Sacred Heart Academy is an all-girls Roman Catholic high school in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville consists of twenty-four counties in Central Kentucky, USA, covering . It is the seat of the Metropolitan Province of Louisville, which comprises the states of Kentucky and Tennessee...

.

History

In 1535, in Brescia

Brescia

Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

, Italy, St. Angela Merici

Angela Merici

Angela Merici, or Angela de Merici, was an Italian religious leader and saint. She founded the Order of Ursulines in 1535 in Brescia.-Life:...

 established a group of women dedicated to teaching young girls.

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 acres (194,249.3 m²) campus with the Sacred Heart School for the Arts.

Extracurricular activities

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

Sports

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 (led by Morgan Jones), 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, lacrosse, bowling and rowing which are not sanctioned by the KHSAA and are termed "club sports."