Layout

St. Mary’s Academy is an elegantly appointed institution overlooking the north shore of Wren Lake. It a grand building in the late Victorian style, and is comprised of blues and whites, with some stately gray accents.

The principal’s office commands a winning view of the lake. The walls here are periwinkle blue with white wainscoting. Two arch-shaped windows with white lattices look out onto the water. Sister Alice-Marie’s desk is situated in the center of the room. On the mantelpiece, there is an ornate carriage clock of white oak with a silver face.¹

History

Staunch and True

St. Mary’s Academy is among the oldest educational institutions in Lakewood. It was founded by the Sisters of the White Flower, a religious order dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, the faithful female companion of Christ who, according to the Gospels, was present at his Resurrection.

The Sisters of the White Flower established a convent on the north shore of Wren Lake in the mid-19th century, and did charitable work in the community. Significantly, they operated the town’s first hospital out of the basement of their convent, and were briefly used as a military hospital during the Civil War.

The earliest incarnation of St. Mary’s Academy opened in the late 19th century. Modeled after the Ursuline tradition which had flourished in nearby New Orleans, the school was intended as a safe haven for young women, to educate them while protecting them from the dangers and temptations of the wider world. Lakewood was emerging from a period of internal unrest, both racial and class-based, with the election of Ellis Maddox to the mayorship being attended by several months of street violence.

Notably, St. Mary’s wasn’t the first Catholic school in Lakewood. Its brother school, St. George Prep, was already nearly 90 years old by the time St. Mary’s opened its doors.

The school flourished, growing in size and prestige. In the 20th century, the Sisters operated various other concerns, largely to combat the various ills caused by the rapid industrialization the town experienced during Ellis Maddox’s long tenure as mayor. These efforts included the opening of a reform school for wayward youth, which operated in the early years of the Great Depression. Needless to say, the boys at the reform school were kept far away from the girls at the Academy across the road.

The Gospel According to Rachel

Rachel Murray was a St. Mary’s legacy. Her mother, Pamela, was part of the Class of 1990. Rachel was not, however, what one would picture when imagining a St. Mary’s girl, nor did she much want to be one. Rachel was a dreamy creative with ambitions of being a filmmaker. She was also graceless and somewhat plain-faced, relatively mundane characteristics worsened by her social awkwardness, which made her an immediate target for the born and bred bitches she had to call her classmates.

High school was, no surprise here, hell.

Caught between a living nightmare at school and a dismal home life, Rachel suffered a nervous breakdown midway through her freshman year and attempted suicide.²

In the successive months, she attempted to recover and began a secret relationship with Audrey Jensen, a girl who attended the local public high school. In October 2015, a video was uploaded to YouTube, depicting Rachel and Audrey making out at the Wren Lake overlook. It went locally viral, and both girls found themselves the subjects of taunts, reproach, and general mockery from their peers.

For the hyper-sensitive Rachel, things were particularly difficult. Her parents, particularly her mother, were mortified, with Pamela going on the warpath, determined to see heads roll. A meeting was held at the office of Sr. Alice-Marie, the principal, so that the Murrays could confirm what the school was planning to do.

Needless to say, Rachel’s opinion was neither sought nor heard.³

Faculty and Staff

Student Body

Notable Alumni

Trivia

St. Mary’s motto is “Eum vide, Eum observa, Ei servi”: Latin for “Witness Him, Watch Him, Serve Him”.

Gallery

1. The Story so Far, Vol. I: Chapter 1, Scene 27 ↩︎
2. The Story so Far, Vol. I: Chapter 1, Scene 27 ↩︎
3. The Story so Far, Vol. I: Chapter 1, Scene 27 ↩︎