St. Joseph's Academy – Baton Rouge, LA – St. Joseph Educational Ministries

Mission statement

A stately building with an arched gate that reads St. Joseph's Academy

The mission of St. Joseph’s Academy is to educate young women as responsible and unifying members of the world community. In the spirit and charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Joseph’s Academy offers opportunities for faith development in the Catholic tradition, academic excellence and personal growth.

Visit St. Joseph’s Academy’s website

A brief history

On October 22, 1868, four Sisters of St. Joseph arrived in Baton Rouge. They had been sent to take over an orphanage that cared for children left parentless by the Civil War. Within two weeks, on November 4, 1868, they opened St. Joseph’s Day School in a small, four-room house on what today is known as Seventh Street.

In 1941, SJA moved from downtown Baton Rouge to its present location on 15 beautiful, residential acres. The campus lies in close proximity to the downtown business and governmental district and is near Catholic High School, the Academy’s brother school. With arched walkways literally transitioning students between the Academy’s historic buildings and its new, state-of-the-art facilities, the school’s wireless campus demonstrates a strong commitment to innovation and tradition. In recognition of its time-honored presence in the community, St. Joseph’s Academy was designated by the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council as the city’s first local historic landmark.

SJA is guided by the spirit and charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph, providing opportunities that ensure balance among its mission statement’s three pillars: faith development, academic excellence and personal growth. Students are engaged in the mission and vision of the Sisters of St. Joseph through the annual study of the Sisters’ charism, or foundational grace, rooted in the mission that continually unfolds in the Church: that all may be one (John 17:21). Education at SJA emphasizes the importance of relationships and the mission of unity, serving the dear neighbor without distinction.

St. Joseph’s Academy is a five-time National Blue Ribbon School. Here, relationships are formed, bonds are strengthened and knowledge is shared. Faith and wisdom find a home in each young woman all the days of her life.