St. Thérèse Chapel and Academy is a Traditionalist Catholic

Traditionalist Catholic

Traditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholics who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgical forms, public and private devotions and presentations of Catholic teachings which prevailed in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council...

 church and children's school

Primary education

A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...

 in Nicholville, New York, operated by the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).

The parish community got started in 1986 with SSPX's Father Goettler saying Mass in Lawrence

Lawrence, St. Lawrence County, New York

Lawrence is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York in the United States. The population was 1,545 at the 2000 census. The town is named after William Lawrence, an early land owner....

 Town Hall. Education of children by the parish also began immediately. Once the parish grew to about 50 people, a temporary chapel was established in 1989. Construction of the academy building also began in October 1989.

The school building was finished in 1992 and opened with 20 students. In October 1997, the current church began construction, and the first Mass was celebrated in the new building on Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

Day, 1999.

Today, the school has an enrollment of about 50 students.