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We care deeply about Excelsior, about reaching higher in all things spiritual, academic, and in the community. We keep our mission before us always. Sr. Mariette Moan, ASCJ, ’77 Director of Alumnae Relations
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acred Heart Academy believes in young women. We believe in their capability and their leadership. We believe in their intelligence and their tenacity. We believe in
possibilities; we believe our students can do anything they set their minds to.
As a Catholic school, we are called to a higher standard. We believe in God. We educate young women as we form them into the people God meant for them to be by using their undiscovered talents. With this whole-person approach — integrating mind, body, and spirit — we set graduates on their lives’ paths, challenging them to make the world around them a better place.
This is Excelsior, ever higher, in action.
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e strive to live Excelsior in our rigorous academic program and our pursuit of excellence in the arts, athletics, and spiritual formation. In this quest, we compete only with ourselves; our aim is to achieve our personal best.
Now, after years of blessings and careful stewardship, the time has come for us to reach ever higher and expand our physical space — our school building. To that end, we undertook a cleareyed assessment, gathering information from experts, and found there are enhancements we must make to prepare our students and our community for the challenges of scholarship, service, and citizenship in the 21st century.
And so, we are launching Ever Higher: The Campaign for Sacred Heart Academy and reaching out to you — alumnae, parents, grandparents, and friends. We ask you to join this effort to ensure that this remarkable school, and her graduates, continue to reach ever higher.
Dreaming
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This is the right time for Sacred Heart Academy to enter into a campaign. With the extensive planning that has been done, all the right things are in place to make it a success. Karen Harris, FP ’10 Chair, Advisory Council
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ver Higher: The Campaign for Sacred Heart Academy has been years in the making. The effort finds its roots in Building on Excellence, the four-year plan begun in 2011 and spearheaded by the Academy’s first president, Sr. Sheila O’Neill, ASCJ, Ph.D., ’71. One of
the priorities of Building on Excellence was the creation of a campus master plan — a thoughtful effort that considered programmatic needs and the resulting space requirements.
With input from key stakeholders, the final campus master plan was presented to the Advisory Council in spring 2015. While exciting, this plan is by no means extravagant. It does not change our mission, purpose, or size; the proposed improvements and additions will strengthen our program across the board.
The Advisory Council and Board of Directors approved the plan with the goal of fully executing it within a decade. The work will be accomplished in phases. Phase I will begin with energetic fundraising during the next year; Phases II and III will follow with the enthusiastic support of alumnae, parents, grandparents, and friends.
Today
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Each year at Open House, I’m struck by the atmosphere and love of school emanating from our students… something incoming students can sense the moment they walk in.
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Elizabeth Christophy, Ph.D. Faculty member, Science Department
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acred Heart Academy is a true community, a home away from home. Phase I of Ever
Higher is all about enhancing this sense of community by building a new wing that will be an educational, social, and cultural hub.
Plans call for the new wing, or “school center” as we are calling it, to be constructed in front of the existing building, connecting the Philip Paolella, Jr. Recreational Center and the original main entrance. This addition will create a striking new entrance, fitting for a school of our caliber. Importantly, visitors will enter in full view of a relocated main office, a necessity today for safety and security.
The new school center will be a natural gathering spot for students before, after, and between classes. With a new student lounge, these spaces will encourage spontaneous collaboration where the kismet of students bumping into each other will generate ideas, projects, and activities.
The school center will be the true heart of the school for students and parents, prospective students and families, as well as alumnae. In addition to the main office, visitors will conveniently find the president’s office and the offices of admissions and alumnae. Conference rooms will provide much-needed meeting space for alumnae, academic departments, the Advisory Council, and Mothers’ and Fathers’ Clubs, among other groups.
The relocated offices will have a domino effect, freeing up rooms throughout the school for use by faculty to tutor students and conference with parents, and for student clubs to meet. Such flexible space is currently at a premium. Topping the new student center will be a green roof, also known as a “living roof,” which is both functional and attractive; it reduces storm-water run-off and lowers cooling costs all while being beautiful.
Together, the benefits of Phase I will be greater than its individual parts. The school center will improve security with a single, properly monitored entry point. It will support admissions, providing a welcoming experience for prospective families. And, as the school’s heart, it will enrich our culture and sense of community by improving accessibility for those who are disabled and creating accommodating spaces for all constituents to interact.
Phase I
Tomorrow
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Here, students learn they’re connected to something bigger than themselves. Our graduates are value-filled, they have integrity, they are the strong leaders of tomorrow. Our world needs that. Elaine Lamboley ’60 Director of Admissions
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hases II and III, more ambitious and far-reaching than the new school center, will be undertaken based on the community’s response to Phase I. Future plans include expanding the cafeteria by flipping its orientation from horizontal to vertical. This shift
would create a number of new classrooms for fine arts, small offices for faculty, and a spacious atrium used for large gatherings and concerts.
Also on the drawing board is a new building that would house a larger student commons, a faculty commons, and a theater classroom with practice stage. These spaces would greatly expand opportunities for faculty and student collaboration. Our sports program would also benefit; former music classrooms would be repurposed for athletics, transformed into coaches’ offices and a visiting team locker room.
Reaching
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‘Ever higher’ affects everything we do. It’s a lived experience, not just words. This campaign will enable students to live Excelsior every day.”
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Sr. Sheila O’Neill, ASCJ, Ph.D., ’71 President
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he Academy’s foundress, Sr. M. Antonine Signorelli, ASCJ, could not have imagined the way her school would evolve, with laboratory instruments to sequence DNA, the addition of engineering classes, and students’ ability to earn college credit through
UCONN’s Early College Experience. Our talented students are regularly among the ranks of National Merit Scholars and are admitted to an impressive list of colleges.
While Sr. Antonine may not have imagined it, chances are she would not be surprised. Sr. Antonine, after all, embedded Excelsior into Sacred Heart Academy’s very foundation. She would have expected her sister Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to continue to reach ever higher.
That is what this campaign will do. By joining together to succeed in Ever Higher: The Campaign
for Sacred Heart Academy, alumnae, parents, grandparents, and friends will secure the school’s legacy of excellence. Together, we will ensure that the Academy continues to educate women who make the world a better place — women of integrity, compassion, and intelligence — who are able to live Excelsior every day. Join us!
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Sacred Heart Academy 265 Benham Street ı Hamden, CT 06514-2801 ı 203.288.2309 ı www.sacredhearthamden.org