Loretto legacy of excellence continues at schools

Susan Swain SL and Joy Gerity CoL, who had been principals at St. Mary’s Academy in Denver, were members of Escuela de Guadalupe’s founding group in 1999. Teacher retention often reflects a school’s health and vitality. At Escuela, a fully bilingual and bicultural school, more than half of the teachers have been at the school for more than a decade. Several have been teaching at Escuela for nearly 20 years. Read about Escuela in the spring 2022 issue of Loretto Magazine.

Havern School was named Colorado Parent Magazine’s 2025 Family Favorite for its Special Needs Education Program. The school shares, “This honor, voted on by families across Colorado, reflects the incredible impact of our programs and the community of support that surrounds our students.” Havern was founded in 1966 by Sisters of Loretto under the expert guidance of Barbara Schulte SL and Dorothy Hurley SL and was a groundbreaker in the country, serving kids with learning disabilities in a time when the field was just emerging. Read about Havern in the winter 2020 issue of Loretto Magazine.

Under the initial leadership of Nancy Wittwer SL and Madonna O’Hara OSU, in 2000, seven congregations of women religious came together and opened Marian Middle School, a school for girls in St. Louis.

In addition to providing a quality education, Marian’s values include faith, family, community and fostering justice, peace and equality. The school is committed to serving families from lower-income backgrounds.

In their fall 2025 newsletter, the school shared, “Through a partnership with the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center, Marian Girls designed underwater drones last school year in an effort to solve real world challenges. The curriculum focused on the engineering design process, circuits, buoyancy, fluid mechanics and safety. One student, Phoenix, attended the underwater robotics competition.” Phoenix dreams of one day becoming a mechanical engineer. Read about Marian Middle School in the fall 2023 issue of Loretto Magazine.

St. Mary’s Academy was opened in Denver by the Sisters of Loretto in 1864, before Colorado was a state. The first diploma in the territory was awarded to a St. Mary’s grad.

Iswari Natarajan, school president, shared in her fall 2025 letter to the St. Mary’s community that she is “inspired to draw on the heart and soul of our founders … with humility purpose and devotion.” She writes, “The Sisters of Loretto were forever forward-thinking and strategic in their decisions on behalf of our students. Loretto School Values will continue to shape every decision we make on campus, large or small.” Learn about St. Mary’s history here. Read about a dedicated Loretto member and teacher here.

Read all of the articles in the winter 2026 issue of Loretto Magazine here.