Loretto_Academy_(El_Paso,_Texas)

Loretto Academy (El Paso, Texas)

Loretto Academy (El Paso, Texas)

Private, all-girls for grades 6-12 school in El Paso, , Texas, United States

Loretto Academy is a private Roman Catholic school in El Paso, Texas. It was opened in 1923 and was founded by Mother M. Praxedes Carty. is a part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso. Grades Pre-K3-5 are coeducational, while grades 6-12 are all girls.[2]

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Background

The Sisters of Loretto had previously established several schools in Las Cruces and El Paso.[3][4] In the early 1920s, Mother M. Praxedes Carty of the Sisters of Loretto came to El Paso to establish a new school.[5] On March 20, 1922, she purchased 19 acres of land in the Austin Terrace area, which was considered a bad place to put the school.[6][7] The area was open desert on a hilltop and was accessible by streetcar.[8] For the time period, it was considered to be a long distance from the downtown area.[6] Because of the location, people were unsure if parents would send their children to the school.[8] People began to call the project "Praxedes' Folly."[8]

The building was designed by Trost & Trost.[9] Gustavus A. Trost was friends with Mother Praxedes and may have done most of the primary architectural drawings.[10] The buildings were "designed to face Mexico" in a welcoming gesture for all people to join the community.[4] They were built using stuccoed brick and red Spanish tile on the roof.[9] The first building was started in the fall of 1922.[11] The cornerstone for the chapel was laid down on March 20, 1924.[7] The entire campus was not complete until the 1930s.[9] However, the first school building was ready in 1923. Loretto Academy in El Paso opened on September 11, 1923 with 186 students, of which 20 lived at the school as boarders.[7] In 1928, the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools admitted Loretto as a member.[12]

The boarding school closed in 1975.[13] Students from Ciudad Juarez also attend the school.[4] As of the early 1990s the school had over 900 students.[14]

After 22 years, in 2022, Sister Mary E. "Buffy" Boesen stepped down as president of Loretto.[15] Loretto alumna, Nicole Ortega Cobb, became the next president of the school in June 2022.[15]

Notable attendees

Notable faculty

Notes and references

  1. [1]
    SACS-CASI. "SACS-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
  2. [2]
    "Admissions Archived 2011-01-16 at the Wayback Machine." Loretto Academy. Retrieved on May 24, 2011.
  3. [3]
    "History of the Loretto Academy: Mother Praxedes Arrives". NMSU Library. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  4. [4]
    Perez, Daniel (1989-12-13). "66 Years Later, Nuns' 'Folly' Is an El Paso Landmark". El Paso Times. p. 22. Retrieved 2020-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. [5]
    Manweller, Christina (Spring 2019). "Deus providebit: Loretto's Legacy in Texas". Loretto Magazine: 9–11 – via issuu.
  6. [6]
    Metz, Leon (2004-01-19). "Lorettos's History a Story of Mother Praxedes". El Paso Times. p. 15. Retrieved 2020-09-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. [7]
    Graham, Marjorie (1956-04-22). "$450,000 Loretto Diamond Jubilee Construction Program Scheduled". El Paso Times. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-09-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. [8]
    Phelon, Craig (1978-08-05). "Loretto Academy Outlasts Rest". El Paso Times. p. 27. Retrieved 2020-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. [9]
    "Loretto Academy El Paso". Henry C. Trost Historical Organization. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  10. [10]
    Englebrecht, Lloyd C.; Engelbrecht, June F. (1990). "Loretto Academy". Trost Society. National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  11. [11]
    "Work is Begun on College at El Paso". The Oklahoma City Times. 1922-09-13. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. [12]
    "Admit Loretto College". El Paso Evening Post. 1928-12-12. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. [13]
    Saenz, Bernadette; Valdez, Victoria (2000). "Sisters of Loretto Have Long Tradition in Southwest". Borderland. Vol. 19.
  14. [14]
    McKee, Okla A. "Loretto Academy". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  15. [15]
    Fischer, Fallon (2022-04-14). "Loretto Academy selects new president". KFOX. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  16. [16]
    "Stevie Nicks: 'El Paso ... is the place where I learned how to sing'". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  17. [17]
    "Virginia's Former First Lady Maureen McDonnell Sentenced To 1 Year In Prison". NPR. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  18. [18]
    "GLOBAL EDITORIAL LEADERS". Condé Nast. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  19. [19]
    Moreno, Iliana (7 February 2020). "Decade's accomplishments from Loretto's alumni". The Prax. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  20. [20]
    Loretto Academy 2010, p. 30.
  21. [21]
    Loretto Academy 2010, p. 38.
  22. [22]
    Loretto Academy 2010, p. 39.
  23. [23]
    "About". Alicia Gaspar de Alba. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
  24. [24]
    Loretto Academy 2010, p. 54.
  25. [25]
    Solorzano, Rosalia. "Valdes Villalva, María Guillermina (1939–1991)". Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  26. [26]
    Loretto Academy 2010, p. 88.
  27. [27]
    Loretto Academy 2010, p. 100.
  28. [28]
    "Loretto Librarian to Attend Meeting". El Paso Herald-Post. 1955-04-04. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-06-17 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. [29]
    Vitello, Paul (2012-01-24). "Jacqueline G. Wexler, Ex-Nun Who Took On Church, Dies at 85". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-18.

Sources

  • Loretto Academy (2010). Loretto Academy Alumnae Directory 2010. El Paso, Texas: Harris Connect.
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