The founding work of the Friends of Mary at the Foot of the Cross was education. Opening the first Loretto school at Hardin’s Creek, Kentucky in 1812 was certainly only the beginning. Loretto opened over 225 more schools almost always at the request of a bishop or a pastor because of our reputation as educators par excellence! Loretto staffed parochial and diocesan schools and established our own academies and two colleges, Webster College (now Webster University) in St. Louis in 1916 and Loretto Heights College in Denver in 1891. Many of the locations were on the frontier and risky when we arrived. Our final foundation was the Redmond Learning Center in El Paso in 1976.
Loretto’s educational tradition then spread to China, Bolivia, Peru, and currently in Africa with the Akokoamong school in Ghana.
The tradition of education continues today with schools in Denver, El Paso, and St. Louis.
Loretto Mission Areas
Justice and Peace
Environment
Global Loretto
Education
