Background
Our Lady Academy was established in 1971 by the Sisters of Mercy at the same location as a previous all-girls high school, St. Joseph Academy, which operated from 1855(170 years ago) (1855) to 1967(58 years ago) (1967). St. Joseph Academy closed after it was severely damaged by Hurricane Betsy in 1965. There was talk of reopening St. Joseph Academy until Hurricane Camille hit in 1969.
Our Lady Academy is an exceptional school that excels in education, standardized test scores, and athletics. The relatively small campus, consisting of only a few buildings and a gym, is located on the beach of Bay St. Louis. OLA's mascot is the Crescent and the teams are known as "The Crescents." The Our Lady Academy soccer team has won 7 state titles in recent years for the 1A/2A/3A division. The volleyball team has many state titles to their name as well.
Our Lady Academy was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Classes resumed two months after the storm, sharing resources with nearby all-boys Saint Stanislaus College. The motto for the two schools after Hurricane Katrina was "Two Schools, One Spirit." [3]
Hancock County is the southernmost county of the U.S. state of Mississippi and is named for Founding Father John Hancock. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,053. Its county seat is Bay St. Louis. Hancock County is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, MS Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is situated along the Gulf of Mexico and the state line with Louisiana. The area is home to the John C. Stennis Space Center, NASA's largest rocket engine test facility. The county was severely damaged from Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, which caused a huge storm surge and catastrophic damage.
Bay St. Louis is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Mississippi, in the United States. Located on the Gulf Coast on the west side of the Bay of St. Louis, it is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,284 at the 2020 census, up from 9,260 at the 2010 census.
Waveland is a city located in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States, on the Gulf of Mexico. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city of Waveland was incorporated in 1972. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,435. Waveland was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Camille on August 17, 1969, and by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005.
Pass Christian, nicknamed The Pass, is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,307 at the 2019 census.
Hurricane Katrina was a powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. It is tied with Hurricane Harvey as being the costliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin. Katrina was the twelfth tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States, gauged by barometric pressure.
St. Stanislaus College (SSC) is a Catholic day and boarding school for boys in grades 7–12. It has been owned and operated by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart order since 1854.
The Diocese of Biloxi is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church that encompasses 17 counties in southern Mississippi in the United States. The diocese was erected on March 1, 1977, when it was split from the Diocese of Jackson. The Diocese of Biloxi is a suffragan diocese of the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mobile, though for its first three years the diocese was in the province of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Holy Cross School is a Catholic school serving grades pre-K through 12 in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was founded in 1849 by the Congregation of Holy Cross. Holy Cross School was originally named St. Isidore's College and was a boarding and day school. Holy Cross School is located in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Saint Joseph Catholic School is a Catholic high school located in Madison, Mississippi. The school was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1870.
John Carroll Catholic High School is a co-educational private school in Birmingham, Alabama, United States and is one of six Catholic high schools serving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama.
Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School (MCPS) is a K-12 Catholic school in Montgomery, Alabama on three campuses. It is governed by the Archdiocese of Mobile. Founded in 1873, it is the oldest private K-12 school in Alabama.
St. Vincent's Academy (SVA) is a private, Catholic, all-girls high school located next to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in downtown Savannah, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1845 when Father Jeremiah Francis O’Neill brought six Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy from Charleston, South Carolina, the school operates within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah and enrolls about 350 girls in grades 9-12.
St. John Paul II Catholic High School is a coed grades 9-12 college preparatory school, located in Huntsville, Alabama. St. John Paul II Catholic High School is the only Catholic parochial high school in the greater Huntsville area. It was founded in 1996 on 4810 Bradford Drive, previously known as Catholic High School. A new 55-acre (220,000 m2) campus was completed in late 2010 in Thornton Research Park. The new campus includes a chapel, academic wings, auditorium, gymnasium, and athletic fields.
St. Joseph Catholic School is a private Roman Catholic K-12 school in Greenville, Mississippi, under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson. St. Joseph is accredited by CASI/Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and by the Mississippi Department of Education. All professional instructional and administrative staff are fully licensed. Co-curricular and sports activities are governed by the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS). St. Joseph is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and by the Mississippi Department of Education.
Vicksburg Catholic School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Vicksburg, Mississippi. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson.
Cathedral School is a private, Catholic K-12 in Natchez, Mississippi, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson.
Resurrection High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Pascagoula, Mississippi. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Biloxi.
