St. Mary's Dominican High School

St. Mary's Dominican High School or simply "Dominican High School" is an all-girls private high school in New Orleans, Louisiana, sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Peace.Dominican is one of the only schools in Louisiana which doesn't have a mascot. The school colors are black and white. The school's motto is Veritas (the Latin word for truth).The St. Mary's Dominican Band is one of the few all-girl marching bands in New Orleans. The Band participates by performing at athletic games, Mardi Gras parades, festivals, and other school events.HistoryDominican's life began in Louisiana with the arrival of seven Dominican sisters from St. Mary's Convent-Cabra, Dublin, Ireland, on November 5, 1860. The foundresses of St. Mary's Congregation in New Orleans, Mother Mary John Flanagan, Mother Mary Magdalene O'Farrell, Sister Mary Hyacinth McQuillan, Sister Mary Brigid Smith, Sister Mary Osanna Cahill, Sister Mary Xavier Gaynor, and Sister Mary Ursula O'Reilly, came at the request of Rev. Jeremiah Moynihan, Pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in New Orleans, to teach the children of the Irish immigrants. These Dominican women, educated in the humanities and the fine arts, opened St. John the Baptist School for Girls on December 3, 1860, with a recorded attendance of 200.By 1861, the New Orleans Female Dominican Academy was chartered under Louisiana State laws as an "Institute for literary, scientific, religious, and charitable purposes." Three years later in October 1864, the Dominican Sisters bought at auction the Mace Academy in Greenville. On April 17, 1865, while some day students remained at the Academy on Dryades St., the boarding students were transferred to the Academy in Greenville. The early curriculum stressed the humanities and the fine arts.