Sisters of St. Ann

Little Flower Academy is an independent, registered, charitable organization, owned and operated by the Jane Rowan Society. The Society was established in the early 1990s, at the beginning of the process of the Sisters of St. Ann winding down their operations in BC. 

 

The Sisters of St. Ann are the pioneer congregation of Catholic educators in British Columbia. This community, founded in 1850 by Blessed Marie Anne Blondin in Vaudreuil, Quebec, sent Sisters as missionaries to British Columbia in 1858. Over the next 160 years the Sisters of St. Ann opened and operated schools, hospitals and care facilities throughout British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.

 

At LFA, education is designed especially for girls and the way they learn. Curriculum is delivered within a culture that truly empowers girls to excel and the all-girl environment creates a strong sense of community.

 

The name of our school is taken from the affectionate title given to St. Theresa of Lisieux (1873 - 1897), the young Carmelite Sister known as St. Theresa of The Little Flower who was canonized by the Church in 1925.

 

St. Theresa, the patroness of our school, taught that "everything is grace" – God’s face and presence could be experienced in every person. St. Theresa has been acclaimed "the greatest saint of modern times". Pope John II declared St. Theresa a Doctor of the Church. Her feast day is October 1st.

The Sisters of St. Ann
You can read more about the congregation, their history and the work they're actively engaged in today on Sisters of St. Ann, Pacific Northwest website.

The Little Flower Academy community wants to express our collective and deep sadness and distress around the report of the discovery of the remains of 215 children buried on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Our particular thoughts and prayers are with the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, other affected indigenous communities, and with all that lost family members and loved ones. We also pray for the wisdom to learn from past mistakes and to find paths towards reconciliation.

As a school community, and like many schools across the province, we plan to use this devastating discovery to inform an immediate response in our teaching and learning to build a more just and compassionate society. It is our responsibility to teach the truth about the residential school system; to deepen our collective understanding of the inter-generational harm that the residential school system caused; to acknowledge the role of the Catholic Church within these schools; to contribute to the process of reconciliation and healing; and, to take action against the societal injustices that continue within our communities today.

We have a number of educational activities to respond directly to this most recent news, which will span the final weeks of school, including two Truth and Reconciliation Days of Learning. As more information about the Kamloops Indian Residential School becomes available, we will update our school communications and curriculum.