The Academy of Our Lady of Peace

Infobox Secondary school
name = Academy of Our Lady of Peace

motto= Deus Illuminatio Mea ("God is My Light")
type = Private secondary (Parochial)
grades = 9–12
established= 1882
Campus = urban
Location = 4860 Oregon St.
city = San Diego,
state = California
country = USA
enrollment = 751
mascot = The Red Baron
nickname = Pilots
colors = Blue and White
president =
principal = Sister Dolores Anchondo, C.S.J.
affiliation = Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet
website = http://www.aolp.org

The Academy of Our Lady of Peace (locally called "OLP"), is a Catholic high school for young women in San Diego, started by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (CSJ). Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, OLP's mission statement is as follows: "to assist and enable parents to fulfill their role as the primary educators, and to inspire its students to grow as committed Christians who are building Christ’s kingdom of justice, love and peace." Though the school itself is Catholic, the student body represents a diverse body of religious, racial and social backgrounds, and serves the communities of San Diego County and Tijuana, Mexico. Its local partner, or 'brother school', is Saint Augustine High School for young men, commonly called "Saints".

General Information

History

Founded in 1882, the school was actually co-ed until the late 1890's. Its popularity grew, and the Sisters of St. Joseph purchased the Vandruff Estate in what is now San Diego's Normal Heights area. Those 20 acres of land overlooking Mission Valley originally was host to spacious gardens, a swimming pool, an observatory, a chapel and three large buildings (two that served as residences and one for a scientific laboratory). Later, these properties were converted into classrooms, a small music building and the current library.

The Holy Family Event Center replaced the swimming pool in 1997, and plays host to the Academy's sporting events, physical education classes and school assemblies. The school gained national attention when it was featured in the 2000 film Bring It On starring Kirsten Dunst, and also in an episode of SciFi's The Invisible Man (2000 series). The school has also been chosen as the site to film a part of the TV series Veronica Mars.

The Academy prides itself on having received the blue ribbon. [http://www.blueribbonschools.com/ Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award] each year it has entered the evaluatory contest: 1988-1989, 1992-1993, and 1999-2000.

The Academy has strained its relationship with the surrounding neighborhood by advancing an expansion plan while in violation of its current conditional use permit. On Sept. 24, 2007, Code Compliance Judge Mandel Himelstein ruled that the Academy must cut enrollment by more than 100 students, reduce staff, and pay more than $100,000 in fines and court costs for violating City of San Diego building codes. Should the Academy fail to reduce enrollment to 640 students and cut staff from 60 to 45 by July 1, 2008, penalties could reach a maximum of $250,000.

Alma Mater

"Set on a hill over valley royal, mountain and sea afar,
""Built by a love and devotion loyal stands Villa Montemar.
""Though years may pass other cares abringing, and you may not be near,
""Turn back your thoughts, your" [now "our"] "hearts are singing to those memories dear.
""So sing to Villa Montemar, where our hearts will be always;
""Sing once more to Our Lady of Peace who deserves all our tribute and praise.
""With your shoulders back and heads up high, and a bright gleam in your eye,
""Stand and cheer, loyal daughter, for your Alma Mater with a hail, hail, hail!"

OLP's Alma Mater was composed by Ada Nisbet, who graduated from OLP in 1924.

Uniform

The school uniform is provided by the Mills Company, and students are required to wear it every single day. However, there is a lot of flexibility in the uniform itself, which is a recent development.

Two types of free dress are offered: regular "free dress" consists of wearing a modest non-uniform outfit without any jean material, and "jeans days" require students out of uniform to wear jean pants or modest jean skirts and shorts. Often, special occasions such as food drives or spirit days merit a jeans day pass. Birthday girls are given passes for free dress. These free dress days are optional, although most girls choose to participate.

Academic Requirements

Entrance into the Academy is very competitive. The majority of entering freshman are from parochial schools, although students from public schools and homeschooling environments do attend. Because they are not from private institutions, public and homeschooled students often set up an interview with the principal or assistant principal. Overall minimum requirements include:: - Achievement of no less than "C" grade in all subjects through middle school: - A citizenship (conduct) grade demonstrating satisfactory behavior: - A satisfactory attendance record (excessive absences and tardies noted): - An indication that effort expended in their present school is satisfactory: - Satisfactory recommendation by principal and/or 8th grade teacher: - An excellent grade on the entrance exam distributed by Scholastic Testing Services

Curriculum

To graduate, each girl must take at least 240 Carnegie credits, in the following subject areas: Religious Studies and English (8 semesters), Social Studies, mathematics, and electives, (6 semesters), Laboratory science and either Spanish or French (4 semesters), two semesters of Fine arts. Two semesters of Physical education are taken in the freshman year, and semester-long Health and Speech classes are taken during the sophomore year.

Girls are encouraged to not only follow but exceed the University of California's [http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/general_info/uc_reviews/freshman_app.html Undergraduate Admissions Requirements] , which correspond closely with the OLP graduation requirements, when selecting their courses each year. Classes may be taken at local community colleges and counted for graduation credit if pre-approved by the Registrar, otherwise girls are encouraged to either complete their requirements through the school during the regular year or over the summer. AP classes are available in many subjects. Students must also complete at least 100 hours of community service for graduation in areas including environment, school/parish work, and community awareness.

Tuition

Tuition is $9,660 per year; The school has a monthly payment plan available and financial aid is also offered.

Activities

Official school organizations include the student government (ASB), the CSJ Leadership Conferences, Campus Ministry, the Big Sister-Little Sister program, Peer Leadership (Peer Counseling), Cheerleading, CIF Athletics and Carondelet Circle. OLP also has its own chapters of several national and international student organizations, including the International Thespian Society, Kiwinis, Amnesty International, and many more independent student-run co-curricular activities. Students may also choose to assist in compiling the annual yearbook; however, the Academy has historically not allowed a school newspaper.

Annually, the Academy celebrates Grandparents Day, St. Joseph’s Day, Parish Day, Community/Play Day, and holds a Christmas Candlelight Procession. Various informal dances are held at Saints, and OLP organizes one semi-formal "Miss OLP" dance in the winter and one formal joint Prom with Saints. Prom is organized by the Junior Class councils of each school. Homecoming is exclusively put together by Saints.

Each year, OLP sponsors a Fall musical and a Spring drama, both of which allow participation from Saints and other neighboring schools. Each semester, the Academy provides the students with an Arts assembly, showcasing the choir, drama classes and productions, as well as the individual talents of gifted students. The long-running tradition of Spring Sing -- a musical production exclusively run by students -- is a yearly highlight, and often draws the participation of over 100 girls from each class.

Seniors typically enjoy "free", or non-uniform, dress on a day of their choosing, the privilege of wearing white shoes with their uniform, monthly outside lunches (from local restaurants such as Rubio's or In-N-Out), the Father-Daughter Night and Mother-Daughter Luncheons, Senior Privilege Day, a Sober Grad Night with Saints, Baccalaureate Mass and Award ceremonies, as well Grad Night at Disneyland. They also can design their class sweater, which can be worn any day of the week, and their class T-shirt, which they may wear on Fridays. Their class council petitions on their behalf to the administration for these allowances.

ee also

*Primary and secondary schools in San Diego, California

External links

* [http://www.aolp.org/ The Academy of Our Lady of Peace official website]
* [http://www.millswear.com/cgi/code/125 Sue Mills Uniform]

References