Our Lady Academy is a Catholic all-girls’ junior and senior high school staffed by a dedicated lay staff and the Religious Sisters of Mercy.  Founded in 1971, OLA has continued the solid education maintained by St. Joseph Academy from 1855 to 1967.  OLA shares some classes, facilities, and activities with St. Stanislaus, an all-boys’ school staffed by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.

OLA is the only all-girls’ school in the state of Mississippi.  Located on the beach in Bay St. Louis, OLA educates approximately 270 students from Harrison and Hancock Counties. 

   

The impetus to establish OLA in August, 1971, was the expressed needs of the community to provide Catholic education for young women at the junior and senior high school level unavailable after the closing of St. Joseph Academy.  The school opened with seventh, eighth, and ninth grades and added one grade each year; the first class graduated  in May, 1975.  Msgr. Gregory Johnson was the founding principal.

Hurricane Katrina dumped seven feet of water throughout the campus on August 29, 2005.  For the school year, 2005-2006, OLA held all classes at SSC.  Construction began immediately and OLA returned to its own campus in August, 2006.  St. Joseph Hall, however, was demolished after Katrina rendered it unsafe; the new St. Joseph Hall opened in the Fall, 2008.

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2009 Our Lady Academy.
Graphic Design provided by Laurent Tanner, Class of '84, Identity Creative Solutions.
Website Constructed by Wendy Erichsen Diard, Class of '81, Diard Website Services.