The first Spiritus Sanctus Academy opened its doors in the fall of 1995 at Dominos Farms in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Over the next several years 3 more Spiritus Sanctus Academies opened in the Ann Arbor and Plymouth areas.

The schools were established by Tom Monaghan (former owner and CEO of Domino’s Pizza and Catholic philanthropist) and sponsored by the Ave Maria Foundation. They were envisioned as small, faith focused and family oriented Catholic schools and initially were built to accommodate only 100 students each.

In 1997 the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist took over the administration of the schools and in 2004 the Sisters assumed outright ownership.

In 2004 the 4 small schools were merged into 2 schools each of which can accommodate approximately 220 students. This made the schools more viable without sacrificing the friendly, family focused character of the schools. The 2 Michigan Spiritus Sanctus Academies are in northeast Ann Arbor and just west of Plymouth.