OUR HISTORY
OLM Preparatory Academy is located in Madison, CT and has been providing excellence in education since 1954 as the successor school to Our Lady of Mercy School. In 1954, the Sisters of Mercy began an independent private school, unaffiliated and separate from the archdiocese and the local parish, grade by grade in the Emanuel House, which existed on the grounds of the Mercy Center. A larger building was built for their school on Neck Road in Madison in 1962 and was called Our Lady of Mercy Country Day School. This was a novitiate for the Sisters of Mercy, as they were a teaching order where the novices taught the students in the Catholic-based tradition to be “Christ in the World”.
Throughout the years, these students consistently excelled, academically placing at many fine secondary schools, such as Choate Rosemary Hall, Hamden Hall, Hopkins Day School, Portsmouth Abbey, Pomfret, Sacred Heart Academy, Mercy High School, Laurelton Hall, Notre Dame, Xavier, Miss Porter's School, as well as enrolling in the public high schools in their respective towns. The school shortened its name to Our Lady of Mercy School. OLM thrived at its Neck Road location and developed a reputation for welcoming all families along the shoreline who desired strong academics in a faith-based environment for their children.
The Archdiocese of Hartford took over the school from the Sisters of Mercy in 2006, when the school became a parochial/parish school controlled by their education department. In January 2018, the archdiocese decided they no longer wanted a Catholic school in Madison. The school building on Neck Road was closed and eventually removed so that more green space could complement the Sisters of Mercy’s retreat ministry.
A large group of dedicated OLM parents, alumni, faculty and supporters did not want to see the history and spirit of OLM end and desired to keep a Catholic-based school in Madison, CT. For six months, they worked hard to raise capital, hire a principal and teachers, find a building, and build a curriculum that mirrored the excellent instruction and the core religious values that existed at OLM on Neck Road. On September 4, 2018, Our Lady of Mercy Preparatory Academy (OLM Prep) opened its doors in Madison, CT as the successor school to OLM School.
The OLM Strong Foundation purchased the closed public school building at 20 Island Ave in Madison, so that OLM Prep would have a permanent home. The property includes over 36,000 square feet of building space and 8.62 acres of residential land within a block of the CT shoreline. Since its 2018 opening, the school’s enrollment and prominence has steadily grown over the years and it proudly received NEASC accreditation in February 2026. While OLM Prep operates as an independent private school with no affiliation to any archdiocese or parish, the school has a strong Catholic identity which is evident throughout the school.
OLM Prep remains committed to serving families on the CT shoreline who desire academic excellence and Catholic-based values in a community that celebrates the joy of childhood. We are proud to be continuing the strong history of faith, integrity, service, and teaching that the Sisters of Mercy began many decades ago.