Saint Rose Academy
| Saint Rose Academy | |
| |
| Established | 1956 |
|---|---|
| School type | Private |
| District | N/A |
| Grades | Pre-K–8 |
| Principal | Sister Mary Juliana Cox |
| Enrollment | c. 180 (c. 2013) |
| Colors | black & white |
| Mascot | Knights |
| Location | 1401 22nd St S Birmingham |
| Website | saintroseacademy.com |
Saint Rose Academy is a private Pre-K–8 school located at 1401 22nd Street South on Red Mountain. It is one of 31 schools operated nationwide by the Nashville, Tennesse-based Dominican Sisters of St Cecilia Congregation. Though it is a Catholic school, it is independent of the Diocese of Birmingham. Its motto is "Veritas et Caritas" (Latin for "Truth and Love").
The school was founded under the guidance of Terence Mackin, the brother of Sister Aloysius Mackin, a member of the congregation. He made plans to convert his home, a 1904 mansion near Arlington Avenue, into a school. The Dominican Sisters agreed to staff the school, which opened in August 1956, shortly after Mackin's death. It was named in honor of Rose of Lima, the patron saint of Rosemary Mackin, Terence's wife.
For nearly 40 years, the school and convent were entirely housed in the Mackin house. The garage was converted into a kindergarten in 1957. In 1962 a wing was added to the house to provide three additional classrooms. A few years later, Saint Rose became the first private school in Birmingham to desegregate.
In 1993 the Lee & Nancy Bruno Education Center, a gymnasium building with additional classrooms, was constructed on an adjacent parcel. Four years later the sisters purchased the former Discovery Place building and additional properties further up the mountainside. A new convent building to house faculty members was dedicated in 1998.
In 2007 the sisters reached an agreement with the city of Birmingham to purchase the former Red Mountain Museum for $606,632. The dilapidated vacant structure was demolished to make room for new parking lots. The city retained the small neighborhood park adjacent to the museum with access to the Red Mountain cut walkway (currently padlocked). Proceeds from the sale were directed by the city to the McWane Science Center.
Currently the school has an enrollment of about 183 students with 27 faculty members, including both Dominican sisters assigned from the motherhouse in Nashville, and lay teachers.
Saint Rose is a member of the Toy Bowl league and the John Carroll Middle School sports program for athletics. The school fields teams in football, volleyball, basketball, softball, soccer, golf and track and field, as well as cheerleading. The school's teams are called the Knights (formerly the Llamas), and team colors are black and white.
Principals
- Sister Mary Elizabeth, 2000s
- Sister Mary Juliana, 2020s
References
- Coman, Victoria L. (May 15, 2007) "Vote on selling museum site to St. Cecilia nuns expected." The Birmingham News
- "Saint Rose Academy" (May 15, 2013) Wikipedia - accessed May 20, 2013
External links
- Saint Rose Academy website