July 31, 2023
"Carry on steadfastly and faithfully the work you have undertaken."
~ St. Angela Merici
Dear Sacred Heart Schools Community,
We are off and running on the Ursuline campus and eager to get the 2023-24 school year started. I want to wish a warm welcome to our new Sacred Heart Schools families and welcome back to our returning families. We have some exciting additions for this school year and look forward to the return of our students.
Our dedicated faculty and staff start their school year on August 1. This time before our students’ arrival is filled with professional development, planning, training, reviewing security measures, and our commissioning day. Thanks to all our administration who worked hard over the summer to prepare for an impactful and successful school year.
Our foundational aspiration statement in our strategic plan, “Sacred Heart Forever,” focuses on our Catholic identity and Ursuline charism.
Aspiration One: To purposefully engage students and our community in the Ursuline core values, in meaningful service to others, and in opportunities to experience our broader world more deeply.
The other four aspiration statements in Sacred Heart Forever build upon this foundational aspiration.
Before our students return each year, our campus staff gather for commissioning day. This year, our core values will be the day’s central discussion, including common definitions of each core value. This intentional focus on the core values led by our Office of Catholic Identity and Ursuline Charism and championed by our faculty and staff will trickle through each school, touching each student. Each of our values is woven together to empower the Sacred Heart community to live a Christ-centered life rooted in our Catholic faith and Ursuline tradition.
Reverence is at the heart of our actions resulting in mindful relationships built with compassion. We act with an abiding respect for God, ourselves, each other, and all of creation.
Service is born of reverence. It calls us to be intentional stewards and advocates who contribute to our common home and family. We collaborate with those we serve to address needs, making the world a better place.
Leadership is an act of service that positively shapes the community. We act as leaders by compassionately serving the needs of others, being risk-takers that go beyond expectations, and seeking to inspire.
Community is a fellowship of support and connection, where we call each other by name while serving our neighbors, peers, and the world through inclusivity, listening, and bridge-building.
As we strive to foster globally-minded, compassionate leaders in our students, we invite our families to embrace our core values too.
In addition to our intentional focus on the core values, our four schools have so much to celebrate as they begin their school year. Facility enhancements, new class offerings, and student life improvements have been part of the summer work of our administration, faculty, and staff. They each had the holistic education and well-being of their students at heart when planning and executing their respective changes.
Aspiration Five: To modernize our facilities and create innovative learning spaces which promote environmental sustainability and community engagement.
Aspiration Five of Sacred Heart Forever charged our administration to create innovative learning spaces and modernize our facilities, promoting environmental sustainability and community safety and engagement. Look for more information about each school’s specific initiatives in their upcoming newsletters and our Heartlight features – there are so many exciting changes to share.
Aspiration Five also set a path forward for updated security measures on campus. We have worked diligently to promote campus security, and thank you in advance for following the procedures put in place to keep our students safe. You will receive an email message from Paul Kichler, Vice President of Operations, detailing new campus security efforts for the 2023-24 school year in the coming weeks.
In addition to the many wonderful back-to-school events, please mark your calendars for an evening of community to meet parents, administration, and faculty at our cocktail gatherings for each school. We look forward to seeing you there.
Sacred Heart Preschool: Thursday, August 17, 2023, 5:30-7:00 at the Ursuline Motherhouse.
Sacred Heart Model School: Wednesday, August 23, 2023, 5:30-7:00 at the Olmsted.
Sacred Heart Academy: Wednesday, August 30, 2023, 6:00-7:30 at the Olmsted.
We look forward to a great year with our students and the entire Sacred Heart Schools community. See you soon!
Together in heart,
