About Our Lady of the Elms - 1923 to Today

 

Our Lady of the Elms is an independent Catholic college preparatory school immersed in the Dominican tradition of education and dedicated to meeting the intellectual, spiritual, social, and personal needs of girls grades one through 12 and co-ed preschool through kindergarten.  The Elms welcomes girls of every religion, race, nationality and ethnic origin.

 

In 1923 the Caldwell, NJ, Dominican Sisters purchased Elm Court, the Arthur Marks estate on West Market Street in Akron, OH.  A day school for students in grades one through twelve was begun immediately in the convent.   As Dominican women committed “to praise, to bless, and to preach the truth of the Gospel,” they saw the active ministry of education as the best way of carrying out their dedication.  The Sisters of St. Dominic of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a congregation of strong and visionary women, created, nurtured, and sustained what we know today as Our Lady of the Elms School – educating girls and boys preK through grade 12.   In 1999 the school was separately incorporated and became known as a sponsored or founded ministry of the Sisters.  On Easter Sunday of this year the Sisters of St. Dominican of Akron joined six other congregations from New Orleans, LA, Great Bend, KS, St. Catharine, KY, Columbus, OH, and Oxford, MI, to form a new congregation – the Dominican Sisters of Peace. 

 

We are called to continue the Sisters’ legacy faithfully today, tomorrow and for many years to come.