Incarnate Word Academy (Houston)

Incarnate Word Academy is an all-girls Roman Catholic college preparatory school located in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States.

Incarnate Word Academy
Address
609 Crawford Street

, ,
77002

United States
Coordinates29°45′23″N 95°21′26″W
Information
TypePrivate, All-Girls
MottoPraised be the Incarnate Word
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
DenominationCatholicism
Established1873
FounderMother Mary Gabriel Dillon
StatusOpen
LocaleSt. Thomas' Episcopal School
School code443330
PresidentSister Lauren Beck, C.V.I.
PrincipalAndrea Smith
Faculty39
Grades912
GenderAll girls
Age range14-18
Enrollment348
Average class size16
Student to teacher ratio9:1
LanguageEnglish
Color(s)Red and white   
Athletics conferenceTAPPS 5A
MascotFalcons
Team nameFalcons
AccreditationSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
USNWR ranking827
PublicationThe Word Magazine
YearbookThe Margil
Tuition$15,650
Websitewww.incarnateword.org

Incarnate Word Academy serves grades 9 through 12 and is owned and operated by the Congregation of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. IWA opened a new $15 million, 18,500 square feet (1,720 m2) academic building in the Spring of 2017 to provide additional space for classes, collaboration, student life, and fine arts.

Student body

The student body represents fifty-one Catholic parishes and 101 zip codes across the Houston metropolitan area and is a community of 348 young women. As of the 2017–2018 school year, school's racial percentages are as follows:[2]

History

In 1873, Mother Mary Gabriel Dillion and two other sisters of the religious order of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament arrived at the corner of Jackson and Crawford with a historic mission in mind. The sisters were invited by Bishop John Odin to establish a school for young women.

The sisters arrived in Houston from Lyon, France by way of Brownsville, Texas on April 25, 1873.  They took up their residence in a large building, once a Franciscan Monastery, across the street from St. Vincent's Church on Franklin Street.  A chapel was prepared and on May 5, 1873 Mass was celebrated there.  The student body marks this day each on Foundation Day.

These women of early Texas founded the first permanent school in Houston, and called it Incarnate Word Academy for Young Ladies.[3]

Curriculum

The curriculum is primarily intended to prepare students for higher education and to this end students take core, college-preparatory courses and electives based on their individual interests.

Advanced Placement Program

The school has an Advanced Placement (AP) program with 30 honors and AP classes, wherein students take classes that closely parallel university-level courses in the same subject. These classes follow a strict syllabus and are graded more rigorously than non-AP courses. They culminate in a standardized, comprehensive exam each spring, a passing score on which may earn the student college credit.

See also

References

  1. SACS-CASI. "SACS-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
  2. "incarnateword.org Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, School Profile]
  3. "Our History - Incarnate Word Academy". www.incarnateword.org. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
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