Merion Mercy Academy is a Catholic, college preparatory school for young women grades 9 through 12, founded by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

located in

Merion, Pennsylvania Merion Station, also known as Merion, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia to its west and is one of the communities that make up the Philadelphia Main Line. Merion Station is part of Lower ...

, just outside

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. It is an independent school located in the

Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Archdiocese of Philadelphia () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia originally included all of Pennsylvania and Dela ...

and was known as the "Mater Misericordiae Academy" prior to 1968.

History

Significant changes have taken place from 1987 to the present. Recent events include the merger of the lower school with Waldron Academy for Boys next door in 1987, thereby giving the entire Merion Mercy building, built in 1954, to the education of high school girls. The new grade school was named

Waldron Mercy Academy Waldron Mercy Academy is a private K- 8 Catholic elementary school sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy and located in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in Merion, Pennsylvania. The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges ...

. Academically, the school earned a

Blue Ribbon School of Excellence The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

Award in 1996 as recognition from the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and ...

. A addition to the MMA building in 2003 added a new

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

, administrative offices, classrooms and meeting rooms, new athletic facilities, and a study center for students. Some other significant renovations took place in the summer of 2004. The school's principal from 2007 to 2018 was Sister Barbara Buckley, who is also an alumna. The current head of school is Marianne Grace, a former chair of the Board of Trustees, and previous Director of Operation.

Athletics

Merion Mercy joined the

Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc. (PIAA) is one of the governing bodies of Secondary school, high school and middle school athletics for Pennsylvania. PIAA's main office is located in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harri ...

(

PIAA PIAA may refer to: * Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc. (PIAA) is one of the governing bodies of Secondary school, high school and middle school athletics for Pennsylvan ...

) in 1994 for scholastic athletic competition. The next year the

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 ...

team won the state PIAA Class AA championship. Continuing their success, the

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

team won the PIAA state championship in 1998 and in 2001, and the

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 ...

team won the PIAA state championship in 2001 and 2003. The volleyball team earned back-to-back-to-back-to-back state championships in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. The crew team won the Groton Cup at the Henley Regatta in 2011 and both the Freshmen 8 and Varsity 4 won Stotesbury in 2012. The building houses the Patricia Waldron Fitness Center.

Notable alumnae

Patricia McGuire Patricia McGuire (born 1952) is the 14th president of Trinity Washington University in Washington D.C.; she was appointed president in 1989. She is credited with successfully transitioning the institution from one that primarily served elites an ...

, president,

Trinity Washington University Trinity Washington University is a private Catholic university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was founded as Trinity College by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1897 as the nation's first Catholic liberal arts college for women. T ...

*Alyse Wojciechowski (Alyse Alan Louis) replacement for Sophie Sheridan in Mamma Mia on Broadway * Gianna Yanelli, on Broadway in '' Mean Girls the Musical'' * Patricia Carbine, co-founder, editor, and publisher, Ms. (magazine) *

Cheryl Dunye Cheryl Dunye (; born May 13, 1966) is a Liberian-American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. Dunye's work often concerns themes of race, sexuality, and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians. She is known ...

, filmmaker, actor, screenwriter

Notes and references

External links

The Merion Mercy Academy@ Private School ReviewSearch Committee Posting
{{authority control Catholic secondary schools in Pennsylvania Girls' schools in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1884 Schools in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Sisters of Mercy schools 1884 establishments in Pennsylvania