St. Mary's Academy

What SMA Women Are Doing

Before we ask for your support, we want you to see what your investment makes possible.

• The Class of 2025 — 43 young women — earned a record-breaking $15,361,483 in academic scholarships and awards from more than 100 colleges and universities nationwide.

• A 100% graduation rate that has defined this institution for generations — not as an aspiration, but as a standard.

• 100% college acceptance rate at the early acceptance deadline.

• Two SMA seniors received national recognition for proving the Pythagorean theorem in a way previously deemed impossible by a 20th-century mathematician.

This is what a St. Mary’s education produces. This is what is at stake.

The Mission

For more than 150 years, St. Mary's Academy has stood as a beacon of excellence, faith, and possibility for young Black women in New Orleans. Founded in 1867 by the Sisters of the Holy Family, SMA has never wavered in its commitment to providing a rigorous, values-centered education to girls who deserve every opportunity to lead, serve, and thrive.

That commitment has always required investment — and today, it requires yours.

The Challenge

A St. Mary's education transforms lives. But the cost of that transformation is real. For many of the families we serve, tuition is the single greatest barrier standing between their daughter and the education she deserves.

New Orleans families — particularly Black families in our community — continue to navigate generational economic inequities. Without meaningful tuition assistance, academically qualified young women are turned away, or forced to leave, not for lack of potential, but for lack of resources.

That is a loss we cannot afford to accept.

The Opportunity

GiveNOLA Day is our moment to change that story — together.

Every dollar raised through this campaign goes directly to the St. Mary's Academy Tuition Assistance Fund, supporting current and incoming students who demonstrate financial need. Your gift does not just pay a bill; it keeps a girl in school, in community, and on a path toward her fullest potential.

Why It Matters

St. Mary's graduates go on to lead. They become doctors, educators, engineers, lawyers, artists, and community builders. They return to New Orleans and make it stronger. They raise daughters of their own and send them back through these doors.

The ripple effect of one girl's education cannot be overstated. When you invest in a St. Mary's student, you invest in a family, a neighborhood, and a future that belongs to all of us.

Our Ask

On GiveNOLA Day, we are asking our community — alumnae, families, friends, and advocates — to come together in support of the girls who are counting on us. No gift is too small. Every gift matters.

Join us. Because she will rise — and she needs us to rise with her.