Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School
| Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School | |
|---|---|
|
1929 Main Building of Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School | |
| Address | |
|
801 South Spoede Road St. Louis, Missouri 63131 United States | |
| Coordinates | 38°38′37″N 90°24′59″W / 38.64361°N 90.41639°WCoordinates: 38°38′37″N 90°24′59″W / 38.64361°N 90.41639°W |
| Information | |
| Type |
Private, Co-Ed (Grades JK-6), All-Female (Grades 7-12) |
| Religious affiliation(s) |
Roman Catholic, Network of Sacred Heart Schools |
| Established | 1929 |
| School number | 314.432.2021 |
| Principal |
Ms. Katie Komos (Grades JK-6) Sr. Donna Collins, RSCJ (Grades 7-12) |
| Head of school | Mr. Michael F. Baber |
| Grades | JK–12 |
| Enrollment | 615 (2014-15 school year) |
| Average class size | 15 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 9:1 student/teacher ratio |
| Campus size | 60 acres (240,000 m2) |
| Color(s) | Maroon and White |
| Mascot | Saints |
| Rival | St. Joseph's Academy (St. Louis) |
| Accreditation | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [1] |
| Average SAT scores | 1818 |
| Average ACT scores | 29 |
| Newspaper | Tower Talk |
| Yearbook | Entre Nous |
| Tuition |
$19,450 (Grades 7-12) $16,220 (Grades 5-6) $15,595 (Grades K-4) $13,500 (Grade JK) |
| Alumni | 6,700 |
| Website | http://www.vdoh.org |
Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School is a private, Roman Catholic school in Frontenac, Missouri, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis and governed by the Society of the Sacred Heart. Villa Duchesne is an all-girls school with grades 7 through 12. Oak Hill is a coed elementary school for age 3 through grade 6.
History
Villa Duchesne was established in 1929 by Reverend Mother Mary Reid of the Society of the Sacred Heart on the former Lang and Jaccard estates in Frontenac, Missouri as a boarding and day school for young women. When the Society of the Sacred Heart arrived in 1927, the 60 acre campus was completely wooded other than a rustic log cabin which would serve as the first home of the school's religious community and still stands today. The nuns employed the architectural firm of O’Meara & Hills to build a French chateau of Missouri limestone with twin Norman towers as the building's signature feature. Despite strikes, intense weather conditions, torrential rains, and even the death of one of the contractors, the school's original building was completed on time for the start of classes on October 1, 1929. At the time of opening, 127 students from 20 different schools registered for classes at Villa Duchesne. A few weeks later, local Catholic families convinced the Sacred Heart nuns to open a kindergarten for twenty students that was housed in the campus' rustic log cabin.
Despite being founded at the onset of the Great Depression, the school grew and thrived throughout the 1940s and 1950s. By the mid-1950s, the school's original debt had been retired, and the Sacred Heart nuns under headmistress Mary Gray McNally, RSCJ, began to plan for the construction of a chapel wing designed by Marguolo & Quick that would complete the original 1929 plans for the school building. On November 9, 1957, the first student Mass was held in the school's new chapel, a wing constructed through the generosity of the school's parents and benefactors that also contained infirmary facilities for aging members of the Religious of the Sacred Heart community. Due to the success of the campaign to build the chapel wing, a student activities building designed by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (later named the "Thelma Kenefick Activities Building" after the school's longtime Athletic Director) containing a gymnasium, locker rooms, and indoor swimming pool opened in 1961.
