Congratulations to Yash ’22 whose poem “Alone” will be included in the Appelley Publishing 2022 Rising Stars Collection this spring! During a unit on John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, Yash wrote this poem based on a Dorothea Lange photo that expresses the struggle to achieve the American dream. We are proud of you, Yash!
Greetings Academy families and friends,
A blessed Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord to all. On this day in our faith tradition we recognize the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah, the Son of God to the gentiles . . . represented in the persons of the Magi. Not truly kings, the three visitors to follow the Star of Bethlehem at its rising include Caspar, an Ethiopian scholar, Melchior, a Persian scholar, and Balthazar, an Arabian scholar. These are the ‘wise men’ who came to pay homage to the Christ child Jesus and returned home ‘by a different way.’
In his homily today, Pope Francis called us each to consider where we are on our own personal journey of faith. The Pope cautioned that we cannot be content to live from day to day, with a slumbering spirit that fails to ask, “what God really wants from us.” He offered:
The Magi teach us that we need to set out anew each day, in life as in faith, for faith is not a suit of armor that encases us; instead, it is a fascinating journey, a constant and restless movement, ever in search of God, always discerning our way forward.
As we begin this new year, and we write “20 Ϯ C Ϯ M Ϯ B Ϯ22” on the lintel above our front door to commemorate this feast day, let us each commit ourselves to open the door to Christ, to His presence in our life, our relationships and the direction in which we journey in 2022.
Happy New Year,
Dr. Susan Dempf
Head of School
Dear Academy of the Sacred Heart Community,
We hope that you are enjoying this Advent season. On behalf of the Head Search Committee, we would like to provide you with a brief update on the search process.
Our search professionals from Educational Directions, Mathew Heersche and Risa Oganesoff Heersche, have been in the process of recruiting candidates. Their work has involved reaching out to Catholic educational leaders throughout the country and abroad, utilizing Educational Directions’ comprehensive database, contacting national and regional associations and professional organizations as well as leadership programs at various Catholic universities, and advertising in appropriate websites such as The Blue Sheet, an executive search report published by Educational Directions.
Dear Academy families and friends,
This has been quite a week at the Academy . . . we have celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and in doing so considered how each is given a purpose by God that is ours alone to do . . . for Mary it was to become the mother of the Christ child. What does God hold in promise for us? During this season of Advent, a season marked by waiting and hopeful anticipation, it is essential to still ourselves from the busyness of the secular season of Christmas in order to attune our hearts and minds to the coming of Jesus. This recalibration of our spiritual selves allows us to focus on that which is truly essential.
This morning our youngest learners in the Little Acorns and Pre-Primary classes offered their parents the gift of their Silver Tea performance. The story of the birth of Jesus was told by the children. There were kings and camels, shepherds and doves. Mary and Joseph and the angel Gabriel helped to remind all present of the true meaning of Christmas. It was a gift more precious than gold and frankincense!
The Academy’s Silver Tea tradition stems from the Sacred Heart practice of Feast Wishes. Historically, Feast Wishes were the presentations and special gatherings that students would provide in appreciation of the Religious of the Sacred Heart with whom they lived and studied. It is so appropriate that the Academy’s Silver Tea tradition is gifted to you the students’ parents . . . their first teachers. I hope that through each Silver Tea presentation you attend, or those that you recall from long ago, happy memories of the love and joy shared by your children are kindled.
I thank you for the many ways that your generous spirit is being made known through your attentiveness to our Adopt-A-Family project in the Middle School and the Primary and Lower Schools’ participation in the Toy Drive supporting Santa’s Helpers, Inc. And a special word of thanks to our alumni for your generous participation, along with current families, in our annual tradition of sharing Christmas Baskets with those experiencing need.
May the blessings of this season be with each of you,
Dr. Susan Dempf
Head of School
Dear Academy families and friends,
Last Sunday we entered into the liturgical season of Advent — a time when we as Christians ready ourselves to celebrate the coming of Christ into the world. It is a period of preparation and anticipation. In this first week of Advent we focus on hope — the hope for that which is yet to come, that which sits on the horizon, but is not yet within reach.
Hope supports the emotional well being of all. After a year of COVID precautions and separation, hope for a better day is essential. “Hope is seen as an active process of conscious and unconscious reasoning.” Hope is fueled by optimism and an outlook that each of us has the ability to bring about positive change for ourselves and for others. In this season of Advent, where are your hopes centered? This is a wonderful time of the year to reflect on this simple question.
One of our greatest challenges to experiencing a rich experience of hope comes from living in a world ripe with instant gratification and immediate response. One of my favorite spaces at the Academy is a small room on the second floor of the 1836 building — it once was the community room for the Religious of the Sacred Heart. In this little chamber I envision Philippine sitting by the hearth waiting for a response to one of her many letters to Madeleine Sophie. The patience and the trust she had, confident that a reply would come, is a lesson for us all.
Recently, I read a quote from Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ that connects with this season of anticipation of Christmas. Mother Stuart stated
Preparation is spoilt by impatience and want of resignation. If the vision make any delay, wait for it, for it will surely come and shall not tarry. Few things are so restless, unsatisfactory and useless as impatient waiting — especially following on hurried preparation, and one of the hardest gravest lessons is to learn to wait with patience and resignation. If Advent adds any of these qualities to our spirit of preparation, it will have been well spent.
In this season of anticipation, may you truly experience hope. May it linger in your heart and home across these weeks of Advent.
