About the Organization

Who We Are

We are alumnae of St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Freetown, Sierra Leone, currently residing in various parts of the Southeastern United States. Our goal is to support our secondary school in Sierra Leone so that it will continue to maintain the status of being one of the best secondary schools in the country.

The St. Joseph’s Secondary School Alumni Association Southeastern Branch is a non-profit group formed in May 2006 by a few of its alumnae residing in the metro Atlanta area. Together, with our counterparts in Freetown, Maryland, Texas, California, and the United Kingdom, we established a global collaboration group. To date, we have awarded academic scholarships, renovated staff rooms, replaced classroom furniture, and engaged in various building renovation projects for our beloved school.

Executive Team / Leadership

Our Mission Statement

To promote the advancement of St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Freetown, Sierra Leone through fundraising to provide scholarship opportunities, enhance staff training, and provide funding for curricular and co-curricular programs.

Our Objectives:

To provide educational materials, supplies, and equipment, needed to ensure the proper and efficient functioning of the school.

To improve the physical infrastructure of the school.

To provide academic scholarships and other financial assistance to students and teachers of the school.

To enhance, improve, and otherwise positively contribute to the well-being of the students, teachers and staff.

To plan and promote fundraising activities that benefit and increase awareness of the school.

To enhance communication between students, teachers, staff, and other representatives and associations of the school.

To enhance communication between our alumni association and other alumni associations of the school.
To encourage and foster closer contact and unity among alumni of the school and other alumni of secondary schools in Sierra Leone, with the goal to collectively improve the general educational standards in the country.

Alumni Group

History of St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Saint Joseph's was established in 1866 by the Sisters of St. Joseph de Cluny. St Joseph's Secondary School ranks among Sierra Leone's top five secondary schools in terms of academic and sports achievements.

Staffroom

The venerable Mother Anne Marie Javouhey was born in France and was the founder of the Catholic Order of St. Joseph’s de Cluny in Chamblanc, France. She traveled to French Guinea and Senegal to establish a mission presence and she focused on improving the hospitals.

She was asked by the Governor of British West Africa to come to Sierra Leone and establish the excellent social service systems for which she had become renowned in France and beyond. Due to a yellow fever epidemic in the area, she focused her efforts on tending to the sick and injured. She died in 1851 and was beatified on October 15, 1950.

Staffroom

Many years after the death of Ann-Marie Javouhey, the Sisters of the Order of St. Joseph’s of Cluny arrived in Sierra Leone. They were Roman Catholic nuns from Italy, Ireland, and France. They opened a day and boarding school for primary school girls at Howe Street, in the central part of Freetown, on the 8th December 1866 named St. Joseph’s Convent. The school provided much needed, quality education for girls in Sierra Leone. This institution developed into what is now known as St. Joseph’s Secondary School.

By the early 1900s, the school gained secondary school status. In 1927, “Convent”, as the school was affectionately known, gradually changed to a grammar school and sent its first candidate to the Senior Cambridge Score Certificate Exam.

Around 1929, the Sisters of St. Joseph’s of Cluny founded two schools for girls outside of Freetown, the schools were St. Joseph's Convent Bonthe and St. Joseph’s Convent Moyamba. A fourth St. Joseph's Convent was founded in Makeni in 1962.

Alumni Group

The current school buildings at Brookfields in Freetown were officially opened in February 1965 by the then Prime Minister of Sierra Leone, Sir Albert Margai. The first Sierra Leonean principal, Miss Florence Dillsworth, affectionately known as “Dilly”, was appointed in 1973. She succeeded Sister Teresa McKeon who was the last nun to serve as principal of the school.

The school celebrated 150 years of existence in 2016 with events organized by various St. Joseph’s alumni associations all over the globe. In 2021, as the school celebrates its 155 year anniversary, we find ourselves in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have developed innovative ways to fundraise virtually to assist the girls at our school.

Alumni Group

Some Distinguished Alumni

Josephine Cummings	1st alumni to play in a male brass band (St Edwards, Sierra Leone)
Gertrude Stephanopulous	1st Catholic female organist in Sierra Leone
Daphne Olu-Williams	1st female Commissioner of National Electoral Commission, Western Area, Sierra Leone
Toni French	1st female broadcaster of Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service
Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr	Mayor of Freetown
Fatima Bio	Current First Lady of Sierra Leone
Patricia Kabbah	Former First Lady of Sierra Leone
Hannah Momoh	Former First Lady of Sierra Leone
Florence Dillsworth	1st Sierra Leonean principal of the school and former Chairman of Freetown City Council
Isha Sesay	Former CNN International News Anchor, News and Documentary Emmy Award Nominee
Miatta Samba	1st Sierra Leonean female judge appointed to the International Criminal Court