Our Lady of Mercy Academy

Sent my daughter here. Wonderful experience for her. She has since graduated with honors from college and has scored a full ride to graduate school. Can’t say enough good things about «OLMA».

I attended OLMA for a year and a half during 9^th and 10^th grade in the early 90’s. I was unable to complete all four years of high school due to financial constraints.
OLMA was an interesting experience for me. For starters, I’m not Catholic, so I leared a lot about Catholicism I hadn’t known prior, despite having attended Mass with friends on countless occasions. Second, OLMA is an all girl’s school. Let me tell you, young women act VERY different when there aren’t boys around to compete with. The all girl’s formula for learning is very effective in getting girls to come out of their shell. I LOVED not having to worry about what to wear every day and not having to worry about or compete with boys.
OLMA is a small school, which is both a blessing and curse. It’s just fine if you happen to get along with your classmates, but if you don’t, you’re in for a rough ride. I joined my class mid-​year and wasn’t welcomed with open arms. Several other students also joined later and were also given the cold shoulder. Like all high schools, OLMA is very clique-​y… but it’s more pronounced since it’s such a small school. The cliques were divided into two groups– a: the anorexic bad girl cheer-​leader types who got sent there so the nuns would set their daughters straight and b: the well behaved, studious good girls headed for college who never got in trouble. If you don’t fall into either category, you may be in for a very lonely four years of school. Overall, I did enjoy my time at OLMA and the various activities we did that would have never happen in a big school. I also developed friendships with a few girls whom I recall with great fondness.
The academics at OLMA are vigorous, but limited. Again, the curse of a small school is that choice is pretty much non-​existant. Everyone takes the same classes, all paced the same way. Similarly, extra and co-​curricular activities are also limited, with an emphasis on athletics. As a musician and artist, I found OLMA’s offerings too limited for me.
However, criticisms aside, I would happily send my children to OLMA if I thought there was a good personality match. The staff at OLMA are stern but loving and they give a good education. OLMA is definitely worth your consideration if you are interested in an all-​girls high school education.