Alverno Heights Academy

Alverno Heights Academy
Address
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200 North Michillinda Avenue Sierra Madre , (Los Angeles County) , California 91024 United States
Coordinates	34°9′57″N 118°4′0″W / 34.16583°N 118.06667°W / 34.16583; -118.06667Coordinates: 34°9′57″N 118°4′0″W / 34.16583°N 118.06667°W / 34.16583; -118.06667
Information
Type	Private, all-female
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1960
Head of school	Julia Fanara
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	180 (2014-2015)
Average class size	17
Student to teacher ratio	12:1
Campus size	13 acres (53,000 m2)
Color(s)	Royal blue and White
Athletics conference	Catholic High School Athletic Association
Sports	Cross Country, Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer, Softball, and Track and Field
Mascot	Jaguar
Team name	Jaguars
Accreditation	National Catholic Education Association, Western Association of Schools and Colleges[1]
Publication	Calliope (literary magazine)
Affiliation	Immaculate Heart Community
Website	http://www.alvernoheightsacademy.org

Alverno Heights Academy, formerly Alverno High School, is an independent, Catholic, College-prep high school for girls located in Sierra Madre, California, near Pasadena. The school is on the former Villa del Sol d’Oro estate.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Due to Alverno High's unique architecture and grounds the school has been used in many TV shows and movies, also weddings.^[7][8]

History[]

The school building and grounds, were part of Villa del Sol d’Oro, owned and built by Dr. Walter Jarvis Barlow and his wife Marion Brooks Barlow in 1924. Dr. Walter had architect Wallace Neff built the Italian Villa, completed in 1928. The Villa is a two-thirds scale replica of the 1534 Villa Collazzi near Florence, Italy.

1534 Villa Collazzi near Florence, Italy, inspiration for Villa del Sol d’Oro

The couple raise three children at the villa. Dr. Barlow was from New York and opened a tuberculosis sanatorium in Echo Park, Los Angeles in 1902, this later became the Barlow Respiratory Hospital. Dr. Barlow died in 1937 of tuberculosis. Five years after Walter died in 1942, Marion sold Villa del Sol d’Oro and its 13-acres to the Sisters of St. Francis, followers of St. Francis of Assisi. The Sisters hoped to use the Villa, now called "Provincial Center" as a convent. The convent wanted to provide education, childcare, and health care to the Catholic immigrant in and around Sierra Madre. The Sisters seeing a need for education for young women, started an all-girls high school originally called "Alverno Heights Academy". The Sisters started classes in 1960. The school added athletics and community service and other activities over the years. In 1978, the Sisters of St. Francis formally turned the school and property over to another religious order, the Board of the Immaculate Heart Community the current legal sponsors of Alverno.

In 1982-83, the exterior shots for the NBC TV mini series "V" made use of the school and Villa for the Alien headquarters.

In 2016 Alverno High School changed its name back to its original name Alverno Heights Academy.^{[9] [10]}

See also[]

• Episcopal Church of the Ascension (Sierra Madre, California)
• Old North Church (Sierra Madre, California)
• Sierra Madre Memorial Park
• Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery

References[]

External links[]

• Alverno Heights Academy
• Alverno High School at the Wayback Machine (archive index)