Celebrating Over 150 Years in Brownsville with Over 100 Years of Marist Presence.

Founded in 1865 by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Saint Joseph Academy opened and closed several times in its earliest years. In 1906, Marist Brothers from Mexico arrived and assumed operation of the school. It initially operated as an elementary school for boys. By 1916, the Academy accepted boarders and in 1926, the three-story building, known as the “Old Saint Joseph Academy”, was constructed on a site where the International Bank of Commerce now stands in downtown Brownsville. In 1930, the first high school students were graduated. In 1940 the Sisters of the Holy Ghost assumed operation of the elementary school. The new campus on its present location was opened in 1959, and served boys in grades 7 - 12.

In 1971, the school became coeducational, accepting its first female students in grades 7, 8 and 9. From the late nineteen-seventies until present, the school has undergone a gradual process of growth and transformation evident in the expansion of its student body and the improvement of its programs and facilities. In August 2005, the Academy opened the new Middle Division Building, designed to meet the educational and developmental needs of its middle division students.

Mission Statement

Conducted by the Marist Brothers of the Schools and serving the children of the lower Rio Grande Valley, Saint Joseph Academy provides religious and moral formation and a college preparatory education in the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church.

It endeavors to form young men and women who will succeed in university studies, who know and love Jesus, and who actively participate in the worship and mission of the Church, including the Church’s preferential option for the poor.

Saint Joseph Academy creates a community of lifelong, faith-filled learners who are prepared to take their places as enlightened, educated members of a complex, diverse society.

Saint Joseph Academy's Marist Community is committed to fostering excellence in the development of mind, body, and spirit through a partnership made up of families, faculty, school board and staff, offering a challenging curriculum, infused with Gospel values, that engages an academically diverse student body.