On June 13, 1828, the Oblate School for Colored Girls was opened at 5 St. Mary's Court in Baltimore's Seton Hill neighborhood. In 1829, the school taught out of 610 George Street and then 48 Richmond Street. In 1871, the school moved to its current location at 501 East Chase Street in what is now Baltimore's Johnston Square neighborhood. The school graduated its first class in 1832. By 1853, the school changed its name from the Oblate School for Colored Girls to St. Frances School for Colored Girls, after St. Frances, and later St. Frances Academy. Saint Frances has the distinction of being the first and oldest continually operating African American Catholic educational facility in the United States. It was established with the mission to teach "children of color to read the Bible" – an act that would have been tremendously difficult during the era of American slavery. The high school became coeducational in the 1970s. Now, 191 years later, Saint Frances Academy offers a traditional, co-educational, college-preparatory curriculum for students in grades nine through twelve. An honors program is available to select students and all students complete a community service component. Independently owned and operated by the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Saint Frances Academy is approved by the Maryland State Department of Education and is accredited by the Commission on Secondary Schools of the Middle States Association. The student population is still predominantly African-American.
Athletics
St. Frances' football program has become the subject of controversy within Maryland in the late 2010s. After former Gilman School coach Biff Poggi took over as head coach, he began aggressively recruiting talented players from inside and outside Maryland, to a greater degree than other private schools in the state did. Within a few seasons St. Frances became effectively unbeatable by their traditional opponents in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association, regularly defeating them by wide margins. Before the 2018 those teams told St. Frances they would no longer play them, citing safety concerns as many of St. Frances' recruits were well outside the typical height and weight range for high school players and more in line with college football teams. Some St. Frances supporters believe the opponents' real motives are racial, since there had been no complaints when predominantly white teams like Gilman had been similarly successful in earlier seasons. The team won the MIAA championship before the season even started since all those opponents had to forfeit their games, but scheduled intrasquad scrimmages, opponents from as far away as Canada and road trips to the South for the players' benefit. The Men's Basketball team has won the MIAA A Conference Championships in 2008-09, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2018-19. The Women's Basketball team has won the IAAM A Conference Championships in 2000-01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018-19.
Notable Alumni
Jamal K. Atkins, Coach & Trainer, Basketball Academy of Excellence
