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History / Mercy Tradition
The ministry of the Sisters
of Mercy began in 1827 with one-million-dollar
gift bequeathed to a young woman in Ireland.
A woman named Catherine McAuley (1778 - 1841) was dedicated
to serving the sick, poor and uneducated in her Dublin
hometown. With the inheritance from a former employer,
she opened the House of Mercy on September 24, 1827,
and thus founded the Sisters of Mercy. Her goal - the
education of poor children, the care of young women
without shelter through lack of employment, and relief
of the sick poor.
The establishment of St. Mary's Academy in 1851 was
part of an effort by Arkansas' first Catholic Bishop,
Andrew Byrne, to support Catholic settlement in frontier
Arkansas. Byrne traveled to Ireland and persuaded the
Sisters of Mercy to send four sisters and five postulants
to the state. Upon arrival, the Sisters formed the
nucleus of the little school that would eventually
become Mount St. Mary Academy.
 The
sisters began their school in a small house at Seventh
and Louisiana Streets in downtown Little Rock with
an enrollment of 35 students. St. Mary's grew rapidly
as non-Catholic girls and boys were admitted alongside
Catholic children. Consistent with Catherine McAuley's
innovative mission of melding spiritual and secular
educations, the sisters offered courses in the present-day
fine arts - guitar, painting and drawing- along with
religious and general coursework.
St. Mary's Academy moved to her present location in
Pulaski Heights in 1908 after outgrowing her Louisiana
Street location. The 10-acre site was purchased with
funds from the sale of the downtown property and contributions
from local residents and landowners.
In conjunction with the move, instruction for boys
ceased and the school became a women's academy providing
both grammar and high school level instruction. It
was also at this time that the name of the school was
officially changed to Mount St. Mary Academy to reflect
the new hilltop location. Shortly after this, Mount
St. Mary Academy became the novitiate for the Sisters
of Mercy in Arkansas and served as the state's motherhouse,
training all young women entering the order until 1929.
The next two decades saw student enrollment increase
significantly as the school became one of the best
equipped and most highly accredited primary and secondary
schools in the state. In 1931, Mount St. Mary Academy
became one of the first schools in Arkansas accredited
by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools
and Colleges, beginning the longest continuous accreditation
in the state.
Because of the substantial growth in postulants entering
the Sisters of Mercy and the steady influx of new students,
expansion of Mount St. Mary Convent and Academy became
imperative. To accommodate the growth, a convent annex,
auditorium, and new gymnasium with a pool (state's
first school with indoor pool) were added.
At mid-century, Mount St. Mary described herself as
the "Little Rock Catholic High School for Girls" and
boasted college preparatory classes, an accomplished
music department, art, speech and commercial classes,
religious clubs and academic organizations, swimming,
tennis and basketball. In a booklet produced for the
school's 100th birthday, the sisters not only extolled
their school's academic achievements, but also their
continuing commitment that no girl be denied admission
at the Academy because of inability to pay.
The 1950's brought growth in programs and activities
as well as in numbers of students and boarders. Through
the efforts of Arkansas Catholics, Mount St. Mary alumnae,
and then-principal Sr. Mark Parsley, RSM, the school
raised funds to construct a new building to provide
classrooms and dormitories. In September of 1954, Marian
Hall, the new annex, was dedicated.
The dramatic social, economic and technological changes
occurring across the nation fueled St. Mary's growth
in the '60s and '70s. Occurring at this same time,
Vatican II called upon religious congregations worldwide
to examine their constitutions, so that they might
relate their current ministries to the spirit and purpose
of their founders, and to the needs of the 20th Century
Church.
The Sisters of Mercy responded by broadening their
ministries to include social justice areas. Because
this period saw many sisters earning professional degrees
and responding to a wide variety of needs, the number
of sisters available to work in parochial schools declined.
In 1961, Mount St. Mary's teaching staff included 16
sisters and two lay teachers. Ten years later the ratio
of religious to lay teachers was 15 to 14. By 1981,
it was 13 to 30.
The increase in lay teachers necessitated an increase
in tuition in order to offer them just compensation.
One of the most dramatic changes that grew out of the
school's staffing difficulties before 1976 was the
closure of the girl's boarding facility and the elementary
school. The boarding facility's closure in 1970 was
prompted by the lack of sisters for staffing and the
need to convert dormitories into badly needed classrooms
to accommodate the expanding high school enrollment.
In 1975, the elementary school was closed due to the
growth and expansion of parochial schools in Greater
Little Rock. A year later, a new wing of classrooms
was added to the existing structure to accommodate
the increase in enrollment.
Catholic schools were not immune to the new trends
reshaping public education. Mount St. Mary's curriculum
in the 1970's reflected a growing emphasis on standard
academics, basic business skill classes and the addition
of psychology, speech, and physics. During the 1979-80
school year, Advanced Placement courses were first
offered in government/law, speech II, and debate. During
the 1980's and early 1990's, several trends characterized
the school's growth and development. These included
the need for annual tuition increases, a rise in non-Catholic
enrollment as a percentage of the overall student body,
and the hiring of additional staff.
In 1982, a controversial and difficult decision was
made to tear down the original convent and academy
buildings. The aging of the religious community and
the enormous expense of maintaining the deteriorating
buildings made the school officials' decision inevitable.
The early 1990's began an era of stability and growth
for Mount St. Mary Academy. Tuition began to climb
and teacher salaries were more competitive with area
public and private schools.
In 1995, the school's tradition of service was formalized
into the theology curriculum as the Service Learning
Program. The program includes one semester of off-campus
service at various sites, as well as a semester-long
class dealing with social topics such as hunger, poverty,
and environmental issues. Other innovations of the
90's were the introduction of the "block" schedule
offering teachers lengthened classroom time and the
move to a President/Principal model for the administration
of the Academy.
In 1998, the Mercy Scholars Program was developed to
provide interested students with a rigorous curriculum
based on international standards of achievement. Originally
designed to span four years, the program shortened
to two years to prepare freshmen and sophomores for
entry into the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program.
In 2000, Mount St. Mary became the first school in
the state authorized to offer this program.
Also in 1998, Mount St. Mary Academy embarked on the
first major capital campaign in 20 years to provide
the facilities that would support the enhanced curriculum
in math and science. This effort resulted in the Karen
Elizabeth Flake Math and Science Building, adjoining
the 1954 and 1977 buildings. This Capital Campaign
produced the largest single gift made by a Mount St.
Mary Academy alumna to date.
Facility improvements and additions identified during
the 1998 Campaign were incorporated into Lasting Efforts:
The Campaign for Mount St. Mary Academy(link to our
Lasting Efforts section). This bold new plan is a fitting
testament to the lasting efforts of Catherine McAuley
as exemplified by the students, sisters, and lay teachers
who have made their school one of the state's pre-eminent
educational institutions. The success of these efforts
will prepare Mount St. Mary Academy to address future
challenges and meet the changing needs of her students.
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