Sacred Heart Academy (Louisville)

Sacred Heart Academy

Superintendent / Principal Administrator	Dr. Beverly McAuliffe
School type	Private
Location	Ursuline Campus, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Founded	1877
Grades	9-12
School colors	Navy blue, white, and red
School mascot	Valkyrie
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic

Sacred Heart Academy is an all-girls Roman Catholic high school in Louisville, Kentucky. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville.

History

In 1535, in Brescia, Italy, St. Angela Merici established a group of women dedicated to teaching young girls. She called this group the Company of Saint Ursula and placed it under the patronage of Saint Ursula, a 5th century virgin and martyr, who was revered in St. Angela's day as patroness of young women and of education. From Italy, the Company, called Ursulines, spread to many other countries.

The Ursulines came to Louisville in 1858 from Straubing, Germany at the request of Bishop Martin Spalding of Louisville. In 1877, they opened Sacred Heart Academy as a boarding and day school for boys and girls in grades one through eight and for girls in grades nine through twelve. During the 1920s, the lower grades became a separate school taking the name of Sacred Heart Model School. In 1990, the two schools as well as three other schools on the campus, Sacred Heart Montessori Pre-School, the Sacred Heart Child Development Center, and the Sacred Heart School for the Performing Arts, were separately incorporated as the Sacred Heart Schools on Ursuline Campus, sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters.

Accomplishments

*Nationally Recognized Blue Ribbon School of Excellence twice (1998, 1999)
*Sacred Heart celebrated its 130th birthday in 2007.
* As of 2006, SHA has had over 320 National Merit Finalists and Commended students.
* SHA is the only Catholic high school and one of four high schools in the state of Kentucky to offer the International Baccalaureate Program. IB students receive specialized diplomas and advanced standing at many colleges and universities.
* Since 2001, 82 SHA graduates have earned the International Baccalaureate (I.B.) diploma.
* Yearly, SHA students are named Governor's Scholars and selected for participation in the Governor's School for the Arts.
* In 1998, a Sacred Heart alum was one of 32 Americans to be named a Rhodes Scholar, one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world.
* Two SHA alums have been named Truman Scholars.
* 85% of the SHA faculty have masters degrees or beyond.
* SHA offers multiple academic levels to meet students' individual needs.
* 99% of SHA students go on to higher education, and are accepted annually by hundreds of colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada.
* SHA offers students with special learning needs the assistance of a learning differences coordinator, student tutors, reduced class sizes, flexible testing methods, special seating arrangements, and frequent progress reports upon request.

Visual Arts
* Students at the Academy have access to one of the region's most comprehensive visual arts programs and facilities within the school's new Art, Media, and Technology Wing. Visual arts students enjoy the school's new photography dark rooms, kiln and pottery area, an art studio and gallery showplace, as well as the latest technology and equipment for graphic design, videography, animation, and Web design.
* Annually, SHA art students are awarded Gold, Silver, and Honorable Mention awards in the regional Scholastic Competition, a nationally-sponsored program.
* In the Derby Regional All-State Show and the Derby Region Scholastic Show, SHA students have consistently won numerous awards.
* An Academy student was one of the top 100 finalists in the IMATION national computer art scholarship competition.
* Murals created by the Academy's art students are featured throughout Louisville, including the Hyatt Regency downtown, Kosair Children's Hospital, and Bittner's.

Performing Arts
* SHA students are regularly selected for Kentucky's All-State Chorus and the Governor's School for the Arts.
* The SHA Madrigals are in high demand in the community and have performed with the Louisville Orchestra, at the Louisville International Airport, at Actors Theatre of Louisville and for the Louisville Arts Society, and at the Ohio Renaissance Festival.
* SHA choirs travel and perform across the United States and Canada in choral competitions.
* The Academy's A Cappella Choir was the only group selected to sing for a nationally-televised M.A.D.D. memorial.
* SHA students have the opportunity to enrich their lives through music, dance, and drama in cooperative programs on the 48 acre campus with the Ursuline School for the Performing Arts.

Miscellaneous:

*Average ACT score:
*Average SAT score:

Extracurricular activities

There are over 50 clubs and activities in which students can participate.

ports

Sacred Heart Academy's athletic program has a long and glorious tradition of excellence and achievement in girls' high school sports with more than 70 state athletic titles, more than any other girls' program in Kentucky. Sacred Heart Academy offers students the opportunity to participate in high school athletics and be a part of the school's heritage. More than 60% of SHA students participate in 14 sports including basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, softball, tennis, track and volleyball, which are sanctioned by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) and cheerleading, dance, step team, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, bowling and rowing which are not sanctioned by the KHSAA and are termed "club sports."

*The Sacred Heart Cheerleaders have won multiple national titles in the past five years.
*Twenty-one state swim titles rank SHA fifth in the nation for state swim titles, according to the National Federation of State Diving and Swimming Associations. Three SHA Alumnae have gone on to swim in the Olympics.
*2006 bowling state champs
* The varsity basketball team won back to back to back, 2002, 2003 and 2004 KHSAA State basketball championships, for a total of 4 state basketball titles. The Valkyrie basketball team has won 3 straight Louisville Invitational Titles, the city's most competitive tournament. The tournament was started by former Sacred Heart coach and athletic director Bunny Daugherty.
* Sacred Heart's cross country team won its 5th state title, most recently capturing the 2003 and 2004 state cross country championships.
* Sacred Heart's soccer team won the 2003 State Soccer Championship and was runner-up in 2002 and 2006
* Sacred Heart’s field hockey team won the 2001 state field hockey championship and was runner-up in 2003 and 2004.
* SHA's cross country, swimming, and track programs have a no-cut policy and are available to any student who wishes to participate.
* Sacred Heart is one of the only girls' schools in the region to offer on-site training and regulation sports facilities to almost all of its teams, with the exception of swimming, golf, rowing, and bowling.
* In 1999, SHA built a 750-capacity gym, serving as the site for indoor athletic events and physical education classes.
* Sacred Heart's field hockey team won the 2006 state field hockey championship and finished with a 28-0 season winnings.
* Students enjoy well-maintained fields for softball, field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse, an eight lane track, two field houses, and a five-court tennis complex.
*Sacred Heart's field hockey team most recently won the 2007 State Tournament, and for the second year in a row was undefeated. The seniors on the team have never lost a game on their freshmen, JV, and Varsity teams.
*2007 State Soccer Champs
*2007 State Tennis Champs
*2008 Swimming Runner-up in State
*Sacred Heart's field hockey team won the Apple Tournament for the 5th year in a row, and now has been on a winning streak for over two years

Notable alumnae

*Anne Northup, former representative and current candidate, United States House of Representatives
*Mary T. Meagher, Olympic swimmer.
*Caroline Burkle, Olympic swimmer.
* Lexy Scheen, Cheerleader for University of Florida
*Jennifer Carpenter, actress.

External links

* [http://www.sacredheartacad.com/ Sacred Heart Academy website]