Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart

Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart is a private, Roman Catholic, all-girls middle school and high school in Bellevue, Washington. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle.

Background

Forest Ridge was established in Seattle in 1907 as Forest Ridge Convent of the Sacred Heart by the Religious of the Sacred Heart. The school relocated to Somerset Hill in Bellevue in 1971. The 2007 to 2008 school year was the 100th school year at Forest Ridge and the graduating seniors will be the centennial graduating class. cite web|url=http://www.forestridge.org/newweb/ProsFamAdmission.htm|title=School History|accessdate=2007-05-11|author=FRSSH] Forest Ridge educates girls grades 5 through 12.During the 2007-2008 school year, which ended June 9, 2008, 367 students, 187 middle schoolers and 180 high schoolers, attended Forest Ridge. cite web|url=http://www.forestridge.org/newweb/ProsFamAdmission.htm|title=Questions and Answers|accessdate=2008-06-09|author=FRSSH]

Technology in the Classroom

In 1996 Forest Ridge was one of the first schools in the United States to participate in the Anytime Anywhere Learning program.Fact|date=August 2008 Each student and teacher has their own laptop for use in class and at home. As one of the pioneers in this 1 to 1 laptop learning endeavor, Forest Ridge has more than a decade of experience implementing the latest technologies into the learning environment. As of Fall of 2008 all students and faculty will be on the Tablet PC platform which allows even richer educational experiences through inking capabilities, paperless assignments and a more natural student interface. The school requires a standardized laptop for each student attending thus enabling more efficient and streamlined support for the 1 to 1 program. Forest Ridge now uses Lenovo laptop computers. Following the goal of "wise freedom," the school constantly monitors the students' internet usage, including emails and website searches.Fact|date=August 2008

Goals

As part of the network of Sacred Heart schools in the U.S., Forest Ridge follows a set of five goals and criteria:Fact|date=August 20081. A personal and active faith in God.2. Deep respect for intellectual values.3. A social awareness which impels to action.4. The building of community as a Christian value.5. Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom.

Uniform

Students at Forest Ridge wear a uniform Mondays through Fridays in middle school and Mondays through Thursdays in high school.Fact|date=August 2008 Worn on Mondays, some special occasions, and when a student has committed a uniform violation, "full dress" uniform consists of a black-watch plaid skirt, a white polo shirt, black or brown closed-toe leather shoes, forest green (navy blue for seniors) knee highs, and a forest green (navy blue for seniors) sweater. "Uniform options" are allowed Tuesdays through Thursdays for the high school and through Fridays for the middle school. These options consist of khakis, khaki capris, khaki shorts, cargo pants, white polos, forest green polos, navy polos for seniors, the blackwatch plaid skirt, khaki skirt for middle school students, white socks, and gray or green Forest Ridge sweatshirts. On Thursdays, high school students may wear sweatshirts from Forest Ridge clubs, sports, drama, or class spirit. High school students have free dress each Friday and middle school students the first Friday of each month. Students may also wear free dress on their birthdays.Fact|date=August 2008

Liturgy

Forest Ridge students attend either a liturgy or prayer service once a month. All students are required to attend even though only 38% of the student body is Catholic. In recent years, the school has made moves towards accommodating and respecting all faiths. Fact|date=August 2008

Drama

Home to the Lee Theatre, Forest Ridge offers drama to all students and requires high school students participate in at least one production before graduation. The middle school performs a straight show in the winter and a musical in the spring. During the 2007-2008 year, Forest Ridge Middle School performed "Alice in Wonderland" and "Honk!Jr." The high school performs a musical in the fall, a festival of One Act Plays (often directed by students, with some plays written by students), and a straight show in the spring. Forest Ridge High School performed "Singin' in the Rain" and "An Ideal Husband" during the 2007 to 2008 year, and featured three student-written plays in the annual One Acts Festival, two by Kenzie Day ('08) and one by Xanda Schofield ('09). As Forest Ridge is an all-girls schools, male roles are played by female actors in wigs and make-up. Performances are on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturday matinee and evenings for the high school and Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday matinees for the middle school.Fact|date=August 2008

ports

Forest Ridge offers soccer, cross country, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, track, tennis and golf. The school has a no-cut policy. The no-cut policy allows many first time players to make the varsity teams. Fan participation has been a constant struggle for the Forest Ridge athletics program. Although a few students attend games, the majority of the fan base consists of parents. During the 2007-2008 school year, the volleyball, soccer, and lacrosse teams all had successful seasons leading to playoff games. Unfortunately, both the soccer and lacrosse teams graduated more than 10 seniors, which constitutes 90% of the teams.Fact|date=August 2008

Conge

Conge is a special tradition that happens at all the networking Sacred Heart schools around the world. A day without classes, a conge is a special surprise celebration for the students that happens twice a year. One conge, often off-campus, is planned by the ASB officers and another, often on-campus, by the senior class.Fact|date=August 2008

Lounge

The Forest Ridge high school lounge now resides in the new high school building. The lounge has four separate areas, one for each grade. Even the Senior lounge, the largest of the four, holds only a fraction of the Senior class. The Freshman resort to using the hallway next to the fire exit, rather than trying to inhabit their official space (read: cubbyhole). Most students have lockers in the lounge or the hallways nearby. However, few students actually use their lockers, preferring to store their books and gear on the floor.Fact|date=August 2008

The Ravens Nest

The Forest Ridge school store, recently renamed The Ravens Nest, offers the students a wide variety of school paraphernalia. The new store now sits in the old weight training room. Run by parent volunteers, the store sells everything from Forest Ridge water bottles and bumper stickers to Ravens teddy bears and booty shorts. The students are always excited about the new (and surprising) Forest Ridge branded items.Fact|date=August 2008

The FRidge

The FRidge is Forest Ridge's food program, served in the Commons. The homemade soups are so popularfix |link=Wikipedia:Avoid weasel words |text=weasel words |title=Who says this? |date={date|} |cat= that the kitchen frequently runs out of bread bowls. The Fridge often likes to prepare foreign cuisine for the students, including pad thai, chicken marsala, and rice crispy/fruit-by-the-foot sushi rolls. Several times each year, the Fridge offers father-daughter and mother-daughter breakfasts. Coinciding with the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year, the FRidge. is spearheading the school's focus on being a "Green School" now and into the future. Did we fail to mention how expensive the Fridge is? Try 7-15 dollars a day for lunch. A small brownie is $1.75Fact|date=August 2008

ocial Life

There exists a commonFact|date=August 2008 misconception that O'Dea (the local all-boys school) and Forest Ridge organize social events together. This is not true, as O'Dea is affiliated with Holy Names instead. Forest Ridge is known, therefore, for having fewer social opportunities. For example, during the 2007-2008 school year, only 8 students attended the St. Patrick's Day Dance, including 3 of the 4 ASB officers. Students who wish to interact with students from other schools must create their own opportunities, or take advantage of what the school does offer, including the dances, and especially, the prom.Fact|date=August 2008

External links

* [http://www.forestridge.org/ School Website]

Notes and references