St. Teresa's Academy

St. Teresa's Academy is the oldest school, women's and Catholic institution in Kansas City. The school was founded and is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet who, since their founding in the 17th century in France, have been at the forefront of preparing young women for the future.

In 1866, at 12th and Washington in Kansas City's Quality Hill area, the Academy rapidly grew in enrollment and prestige. In 1909 the Sisters relocated St. Teresa's to a twenty-acre site at 5600 Main, our current campus. They named the campus "Windmoor" because of the constant wind blowing across the open prairie. On the cornerstone of the first of what would become three elegant campus buildings, the Sisters inscribed the words of St. Teresa of Avila and the motto of the Academy, "Deo Adjuvante Non Timendum" which means "With the help of God, we need not fear."

In 1941 the Sisters added a second building, Donnelly Hall, which housed the city's first and only college for women. In 1962 the college moved to the south part of Kansas City and became Avila College. In 1982 a state-of-the-art gymnasium, the Goppert Center, was completed for the school's competitive women's athletic program.

Already spanning its third century in operation, St. Teresa's has been faithful to the overriding vision and values of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph (CSJs) which make it unique among local, private educational institutions.