The charter authorizing the Institute Catholique to function as a corporation was received from the state of Louisiana in 1847, and the school opened in 1848, renting facilities in the Fauborg Marigny suburb just east of the French Quarter while awaiting construction of a permanent building on the land donated by Madame Couvent. Félice Coulon Cailloux, wife of André Cailloux, later a hero in the American Civil War, initially served as the principal of the school while it operated in temporary quarters.