Mount St. Joseph Academy

Mount St. Joseph Academy was a school building located at 235 Fern Street in West Hartford, Connecticut. It was a four to five story brick and stone structure with Colonial Revival styling, designed by Hartford architect John J. Dwyer in 1905. It was operated by the Sisters of Mercy as a Roman Catholic school for girls, reaching a maximum enrollment of 565 in 1958. The school closed due to declining enrollment in 1978 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1983.

Soon after the school went out of business, the building became a training center for the Hartford Insurance Group. In 1996, the building was renovated for use as an assisted living facility, which in 2013 was operated as Atria Hamilton Heights.

History
The rapid development of the West Hartford Academy in its former home on Farmington Avenue, next to Saint Joseph's Cathedral, had made it necessary to provide more ample grounds and a larger building for the school. The Sisters of Mercy purchased the new site on Fern Street east of North Quaker Lane in 1902. In 1905, they began the construction of the present spacious building, which was completed in the summer of 1908. On September 29, 1908, classes were opened for the first time in the scholastic 1908-1909 year.

Mount Saint Joseph Academy, founded in Hartford in 1852, was a resident and day school for girls. The high school department offered four courses: college, academic, English, and secretarial. There were special courses for high school graduates. Instruction in piano, organ, and the stringed instruments was given in the music department. The preparatory department was limited to the seventh and eighth grades.

The registration for some years past was 240 students approximately. In June 1929, the enrollment in the school was 210 students. Among the residents were people from all parts of Connecticut, and from neighboring states. The treasurer's bills, including residence and tuition, varied from $600 to $800 a year, according to the location of the rooms. Laboratory fees were extra. Tuition for non-resident pupils was $200. The Library of the Academy contained about 7,000 books. In March 1925, the Connecticut State Legislature granted a college charter to the Academy. Since the Academy was transferred to Hamilton Heights, West Hartford, in 1908, 660 pupils were graduated from the school up to 1930. There was a large and active Alumnae Association connected with the institution.