The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
The founders and sponsors of St. Teresa's Academy are the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
Founded in France in 1650, the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph was an innovation in the seventeenth-century world. The women of the congregation were to be without enclosure, take simple vows and work in partnership with the laity to serve the needs of the Church, becoming one of the first non-contemplative Catholic orders.
From Lyons, France, where the novitiate was established, the Sisters spread again throughout Europe and in 1836 established the first foundation in America. Six sisters reached St. Louis on March 25, 1836, and opened two missions that year, one at Cahokia, Illinois and the other in the area called Carondelet in south St. Louis.
At Carondelet the Sisters established St. Joseph Academy and St. Joseph's Institute for the Deaf which enjoy an international reputation to this day. From Carondelet, at the request of Bishops from all over the United States, the Sisters of St. Joseph went east, first to Philadelphia, north to St. Paul and to Toronto, and also to the South.
As the congregation grew so did the western frontier. A new town, originally called Westport Landing and eventually named Kansas City, began to develop at the juncture of the Kaw and Missouri Rivers. Father Bernard Donnelly, one of the first priests in the Kansas City area, erected a school on "Quality Hill." In 1866, at Father Donnelly's request, six Sisters of St. Joseph arrived to staff this school which they named St. Teresa's Academy.
Since their arrival in Kansas City, the Sisters of St. Joseph have established a tradition of quality service through education in numerous parish elementary schools, St. Teresa's Academy and Avila University. They have also contributed in the area of health care through St. Joseph's Hospital. Today, Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet offer services as diverse as the needs of the Church not only in the Kansas City area, but also throughout the United States.
In modern times, the frontiers are different--Hawaii (1938), Japan (1956), Peru (1962), Chili (1988)--but the needs of people remain the same. As a Congregation, the Sisters continue to reach out with one message--God's Word, and one mission--to draw everyone to the "love of neighbor and neighbor with God."