St. Joseph Hill Academy - History

History

The school began in March 1920, with the purchase of the 14-acre (57,000 m2) estate of William Knauth by Reverend Mother M. Kostka Bauer. In May of that year, the Daughters of Divine Charity arrived on Staten Island and in the fall inaugurated tutoring classes for a group of twenty-five children who had come to them during the summer. These classes led to the institution of the Academy. During the school's early years, it was also a boarding school The first secondary level classes of the Academy were begun in 1930, and the first official Commencement Exercises were held for six high school graduates in June 1934. At that time, the Academy was affiliated with the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. In 1938, the high school department of St. Joseph Hill Academy received its charter of recognition and full accreditation from the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. Since its foundation, multiple projects have been undertaken to provide for the ever-growing needs of the Academy. The rapid pace of the school’s growth was the prime factor which influenced Mother M. Fidelis Babos, then Provincial Superior of the Daughters of Divine Charity, to formulate plans for the erection of a new high school wing to be added to the already existing elementary school building, which had been dedicated in 1953. Accordingly, on August 26, 1956, the groundbreaking ceremony took place for the erection of the present building. On March 23, 1957, Most Reverend Joseph M. Pernicone, Auxiliary Bishop of New York, laid the cornerstone. (Pernicone has been accused of being the head of and participating in a pedophile ring which was responsible for the murders of at least three young boys )The formal dedication of the high school building took place on May 22, 1958, conducted by Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York. A new construction project begun in 1999 was completed during the 2000-2001 school year. A new gymnasium, four additional high school classrooms and a distance-learning lab, to enhance our WITAC program, were added to our facilities. In 2009 an annex building, Madonna Hall, was added, named after the Virgin Mary although its students joke that it is a reference to the singer. Drivers' education classes are also held on campus in this building. Through the 1950s the school also offered a coeducational elementary school program.