Villa Maria Academy was established by the Sisters of St. Joseph in
1891. To build the school, Father Thomas A. Casey bought a parcel of
land at 8th and Liberty Streets, selling it to the Sisters of St.
Joseph for a dollar. Father Casey funded the construction of the
academy’s first building, which was designed by one of Erie’s leading
architectural firms, David K. Dean & Sons. Villa Maria Academy was
dedicated on May 29, 1892 and became Erie’s first all-girls’ school.
Villa Maria Academy provided a boarding school, day school, music
lessons, and private lessons in painting, drawing, and languages for
grades first through twelfth. The curriculum focused on providing
students with basic secretarial and homemaking skills, as well as the
arts. The school was open to students from various social and economic
backgrounds. The Sisters of St. Joseph operated an orphanage and
allowed those children to be educated at Villa Maria. The Sisters also
provided a work-study program that allowed students to work in the
laundry room, kitchen, and dining room for reduced tuition. Students of
all religious backgrounds were accepted at Villa Maria, but a majority
of the girls were Catholic. Within its first few years of operation,
Villa Maria’s student population dramatically increased, which prompted
the construction of an addition to the original building. Designed by
F.F. Hecker of Pittsburgh and built by Kirschner Bros., the new
structure was dedicated on June 21, 1904. A college and chapel was
adjoined to the original building in 1927, which was designed by Fuller
and Stickle and built by Kirschner Bros. The Sisters hired “lay”
teachers, or those who were not affiliated with the Catholic Church, to
staff Villa Maria College. It was merged with Gannon University in
1993, and the name was dissolved. Villa Maria Academy was relocated in
1953 to its present location on West Eighth Street. The Elementary
division was also moved to this site. In 2016, Villa Maria Academy
educates grades ninth through twelfth, and has over 360 students.
Although the school became coeducational in 1989, in 2012, the school
returned to an all-girls academy. The original site of Villa Maria
Academy is now owned by Erie’s Housing and Neighborhood Development
Service, who has renovated the campus for low-income and senior
housing.
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