St. Joseph Academy

Our work began in the Milwaukee area over 100 years ago.

In May 1908, we opened as St. Joseph Orphan Asylum. They accepted 46 boys & 39 girls. Many of the children had physical handicaps, so a 50-bed infirmary was built shortly after opening. In 1967, the name changed to St. Joseph Home. The Sisters, adapting to the changing times, recognized the diminishing need for orphanages and the increasing need for childcare. They applied for licensing & opened South Day Care Center. St. Joseph Home served its last residents, 9-18 yr. old wards of the state from 1967-73. From 1908 - 1973, over 3,000 orphans were served. In 1999, South Day Care Center moved from 18th Street & Ohio to 16th & Oklahoma, the former St. Gerard Parish Building and was renamed the Child Development Center of St. Joseph. In 2009, recognizing need in our community, we opened a school and welcomed our first 4K classroom. In 2012, our name changed to St. Joseph Academy to recognize our one Academy with two Programs approach. In 2019, we celebrated our first 8th Grade Completion class. We now offer an onsite community health and wellness clininc in partnership with 16th Street Community Health Centers and Divine Wellness.

We offer an Early Childhood Education serving children 6 weeks - 4 years. The program is NAC accredited and 5 Star Young Star rated. We partner with Next Door Foundation to offer Early Head Start & Head Start.

We also offer a K4-8th Grade School that is accredited through Cognia. We partner with YMCA for wraparound before & after school services.

St. Joseph Academy strives to provide a Christian environment for the care and education of children. It is a Catholic educational organization sponsored by the Felician Sisters which has three main programs: an Early Childhood Education Center, a Milwaukee Parental Choice School serving K4 through Grade 8 and an onsite community Health & Wellness Clinic. Our mission is to educate children to be successful life-long learners and problem solvers. We are guided by the Felician values for Ministry:  Respect for Human Dignity, Compassion, Justice and Peace, Transformation, and Solidarity with People in Need. We partner with families and community to fulfill this mission.