Academy of Saint Elizabeth
| Academy of Saint Elizabeth | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
2 Convent Road, Morristown, New Jersey 07960 , | |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, Day school |
| Motto | "Deus est Caritas" (God is Love) |
| Established | 1860 |
| Principal | Sr. Patricia Costello, O.P. |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Number of students | approx. 240 |
| Color(s) | Blue and Gold |
| Athletics conference | Northern Hills Conference |
| Nickname | Panthers |
| Accreditation | Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools |
| Newspaper | SEAnopsis |
| Yearbook | The Beth |
| Website | School website |
The Academy of Saint Elizabeth is a private secondary school for young women located in Convent Station, New Jersey, United States. The college preparatory school has an enrollment of two hundred and thirty students. Established in 1860, the academy is the oldest secondary school for young women in New Jersey. It is operated independent of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson.
Many of its students commute from other communities along the railroad line.
The community of Convent Station, which is adjacent to Morristown, was named for the railway station constructed in the 1870s to accommodate the 200-acre complex of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth that also includes the College of Saint Elizabeth and the Villa of Saint Ann. The religious order was founded in 1859 in Newark, but in 1860 the motherhouse of the new religious order and the academy were established on the site near Morristown.
The academy is a member of the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools.[1]
History
In 1859, Mother Xavier was commissioned by Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley to establish a school for young women in New Jersey. The Academy was established in Madison in September 1860 in a white frame building that still stands. The renaming to Convent Station would come later when Mother Xavier provided funding in the 1870s for the Convent Station train station just outside the school's gates.
The first students entered in 1860; the Registration Ledger of September 1 still resides in the principal's office, as do the records of every succeeding year. In 1865, the new Academy building was completed and its first commencement exercises were held on the growing campus. By then, our school had gained a wide reputation for scholarship and was recognized and accepted throughout the state as an institution of strong academics, culture, and Catholic learning for young women. The Sisters continued to acquire land whenever it became available, allowing for a campus that is today over 200 acres and also the home of the College of Saint Elizabeth, founded in 1899.
Athletics
The Academy of Saint Elizabeth competes in the Suburban Division of the Northern Hills Conference.
The Academy is generally noted for having a champion swim team. They have won six straight Northern Hills Conference Championships (2002-2007) and came second in the 2007 Morris County Championships.
Notable Alumni
Casey Phillips - Most famously known for her Mach5 leg speed during the "Can-can," Casey Phillips is currently a dancer at Radio City. Phillips is also a fantastic pole-dancer. She single-handedly made the Double-Triple-helicopter-lightspeed-twirl the most commonly used move in professional pole-dancing. She even pantented the name herself, with her very own name-pantenter.