History

In 2010, a small group of parishioners and friends worked together at the request of the principal of St. Jerome school, a diocesan K-8 program, to re-imagine Catholic education for its students. The result was the now nationally recognized Educational Plan of St. Jerome Academy (link to http://stjeromes.org/education/parish-school/curriculum). Three years later, with increasing enrollment and graduating students looking to their high school options, some of those same parents and friends, joined by new colleagues, came together to ask, What next?

None of the many excellent educational institutions in the Washington metro area, took the approach that SJA students were rapidly becoming accustomed to. Although SJA graduates were overwhelmingly successful in whichever schools they attended, there was an increasing interest from SJA families to see an option that carried on the intellectual and cultural values begun at the Academy. The St. Jerome Institute was born.

Over the following five years, the new curriculum committee drafted the high school section of the Educational Plan and began searching for funding, facilities, and staff to make the school a reality. In 2018, the school was founded. With the enthusiastic support of friends and donors in Washington, Maryland, and Virginia, the school opened its doors in Northeast DC in the fall of 2019 to an inaugural class of 15 students. St. Jerome Institute currently operates as a private, independent high school in Washington, DC.

We meticulously prepared every aspect of the school and carefully selected faculty and staff who embodied the virtues of faith, scholarship, and collegiality, and whose love for students makes SJI unique.