Mount Gallitzin Academy

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The story of Mount Gallitzin Academy dates back more than 300 years to the birth of a Russian Prince in 1770.

Called to a life of service, Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin gave up all of his riches and journeyed to America to study religion under Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore. Prince Gallitzin became one of the first priests ordained in America in 1795. About a year later, he was called to minister in a frontier settlement near Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, which he named Loretto.

Mother Austin Keane, who became one of the founding Sisters of St. Joseph in western Pennsylvania, was born in Loretto in 1824. She was baptized by Father Gallitzin and received First Communion from him.

In 1869, Mother Austin Keane and fellow Sisters Xavier Phelan and Hortense Tello (for whom the school auditorium is named), came to Ebensburg from Flushing, NY, to establish a boarding school for boys. Mount Gallitzin Seminary opened on Sept. 16 on Horner Street, and was named in honor of Prince Gallitzin, the pioneering priest of the Alleghenies.

In 1898, the Sisters of St. Joseph in Ebensburg were called to educate children in the rapidly expanding Pittsburgh area. Arrangements were made to purchase 86 acres near the town of Baden in Beaver County. On Dec. 26, 1901, the Sisters traveled to Baden to establish a school, their Novitiate and Motherhouse at the present location just off Route 65. Mount Gallitzin Academy officially opened on Jan. 13, 1902, as a boarding school for boys.

Since its founding, Mount Gallitzin Academy has served more than 20,000 children of all ages and academic levels. First it was a boarding school for boys, then a high school for girls from 1934 to 1967. The school is currently a co-educational facility for students in preschool through eighth grade.

Sister Mary Elizabeth Brush, Director of Development for MGA, recently visited the site of Prince Gallitzin\'s early home, church and tomb in Loretto. She said faculty and staff work hard to maintain the rich history and religious roots of the school.

"The Sisters of St. Joseph continue to educate children in the Catholic values and tradition that Prince Gallitzin first brought to western Pennsylvania more than 200 years ago," Sister Mary Elizabeth said.

Website: www.http://www.stjoseph-baden.org/MGA/default.asp