACS since 1931. SJA hosted a ground-breaking ceremony for the Academy Arts Center on May 2. The building, which is anticipated to be complete in August 2012, will house a choral studio, dance studio, black box theater, four large classrooms, lobby and gathering spaces to accommodate SJA’s rapidly expanding visual and performing arts curriculum. The name of the SJA Development Office was changed to Mission Advancement. The change reflects the Academy’s commitment to ensuring that all work is undertaken in support of the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph and the school. The Board of Directors challenged its members and committees to design a new Master Plan to address four identified needs: innovative curriculum, mission advancement, campus facilities and enrollment management. |