Despite drastic changes in the Roman Catholic Church following the Second Vatican Council in 1962, little change occurred at Villa Duchesne until 1968. At this time, a local sister school, the Academy of the Sacred Heart of St. Louis (affectionately referred to as "City House") in the Central West End neighborhood near the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, was merged into Villa Duchesne adding 226 students to the student body. From 1968-1969, new facilities such as the three "Pod" classroom buildings designed by Curtis Ittner on the upper campus and the Activities Building and Christina M. Busch Gym on the lower campus were also built to accommodate expansion of the school's elementary division. In 1970, the boarding school program was discontinued, and the school welcomed its first layperson as head of school, C. Robert Wray. In 1973, Wray would lead the reorganization of the elementary division into a coed program named "Oak Hill School" (a fitting moniker due to the majestic oak trees on the campus as well as the fact that the last name of the school's patron saint, Rose Philippine Duchesne, means "of the oaks") was founded to serve students in grades JK-6.
In 1977, Ann Caire, RSCJ, was appointed headmistress of the school. Caire would oversee the school until her retirement in 2001, and during this time, great growth in the student population and development of the school's curriculum, athletic programs, and co-curricular offerings occurred. In 1989, the Duchesne Building, an administrative building housing Oak Hill's early childhood programs and specialty classes, opened as the first major building project on campus since the late 1960s. The Duchesne Building replaced the school's former riding stables and preschool facilities, and it would be further expanded in 1999 to house a state-of-the art library, technology center, art classroom, music classroom, and French classroom to serve the lower school students.
Dr. Sam Sciortino, former Oak Hill principal and long-time Parkway School District administrator, transitioned into the Head of School role in 2002 upon Sr. Caire's retirement. Under Sciortino's leadership of the school, the school's original 1929 Main Building was preserved and air-conditioned for the first time in school history in 2004. At this time, athletic facilities were also upgraded on campus as several new fields were created on campus, a fitness center was constructed in the Kenefick Gym, and the tennis courts were moved to the lower campus in an effort to expand the school's parking. In 2006, a new residence was purchased adjacent to campus to house the school's religious community, and in 2007, the former cloister in the 1929 Main Building was renovated to provide needed classroom and office space for the high school division. In 2009, former faculty member and City House alumna Lucie Nordmann, RSCJ, would assume the role of Head of School. Under Nordmann's leadership, further updates were made to the campus and Oak Hill was expanded to accommodate three-year-old students in a new junior kindergarten program.
In 2013, Elizabeth A. Miller, was appointed Head of School. In the fall of 2014, Sr. Donna Collins, RSCJ, former Secretary General of the Society of the Sacred Heart, assumed the role of principal for the young women of Villa Duchesne in grades seven through twelve. At the same time, Ms. Kathleen M. Komos, a long-time lower school faculty member, assumed the role of principal of grades junior kindergarten through six for the young girls and boys of Oak Hill. Under Miller's leadership, the Stubblefield Alumnae Internship program, a new internship program for the school's young alumnae, was created, and the Acorn Club, a free extended day program for Oak Hill students was introduced. In 2016, Mr. Michael F. Baber, a former Assistant Head of School at Convent of the Sacred Heart (Connecticut) and Interim Head of School at Academy of the Sacred Heart (Grand Coteau, Louisiana) assumed the role of Head of School of Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School.
Sport
Villa Duchesne sports include field hockey, volleyball, tennis, lacrosse, soccer, golf, basketball, swimming and diving, racquetball, cross country, and track and field. In 2010, Villa Duchesne won the MSHSAA golf state championship. Villa Duchesne is also well known for its field hockey program, and the St. Joe vs. Villa Duchesne field hockey game is a popular rivalry game.
In 2011, Villa Duchesne captured the Missouri Class 3A Volleyball Championship led by a core group of seniors who helped the team to a 2nd-place finish in 2009.
While Villa's teams compete under the "Saints" name, it is not uncommon to see the school's mascot, Sophie the Squirrel, at home games and meets.
One noted sports alumnus, Stephanie McCollister (Huey), excelled in swimming (where she was nationally recognized for her mastery in flip turns), track, and volleyball.
Tradition
Villa Duchesne places a large emphasis on tradition, specifically on Sacre Coeur and French tradition. Some traditions are Conge, the family picnic, gouter, and cache-cache
Notes and references
- ↑ NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
