Nestled on a hillside campus overlooking Boston College, Mount Alvernia Academy (MAA) is celebrating one hundred years of Catholic education rooted in the spirit of its patron saints, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare of Assisi. Founded in 1927 by the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, the school has instilled in thousands of children a strong foundation of faith and academic excellence.

MAA takes its name from La Verna, the mountain in Tuscany where St. Francis of Assisi is said to have received the stigmata, a namesake that reflects the deep faith at the heart of the school's mission. From its earliest days, the Sisters built a community meant to nurture not just academic ability but the whole person, echoing the Franciscan call to reverence for creation, humility, and service to others.

That mission has endured and flourished across a century of change. Today, MAA is on the path to becoming an independent school in the Franciscan tradition. The school community includes families from over 30 different cities and towns across the Greater Boston area. The school's mission: to educate students "in an inclusive, challenging academic environment to become life-long learners and responsible stewards of the Earth," reflects the enduring imprint of Franciscan spirituality on daily school life, from religious instruction to community service to a shared sense of care for God's creation.

MAA has cultivated academic excellence alongside its Franciscan identity, and the U.S. Department of Education has recognized that record twice. In 2015, the school was named a National Blue Ribbon School as an Exemplary High-Performing School, a distinction based on standardized testing results that made MAA one of five schools in Massachusetts and the only private school in the Northeast to receive the honor that year, out of 335 schools nationwide. In 2022, the school earned the distinction again when MAA was named one of four Massachusetts schools to receive the National Blue Ribbon award. Twice recognized among the top schools in the country, MAA has built a reputation that extends well beyond Chestnut Hill. The school holds accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Archdiocese of Boston, and is a member of the Association of Independent Schools in New England.

With roughly 300 students under the care of a staff of more than 50, spread across three buildings, two playgrounds, and two playing fields, the school has maintained the close-knit, family-like spirit that has defined it since 1927. Generations of alumni have moved through its classrooms, many going on to send their own children and grandchildren to the school, a living thread connecting MAA's founding decade to the present one.

A centennial is a rare and joyful occasion in the life of any school, and for a small Catholic institution, it carries particular meaning. It is a chance to celebrate the students who have been shaped by the MAA's blend of faith and scholarship, the Sisters and lay teachers who have devoted their careers to that mission, and the families whose loyalty across generations has sustained the school.

To celebrate our centennial, MAA will host events throughout the year, including a Centennial Sprint, a Centennial Mass with Archbishop Henning, our 100th Christmas Pageant, a Catholic Schools Week birthday celebration, and more, culminating in our annual Centennial Gala in April. We look forward to welcoming current families, alumni, alumni families, grandparents, and friends of MAA to celebrate this milestone together. For more information about our centennial celebrations, please contact Mary Walsh (mwalsh@maa.school).



ALYSSA MOREIRA IS ADMISSIONS AND MARKETING ASSOCIATE (AMOREIRA@MAA.SCHOOL OR 617-379-5790) AT MOUNT ALVERNIA ACADEMY IN CHESTNUT HILL, MASS., A PRESCHOOL THROUGH GRADE SIX SCHOOL SERVING A DIVERSE POPULATION OF ABOUT 300 STUDENTS FROM OVER 30 COMMUNITIES.