History

Ville de Marie Academy was founded by a small group of devoted Catholic parents, wholly committed to the intellectual and moral formation of their children and striving to embrace Holy Mother Church’s call to the laity to play a vital role in the renewal of Catholic education in America.

In the mid-1980s, these parents began meeting together to discuss the education of their children. Some had been sending their children to existing parochial schools, others were home schooling, but all felt a need to be more intimately involved in the education of their children and to educate them in a deeply Catholic environment. The fruit of their discernment and prayer was the founding of Ville de Marie Academy in 1991. Motivated by a strong desire to provide their children with a truly exceptional education, it was their conviction that while parents are indeed the primary educators of their children, their duties as educators could be more perfectly fulfilled as they united to form a school that would reflect their devotion to Catholic education. Their plan was to offer an integrated K-12 curriculum in the classical liberal arts that would combine academic excellence and a vibrant spiritual life in an atmosphere conducive to the formation of the whole child: a place where the faith would inform and guide the entire life of the school.

Ville de Marie began with 40 students in grades K-9, and five full-time faculty members. The school grew rapidly, and by the following year the academy had nearly doubled its enrollment to about 80 students. An additional high school grade was added each year and the school began offering a complete K-12 curriculum in 1994. In 1995, the first graduating class of Ville de Marie was comprised of six students.

Ville de Marie Academy is recognized by the Diocese of Phoenix as an independent, private Catholic school. Since 2004, Ville de Marie has been granted approval for the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament. Having the Blessed Sacrament in reserve in our St. Joseph Chapel is a great privilege for an independent private school to receive. Among the many graces this honor provides, it enables the students, faculty, staff, and families to develop and cultivate Eucharistic piety. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated often, and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which has a special place in the heart of Ville de Marie Academy, takes place regularly.