St. Joseph Hill Academy is an American private Pre-K 3 through

12th grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

Catholic school, located in the Arrochar neighborhood of

Staten Island, New York Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull and ...

. Located on a scenic campus (which eponymously stands atop a hill, providing views of the Manhattan skyline), the elementary school is coeducational and serves 500+ students from Pre-K 3 through

8th grade Eighth grade (or grade eight in some regions) is the eighth post-kindergarten year of formal education in the US. The eighth grade is the ninth school year, the second, third, fourth, or final year of middle school, or the second and/or final ye ...

and the high school is all-girls with approximately 400 young women in the 9th through 12th grades. The school was founded and is operated by the

Daughters of Divine Charity The Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity are an international congregation of Roman Catholic religious sisters. The motherhouse is in Vienna. The congregation uses the post-nominal “FDC”, from the Latin, ''Filiae Divinae Caritatis''. ...

, although the school is independent of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encom ...

. The schools is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The elementary school principal is Mr. Lawrence Hansen, the high school principal is Mrs. Maria Molluzzo, and the president is Sr. Mary Coffelt, FDC.

History

The school began in March 1919, with the purchase of the estate of William Knauth by Reverend Mother M. Kostka Bauer. In May of that year, the Daughters of Divine Charity arrived on Staten Island and in the fall inaugurated tutoring classes for a group of twenty-five children who had come to them during the summer. These classes led to the institution of the academy. During the school's early years, it was also a boarding school. The school's first secondary-level classes were begun in 1930, and the first official commencement exercises were held for six high school graduates in June 1934. At that time, the school was affiliated with the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. In 1938, the high school department received its charter of recognition and full accreditation from the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. Since its foundation, multiple projects have been undertaken to provide for the ever-growing needs of the academy. The rapid pace of the school's growth was the prime factor which influenced Mother M. Fidelis Babos, then Provincial Superior of the Daughters of Divine Charity, to formulate plans for the erection of a new high school wing. The new wing was added to the already-existing elementary school building, which had been dedicated in 1953. Accordingly, on August 26, 1956, the groundbreaking ceremony took place for the erection of the present building. On March 23, 1957, Most Reverend Joseph M. Pernicone, Auxiliary Bishop of New York, laid the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

. The formal dedication of the high school building took place on May 22, 1958, conducted by Francis Cardinal Spellman,

Archbishop of New York The Archbishop of New York is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, who is responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. As the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province encompass ...

. A construction project began in 1999 was completed during the 2000–2001 school year. A new gymnasium, four additional high school classrooms and a

distance-learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

lab, to enhance the WITAC (Women Integrating Technology And Curriculum) program, were added to the facilities. In 2009, the annex building Madonna Hall was added, named after the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. Madonna Hall has been transformed into a fully functioning art studio.

References

External links

, the school's official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph Hill Academy 1919 establishments in New York City Catholic elementary schools in Staten Island Educational institutions established in 1919 Girls' schools in New York City Preschools in the United States Roman Catholic high schools in Staten Island