Mount de Sales Academy (Georgia)
| Mount de Sales Academy | |
|---|---|
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| Address | |
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851 Orange Street Macon, Georgia 31201 United States |
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| Coordinates | 32°50′4″N 83°38′24″W / 32.83444°N 83.64000°WCoordinates: 32°50′4″N 83°38′24″W / 32.83444°N 83.64000°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Motto | "Touching hearts, shaping lives" |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1876 |
| Founder | Sisters of Mercy |
| Authority | Independent |
| President | David Held |
| Dean | Mary Pat Dadisman |
| Principal | Michael C. Franklin (Upper School), Kari Alderman (Middle School) |
| Chaplain | Father Frank Critch |
| Staff | 87 |
| Grades | 6–12 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Student to teacher ratio | 12:1 |
| Color(s) | Blue and gold |
| Mascot | Monty |
| Nickname | Cavaliers |
| Accreditation | Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Southern Association of Independent Schools |
| Publication | de Sales Sheet Magazine |
| Yearbook | Salesian |
| Affiliation | National Catholic Educational Association |
| Website | www |
Mount de Sales Academy, commonly referred to as MDS, is an independent, Catholic, college preparatory school in Macon, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1876 by five Sisters of Mercy as a boarding school for girls. In 1959, it became coeducational and ended boarding school operations in 1963. The Sisters served in an administrative capacity until 2002, when the first lay head of school was selected by the school's Board of Trustees. Mount de Sales is governed by its trustees and continues to be sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah.
In 1871, a group of five Sisters of Mercy from Columbus, Georgia, began a small school known as the Academy of the Sacred Heart Jesus on the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets in Macon. In 1876, the mother house of the Sisters relocated from Columbus to Macon. The Sisters purchased the home of former Georgia Governor George W. Town for use at the corner of Orange and Columbus streets on Beall's Hill. On February 28, 1876, the new school was chartered under the name of Mount de Sales in honor of Saint Francis de Sales. When the first graduation exercises were held in 1882, it had expanded to comprise three divisions: primary, preparatory and senior. It educated mostly girls in grades 1-12, housing boarding students from around the southeastern United States and Latin America.
In 1936, Mount de Sales discontinued its primary school, but continued as a girls' secondary school for boarding and day students until 1959, when the first boys were admitted as day students. The girls' boarding school closed in 1963 and the school continued as a coeducation day school. The first coeducational graduating class included 16 boys among 46 total graduates in 1963. The fall of 1963 marked the racial integration of Mount de Sales as a result of a diocesan edict, making it the first school in Middle Georgia to desegregate.
In 1975, the middle school returned with the re-addition of an eighth grade. A seventh grade was reinstalled in 1988, followed by a sixth grade in 2004. The original convent and boarding school building was demolished in the early 1970s and replaced by Sheridan Hall in 1990. New buildings were constructed over the following decades. Cavalier Fields, a 70 acres (0.28 km2) athletic complex, opened in 1998 approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of the downtown campus.
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