Institut Sankt Joseph was established November 17, 1858 by the St. Joseph Sisters Society, which governed the school until March of 1976. The school was started as an all girl´s academy, and stayed that way until 1968, when boys were also admitted. The school’s main building was built in 1914-15, and in 1928 the building underwent a major expansion, wherein a physics and biology lab were added. The building was designed by architect Christian Mandrup-Poulsen, who also designed the sisters’ convent, and Jeanne d’Arc School.
The Catholic-humanistic values that inspired the sisters to create the school over 150 years ago, live on today in the daily activities and the overall educational and formational mission of the school.
In 1945, Jeanne d’Arc School, the sister school of Institut Sankt Joseph Copenhagen, was mistakenly bombed by allied pilots. Following this tragic event, Institut Sankt Joseph received many of the students who had previously attended the now bombed-out school. Therefore, an annex building and new gymnasium became a necessity, and were built in 1950. In 1972, The statue of Joan of Arc, which formally lay in the facade of the school ruins in Frederiksberg, was moved to Skt. Joseph’s schoolyard and remains there as a reminder of our solidarity with the former school. Institut Santk Joseph´s After School Program (SFO), the first of its kind in Copenhagen, was created in 1981. Furthermore, a new gymnasium was erected in 1982.
At the school we are very proud of the tradition that we have inherited from the St. Joseph Sisters. Thus, we not only want to be a modern school in terms of e.g. pedagogy, teaching materials and IT – but also maintain and continue the sisters’ vision for a world class school for all.
The school has come a long way since its original founding as a French inspired all-girls school. Today the school is rooted firmly in the Danish school tradition, and has an even mixture of boys and girls from diverse backgrounds. In addition, the school, opened an International Bilingual Department in August of 2014. The Catholic-humanistic values that inspired the sisters to create the school over 150 years ago, live on today in the daily activities and the overall educational and formational mission of the school.