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January 7, 2021
Today in Texas history
Nazareth Academy Opens in Victoria
By Bandera Spirits of Texas
On Jan. 7, 1867, the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament opened Nazareth Academy in Victoria. Fifty-five students attended during the first year, when the convent was known as Monastery of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament.
Mother St. Claire Valentine, who had arrived in Texas from France in 1852 and was the former superior of the Brownsville convent, had traveled to Europe to recruit nuns for the Victoria school.
As enrollment increased, additional buildings were constructed, and the institute was renamed Academy of Nazareth in 1880. An 1883 report from the federal Bureau of Education lauded the academy as one of six Texas schools acknowledged for their “superior instruction of women.”
Today Nazareth Academy operates as a coeducational institution and offers grades from prekindergarten though eighth.
Mother St. Claire Valentine, who had arrived in Texas from France in 1852 and was the former superior of the Brownsville convent, had traveled to Europe to recruit nuns for the Victoria school.
As enrollment increased, additional buildings were constructed, and the institute was renamed Academy of Nazareth in 1880. An 1883 report from the federal Bureau of Education lauded the academy as one of six Texas schools acknowledged for their “superior instruction of women.”
Today Nazareth Academy operates as a coeducational institution and offers grades from prekindergarten though eighth.