Catholic Education in Prescott, Arizona was established in 1878 with the opening of Little Pioneer School of the West in the back room of a hospital staffed by three sisters of St. Joseph Carondolet. The charisms of this founding order were to respect the earth, act with justice to alleviate suffering, live the gospel and strengthen unity with the Church. In 1885, St. Joseph’s Hospital was converted to become a full-time school named St. Joseph’s Academy. Then in 1890, the school moved to a larger house and functioned as a boarding school for students of all faiths. In 1904, a new school building was built on ten acres overlooking the town center. Coeducational classes from first grade through high school were taught with the emphasis on spiritual values, as well as culture and scholarship. The Claretian Missionary Fathers (mostly from Spain) were asked by the bishop to serve the parish in 1915 and continue that assignment to this day. The Claretian order’s charisms are community, mission, spirituality and evangelization.
In 1956, Sacred Heart Parish purchased property and built a six-classroom elementary school with St. Joseph Academy serving as a high school until 1966. The parish purchased the land from the order and built the current church on the old Academy site. After 94 years of service to the people of Prescott, the Sisters of St. Joseph were replaced by the Sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Loreto Sisters” of County Meath, Ireland in 1972. Their charisms are truth, freedom, justice, sincerity and joy. Sacred Heart School is still the only Catholic school serving Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey, Humboldt, and Mayer. The charism of the school today has been influenced by these three religious orders to make it a welcoming community, committed to justice, strengthened through the Church to become joyful disciples of Christ.
