Fontbonne Academy

Fontbonne Academy
Respect ∙ Responsibility ∙ Reconciliation ∙ Reverence
Address
930 Brook Road Milton, Massachusetts, (Norfolk County) 02186 United States
Coordinates	42°15′34″N 71°3′34″W / 42.25944°N 71.05944°W / 42.25944; -71.05944Coordinates: 42°15′34″N 71°3′34″W / 42.25944°N 71.05944°W / 42.25944; -71.05944
Information
Type	Private, All Girls
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic, Sisters of St. Joseph
Established	1954
Dean	Brian Sullivan
Head of school	TBD
Faculty	66
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	311 (2016)
• Grade 9	58
• Grade 10	81
• Grade 11	91
• Grade 12	81
Average class size	18
Student to teacher ratio	9:1
Color(s)	Navy blue and gold
Team name	Ducks
Accreditation	New England Association of Schools and Colleges[1]
Publication	Stylus (literary magazine)
Tuition	$15,600
Admissions Director	Christin Schow
Athletic Director	Ellen Sullivan
Website	www.fontbonneacademy.org

Fontbonne Academy is a private Roman Catholic college preparatory high school for girls, located in Milton, Massachusetts, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. It was started in 1954 by the Sisters of St. Joseph. The school was fully accredited in 1959 by the New England Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges. Accreditation has been consistently renewed for ten-year periods.

Enrollment

Enrollment has multiplied from 97 students in 1954 to just under 400 in 2011. The student body is drawn from more than 45 cities and towns throughout the Boston area, MetroWest, and the South Shore. The school has a seven-acre campus with the original building that has been updated over the years to include science, technology and language labs. The building had a facelift in 2010 and installed many energy-saving improvements throughout. Fontbonne Academy boasts a 100% college acceptance rate. The Class of 2013 averaged $175,000 per student in grants and scholarships to four-year colleges.

History

Founded in 1954, the academy takes its name from Mother St. John Fontbonne, who re-established the congregation in France after its suppression during the French Revolution. Under her leadership, the first Sisters came to the United States. In Boston, the congregation taught in archdioscesan parochial schools, and also founded and conducted its own ministries, of which Fontbonne is one. As a sponsored ministry, Fontbonne Academy furthers the Sisters' charism — a direct outgrowth of the order's experience in revolutionary France — of reconciliation, unity and non-violence in the school's academic programs, spirituality, and co-curricular activities.

Employment discrimination controversy

In July 2013, Fontbonne Academy rescinded a job offer made to Matthew Barrett, who had been offered a position as food services director, after Barrett listed his husband as his emergency contact on his hiring paperwork. Barrett, represented by attorneys from GLAD, filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in January 2014.^[2] The case moved to Massachusetts Superior Court, and on December 16, 2015, Judge Douglas H. Wilkins ruled in Barrett v. Fontbonne Academy that the Academy had violated the state's anti-discrimination laws.^[3] The parties agreed to a confidential settlement in May 2016.^[4]

Academics

• 100% of graduates go to 4-year colleges.^[5]
• Seven AP courses: Art, Biology, Calculus, English, French, Spanish, and U.S. History.
• 40 honors and AP courses are offered.
• Over 200 online courses are offered through Virtual High School (VHS) with an onsite coordinator
• Foreign languages: French, Latin and Spanish. (3 credits of one language are required for graduation).
• Students complete one hundred hours (25 hours per year) of service outside of school to fulfill graduation requirements.
• Standardized tests used to evaluate applicants: HSPT (High School Placement Test).
• Seniors complete a Social Justice Project each year which is a capstone project, spanning every academic discipline, where they advocate for a social injustice and present to the student body in the annual Social Justice Fair.

Athletic program

Activities

Alma mater

The school song was written by Therese Higgins, CSJ (lyrics) and Berj Zamkochian (music).

