Vincentian Academy

Vincentian Academy was a Roman Catholic college preparatory high school in McCandless Township from 1932 to 2020.

Vincentian was founded in 1932 by the Vincentian Sisters of Charity (now part of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth) as Vincentian High School, a private, independent Catholic boarding school for girls aspiring to religious life. The school first catered to the education of young women from the working classes of some of Pittsburgh’s poorest neighborhoods. Vincentian enrolled its first lay student in 1939 and by the early 1950s had almost 200 girls enrolled, including “day students” from the city’s northern suburbs.

In 1959, the school moved out of the Sisters of Charity ‘motherhouse’ and into a newly-built separate school building. Vincentian ultimately had three buildings on a 67-acre campus. The boarding facility closed in the early 1970s and in 1973 Vincentian became co-educational.

Vincentian entered a partnership with Duquesne University in 1995 to offer an advanced curriculum and integrate the resources of a major university into its operation. The school, now known as Vincentian Academy—Duquesne University, also adopted the International Baccalaureate program due to its international appeal and academic quality and rigor. In adopting the International Baccalaureate program, Vincentian was the only Catholic International Baccalaureate school in the world that was part of a major university. The partnership with Duquesne ended in 2010 and the school became Vincentian Academy.

Vincentian attracted students from over 20 school districts around Pittsburgh and served over 4000 students during its existence. In its final years the school faced declining enrollment and increasing financial losses. Vincentian closed in June 2020.