Founded one hundred years ago by a small, dedicated group of Benedictine sisters, St. Scholastica Academy in Covington is celebrating a century of excellence in education. The Catholic college-preparatory school opened in 1903 with an enrollment of 60 day students and 17 boarders. The original four-story wooden structure, constructed at a cost of $18,000, housed the convent and school; its cherished bell tower was Covington’s highest landmark.

In the early 1900s, the academy offered three levels of academics, with required subjects such as rhetoric, physics, literature, botany, etiquette and logic. Additional course offerings included French, German, piano, violin, guitar, mandolin, zither and voice. For career-minded students, an extra course was available that included shorthand, typing, business arithmetic and social correspondence. Board, tuition, bedding and washing cost a total of $100 per five-month session, with terms for day pupils ranging from $1.50 to $7.00 per month.

In those days, the sisters dressed in traditional black robes, high-button shoes, wimples and black veils. Strict adherence to rules was expected, with perfect silence required when walking in the halls and a full uniform mandated every day except Saturday. Boys were accepted in the grammar grades of the day school until 1910, when the primary students were transferred to nearby St. Peter’s Parochial School.

With the steady growth and development of St. Tammany Parish in the ’40s and ’50s, expansion was necessary. In 1955, two brick residence halls were added. Life in the area changed dramatically with the building of the causeway across Lake Pontchartrain in the late ’50s. In 1965, the Archdiocese of New Orleans purchased the property and began construction of a new facility to replace the stately, 64-year-old cypress building.

Subsequently, the Sisters of St. Benedict moved the motherhouse offsite, leaving the entire property designated for academy use. In 1967, Archbishop Philip Hannan, S.T.L. dedicated the new school as an archdiocesan high school for young women in grades 8-12.

When the boarding section was closed at the end of the 1974 school year, St. Scholastica became solely a day school. In 1978, the Benedictine sisters withdrew from the administration of the school, and the first lay administrator was appointed to carry out the traditions and mission of the Benedictine founders.

In 1997-98, the academy received the Excellence in Education Award, the nation’s highest honor presented to schools. The academy was one of only 166 schools honored that year. It is the only all-girls, award-winning, Catholic college-preparatory high school in St. Tammany, Washington and Tangipahoa Parishes.

As St. Scholastica has continued to grow, further renovations, as well as new construction, have been accomplished throughout the years. In January 2002, a Master Site Plan was unveiled for the three-acre complex with a cost of $5.86 million. This multi-phase project will help insure that the school’s educational legacy will continue far into the future.

With a current limited enrollment of 656, a maximum of 150 young women are accepted annually from the approximately 200 who apply. For the last decade, the school’s relatively small graduating classes of 100 have received more than $1 million in scholarships. Students have been accepted to more than 50 universities throughout the nation. More than 3,360 alumnae serve as a legacy to the academy’s challenging instructional programs and innovative teaching.

Though much has changed over the decades, much remains the same. The rich heritage established more than a century ago is evident today as St. Scholastica remains committed to providing a Christian environment which promotes care, concern and confidence in the minds and hearts of its students.

Grounded in the Benedictine tradition of prayer, work, study and community, the academy continues to inspire young women in fostering the development of leadership, self-confidence, motivation, service to others and academic achievement.

Copyright 2003, M&L Publishing, all rights reserved.