Memberships

• Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges
• Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE)

Notable alumni

• Tara OBrien – Broadway actress (Class of 1986)
• Lois Roach – directed the Boston premiere of Crowns , Legacy of Light, Old Settler with the The Lyric Stage Company of Boston. (Class of 1979)
• Dolly DiPesa – Managing partner of DiPesa & Company, CPAs, (Class of 1971)
• Jen Mergel - Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Class of 1994)
• Patty Toland - Partner/co-Founder Filament Group (Class of 1983)
• Gina McCarthy - Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency (Class of 1972)
• Nina Liang - Quincy, MA at-large city councilor. (Class of 2006)
• Sheila Simon - Current Theology 3 Professor at Fontbonne Academy and Ducks in Action Moderator (Class of 2007)

References

1. ↑ NEASC-CIS. "NEASC-Commission on Independent Schools". Retrieved July 28, 2009. 
2. ↑ Valencia, Milton (January 30, 2014). "Gay married man says Catholic school rescinded job offer". Boston Globe. Retrieved February 13, 2014. 
3. ↑ Labbe, Mark (December 25, 2015). "Court rules Fontbonne discriminated against food service worker in same-sex marriage". Boston Pilot. Retrieved February 20, 2016. 
4. ↑ Herndon, Astead W. (May 10, 2016). "Catholic school, gay man settle discrimination lawsuit". Boston Globe. Retrieved May 13, 2016. 
5. ↑ The Principal's View of Fontbonne Academy – Milton, Massachusetts – MA

External links

• School website
• Massachusetts Department of Education profile of school
• Sisters of Saint Joseph of Boston website
• Sisters of Saint Joseph website

Archdiocese of Boston
Ordinaries	Bishops Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus Benedict Joseph Fenwick John Bernard Fitzpatrick Archbishops John Joseph Williams William Henry O'Connell Richard Cushing Humberto Sousa Medeiros Bernard Francis Law Seán Patrick O'Malley Auxiliary Bishops Joseph Gaudentius Anderson John Anthony Dooher Walter James Edyvean Robert Francis Hennessey Arthur Kennedy Peter John Uglietto
Churches	Cathedral Cathedral of the Holy Cross Basilica and shrines Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Boston St. Anthony Shrine, Boston St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine, Boston Parishes Holy Name, West Roxbury Holy Trinity, Lowell Our Lady of Czestochowa, Boston Our Lady of Good Voyage, Gloucester Our Lady Help of Christians, Newton Sacred Heart, Cambridge St. Albert the Great, Weymouth St. Charles Borromeo, Waltham St. John the Baptist, Salem St. John the Evangelist, Cambridge St. Joseph, Boston St. Leonard, Boston St. Mary, Dedham (History) St. Mary, Milton St. Mary, Newton St. Mary, Waltham St. Mary, Winchester St. Mary – St. Catherine of Siena, Charlestown St. Paul, Cambridge St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr, Chelsea St. Susanna, Dedham Former parishes Holy Cross, Boston Our Lady of Mount Carmel, East Boston St. Aidan, Brookline St. Catherine of Sienna, Charlestown St. Joseph, Roxbury St. Mary, Charlestown St. Stephen, Boston
Education	Seminaries Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary St. John's Seminary Colleges Boston College Emmanuel College Labouré College Marian Court College Merrimack College Regis College St. John's Seminary High Schools Academy of Notre Dame, Tyngsboro Archbishop Williams High School, Braintree Arlington Catholic High School, Arlington Austin Preparatory School, Reading Bishop Fenwick High School, Peabody Boston College High School, Dorchester Cardinal Spellman High School, Brockton Cathedral High School, Boston Catholic Memorial School, West Roxbury Central Catholic High School, Lawrence Cristo Rey Boston High School, Dorchester Elizabeth Seton Academy, Boston Fontbonne Academy, Milton Lowell Catholic High School, Lowell Malden Catholic High School, Malden Marian High School Framingham Matignon High School, Cambridge Mount Alvernia High School, Newton Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Boston Nazareth Academy, Wakefield Newton Country Day School, Newton Notre Dame Academy, Hingham Notre Dame High School, Lawrence Pope John XXIII High School, Everett Presentation of Mary Academy, Methuen Sacred Heart High School, Kingston Saint Clement High School, Medford St. John's Preparatory School, Danvers St. Mary's High School, Lynn Saint Sebastian's School, Needham Ursuline Academy, Dedham Xaverian Brothers High School, Westwood
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