Our Lady of Mercy Academy (New York)

Our Lady of Mercy Academy
Address
815 Convent Road
Syosset, New York, (Nassau County) 11791
United States
Coordinates 40°49′22″N 73°29′.38″W / 40.82278°N 73.4834389°W / 40.82278; -73.4834389Coordinates: 40°49′22″N 73°29′.38″W / 40.82278°N 73.4834389°W / 40.82278; -73.4834389
Information
Type Private, all-female
Motto Fides, Mores, Cultura
(Fidelity to principle, Moral integrity, Enrichment of life)
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Established 1928
School district Syosset School District
Oversight Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
President Ms. Margaret Myhan
Principal Ms. Lisa Harrison
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 475 (September 2015)
Campus type Suburban
Color(s) Blue and white         
Athletics All
Athletics conference Nassau/Suffolk Catholic High School Girls Athletic Association
Team name Lady Mustangs
Accreditation Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
Publication Windows (literary magazine)
Newspaper OLMANAC
Yearbook The Tower
School fees $575 new entrants
Tuition $9850 (2015-2016)
Affiliation Mercy Education Association
Athletic director Karen Andreone
Website www.olma.org

Founded in 1928 as a Catholic College preparatory boarding school for young women, the purpose of Our Lady of Mercy Academy (OLMA) is to provide a comprehensive education according to the precepts of Catherine McAuley Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy. The academy is centered on holistic teaching, and provides young women with an environment intended to nourish spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and social growth. Students are guided and supported with the intention of making them well-rounded, and intelligent women. Our Lady of Mercy Academy is governed by a Board of Directors and sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy.

Our Lady of Mercy Academy is chartered by the Board of Regents of the State of New York, is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and is a member of the Mercy Secondary Education Association and the National Catholic Education Association. Programs for each student are planned to meet the requirements of the New York State Education Department. There are over 30 extracurricular activities, including a sports program. The academy is located on a spacious campus with tennis courts, a soccer field, 2 softball fields, and a gymnasium. In addition to a president and a principal there is an assistant principal, a director of curriculum and supervision, a director of technology, a director of mission effectiveness, and a director of athletics.

History

In the fall of 1928, 11 students were enrolled in Our Lady of Mercy Academy. By the end of the year, there would be 30 students comprising the 8th and 9th grades.

The year before in 1927, the Sisters of Mercy of Brooklyn began plans for building a boarding school in Syosset. Its location in the Town of Oyster Bay, the cornerstone of colonial settlement of the north shore, suggested that the building be colonial in structure. In keeping with these early roots, the sisters envisioned a Georgian structure whose main entrance on Syosset-Woodbury Road would be enhanced by a tall-pillared portico with graceful Doric columns. Georgian influence would be seen in paneling, lighting fixtures and windows.

The distinguishing feature of the building is the colonial tower rising 117 feet and patterned after Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin would have felt right at home if he walked up what was the back entrance, but now, with an added canopy, has become our main entrance.

Geographically, the 96 acres create an atmosphere of spaciousness and natural beauty. They also provide opportunities for education. Our wide, rolling acres serve the Athletic Department for softball, tennis, soccer, lacrosse and track. The Science and Art Departments use the grounds for extended classroom instruction and experimentation, including our Arbor Day ceremony of planting memorial trees.

Although the Academy was built as a boarding school, it always made room for day students who were few in those early days. By 1964, however, with increased population growth on Long Island, it became obvious that there was not so much a need for a boarding school as for day students. Dormitories were converted into classrooms, and dining rooms into cafeterias. The parlors still remain for meeting parents and guests, and providing meetings for special events.

World War II brought difficult times to the Academy. The school was involved in food stamps, rationing, victory gardens, air raid drills, and two hours of weekly instruction in First Aid. A few English students were sent to escape the bombing in Europe. Students could watch the young aviators training from local airfields, since the Academy tower was used as a turning point for them, and they thrilled the students by tipping their plane wings in greeting.

The years after the war saw a tremendous growth in curriculum enrichment and parent participation. A PTA was established in 1948, and, with tremendous support from parents and friends, we were able to build a new gym in 1978. Curriculum has been enriched in art, dance, music and theatre. Advanced placement courses, college affiliation classes, computer labs, Internet access, on-line databases and a completely automated library media center, all indicate that OLMA has progressed from those early 20th century years with 11 students, 5 faculty and a Regents approved curriculum for the times, to the threshold of the 21st century with 500 students, 69 faculty and staff, and a curriculum providing access to all colleges and professions, and preparing women with a Catholic, value-centered future.

Faculty

Curriculum

Uniform

The uniform consists of a plaid kilt, white polo shirt, and a sweater. Each grade level wears a different color skirt. The skirt you receive as a freshman is again worn Sophomore year. Junior year a new skirt is worn and again worn senior year. At the end of Sophomore year, the class votes on what kilt pattern they will wear for the next two years (so that Juniors and Seniors end up having different kilts).

Clubs and activities

The school nickname is the Lady Mustangs.

Traditions

"Mercy Girls" tend to refer to themselves as that throughout their time at school and well after graduation. There are several respected traditions including the Senior Stairs (marble steps located in the center of the building reserved for use by Seniors and staff only) and the OLMA seal (a marble mosaic located at the foot of the Senior Stairs that is not stepped on).

Notes and references

  1. ↑ MSA-CSS. "MSA-Commission on Secondary Schools". Retrieved 2009-05-27.
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