About

Ursuline Academy is an independent, Catholic, college preparatory school for young women in grades 7-12. Founded in 1946, Ursuline Academy in Dedham operates under the sponsorship of the international network of Ursuline Sisters, the oldest religious teaching order devoted to the education of young women.

Admissions

Our Admissions team welcomes families for tours throughout the year, and we sponsor events designed for students to explore our campus, sit in on classes, and to get to know our community. Ours is a holistic approach to knowing each student as we review qualifications for admissions. Learn why families choose Ursuline, and how our graduates become young women of character, faith and scholarship!

ACADEMICS

Ursuline Academy offers a rigorous program of study designed to challenge and inspire students, and our faculty encourage their love of learning, reading, and scholarly exploration in the pursuit of truth. Our graduates are fully prepared to study, analyze, and communicate persuasively to meet the challenges of university work.

LIVING THE MISSION

The values of an Ursuline education– a Catholic education– were established centuries ago when Saint Angela Merici dedicated her life to forming a company of young women engaged in bettering their communities. At Ursuline, we challenge our students to live lives of integrity that reflect the principles of Catholic social teaching, and to be Christ to one another in today’s world. We welcome students of all faiths, and support every student on her spiritual journey.

Theatre

Ursuline Drama produces three plays a year: a Fall play, Winter one-acts, and a Spring musical. One of the winter one-acts is submitted to the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild's High School Drama Festival (METG). Students are invited to participate in the productions in a range of ways—acting, stage crew, building sets and props, and possibly directing a one-act show their senior year.

Ursuline also offers Drama Club, a club that meets during the school day that helps students learn improv theatre and build skills that can help them strengthen their acting. A student does not have to be a member of Drama Club or the Drama class to participate in plays.

Drama I

This course introduces students to Theater Arts through the study of beginning acting techniques and practical application of theater skills such as acting, movement, voice, relaxation, concentration, performance, improvisation, character analysis, scene study, monologues, audition skills, stagecraft (lighting, set, sound and costume design), playwriting, and directing.

Communication Arts

The three objectives of Communication Arts are to enhance and improve public speaking technique, to become a savvy media analyst and consumer and to produce purposeful video content using a variety of creative approaches and editing.

Since effective public speaking is key to several areas of academic and professional success, students will continue to develop skills, no matter what level, with the intention of using these skills throughout their lives by analyzing and practicing specific speech techniques and by developing strong presentation skills.

Communication Arts students explore various media influences in a variety of industries including journalism, advertising, music, film, TV and social media exploring important concepts such as branding and demographic analysis. Communication Arts students collaborate with classmates to produce content for the school community learning lighting, audio, editing technique, voice overs and special effects including the use of green screen. Students use a variety of equipment independently, including video cameras, tripods and microphones and utilize the iHub and editing software. (Grades 10, 11 or 12)

List of upcoming and recent shows:

2024-2025:
Pride and Prejudice
Matilda, Jr.
Little Women

2023-2024:
Letters to Sala
Cinderella

2022-2023:
Twisted Tales of Terror
Fiddler on the Roof

2021-2022:
Clue
Legally Blonde, Jr.

2020-2021:
Godspell

2019-2020:
Little Women

2018-2019:
Twelve Angry Women
Beauty and the Beast

METG record:

2024: Caroline Alessi '27, Lindsay Englert '27, Faye Barrett '26, and Roisin Kelley-Heafitz '26, Excellence in Acting

2021: Katherine Ziska '22, Excellence in Acting

Daphne Partridge '22, Julia Moran '25, Meera Raskin '24, Excellence in Scenic Design
Claire Dirks '21, Excellence in Costume Design

2019: Sabrina Nedder '19 and Faith Banach '20 receive Actor Recognition Awards for their outstanding performances in Dark Road

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