United on this journey,
Dr. Susan Dempf
Head of School
Third Class students visited Lower School classrooms to encourage support of their Toy Drive for Santa’s Helpers! Donations of NEW toys for any age or gift cards (at least $10 value) to purchase a toy are greatly appreciated. Once donations are collected, Academy teachers will wrap the toys.
Dear Academy families and friends,
Happy Feast Day… today we join with Sacred Heart students around the globe in celebrating our saint and friend, Philippine. This morning as I was getting ready for school I was thinking about how I have celebrated this feast in the past, whether as a student in my very itchy wool dress uniform on the Kenwood campus or as a Sacred Heart educator in Newton, MA or in Miami. I feel very blessed — we all are — to be in this holy place. To be where Philippine lived, prayed and dreamed. To be where Philippine struggled, failed and endured. I think one of the reasons why Philippine is so dear to us at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, whether student, teacher, alum or parent, is because she was very real.
She was not perfect, I am not perfect, no human is… but seeing how Philippine navigated her life, like the Mississippi River with its shifting sandbars and floating obstacles gives us hope — hope that we can do the same. Philippine continues to teach us to have courage and confidence. Courage to listen for the presence of God in our heart and confidence to act, to do something that answers the call that God has for each of us.
In a message to the Heads of Sacred Heart Schools received this morning from Sister Suzanne Cooke, Provincial of the Society of the Sacred Heart US-Canada Province, she stated:
“On this day when we acknowledge Philippine, we recognize that each human being is simultaneously grace filled and challenged by inclinations to fail to operate from this grace. The good news is that we are loved by God. If we can only trust this identity as God’s Beloved, we can overcome our frailty and our failures; we can and must work to build the Beloved Community as Jesus envisioned. Philippine’s words encourage to move forward confident in God’s mercy.
We cultivate a very small field for Christ but we love it,
knowing that God does not require great achievements,
but a heart that holds back nothing for self.
Let’s pray for one another and all with whom and on behalf of whom we serve. May our union of hearts rooted in mission be a source of life to our world.”
And so with those words in mind, let us all go forward on this Feast Day — parents, grandfriends, teachers, staff, alumni and Board members — to continue to cultivate this small field for Christ, this field of children before us…a field filled with hope and joy, promise and the capacity to serve the purpose that God has given to each, and without whom God’s work will go undone.
Happy Feast!
Dr. Susan Dempf
Head of School
The Academy community honored veterans with a touching Prayer Service planned by the Third and Fourth Classes. Several family members who are Veterans joined for the program, which included a flag procession led by the Scouts. Students shared heartfelt reflections, poems, prayers and songs.
Dear Academy families and friends,
As we turn our attention today to Goal V — Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom — these Criteria offer insight into ‘the why’ behind some of the practices supported at the Academy. Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ wisely offered the following:
There are two ways of educating: one, to give heart, mind, energy, everything to working for the children — doing things for them. The other, to try to teach the children to work for themselves. And this is the higher of the two. It requires more prudence, more foresight and there is less immediate return. We ought not to do things for the children which they ought to learn to do for themselves. We want to make them independent of us.
To this end, students and educators of the Sacred Heart “grow in courage and confidence as they discover new abilities, cultivate strengths, learn from mistakes, develop empathy and exercise resilience in meeting challenges.” Through trial and error, the scientist grows in understanding and the body of knowledge is advanced in their field of study. This is true for growing up as well! Life does not always present the perfect situations, children must learn to navigate the journey — a journey complete with mountains to climb and rivers to cross. “Initiative, creativity and agility” are essential skills that will be central to successful navigation of life.
The COVID-19 pandemic called for increasing reliance on technology as a primary mode of communication. The Criteria within Goal V call us to support the development of “safe, ethical and responsible use of technology.” So, too, it prompts us to “model and teach respectful dialogue in support of clear, direct, open communication.” The lessons learned in these areas will serve students well into their adult lives as technology continues to evolve and bring people and ideas together.
Yet another call to action brought forward under Goal V is an understanding of life balance. The pressures of adolescence are growing each year; this is brought on in part by the challenges faced in our communities and world. It is a privilege to listen to the prayers of our Academy students. They ask God for the protection of animals. They thank God for clean water. They recognize the needs of the homeless as the weather turns cold and seek ways to support these persons. These prayers are beautiful and bring much hope for the future. They also indicate that youngsters are not growing up in stress-free times.
The support of “a school culture that promotes spiritual, intellectual, physical and social-emotional well-being” is needed now more than ever. Teaching children and supporting the adult members of our community to model health and balance is a means of teaching strategies to support life-long wellness. So, too, does recognizing the needs of self and others support the development of transformative leaders.
For many, Goal V “Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom” is their favorite Goal. It allows each of us to strive, to stumble and to try again. It teaches ‘grit’ and perseverance . . . and in this home of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, whose feast we will celebrate on November 18, perhaps she serves yet again as our best inspiration.
United in mission,
Dr. Susan Dempf
Head of School
Dear Academy families and friends,
This week we continue our deep dive into the 2020 Goals & Criteria of Sacred Heart Education, specifically turning our attention to Goal IV – Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to the building of community as a Christian value. The ‘tagline’ of this goal ‘community’ is often first considered as the social opportunities membership in the Academy family affords. While this is important and helps to build camaraderie as well as shared bonds with both the Academy and other families, alumni, faculty, staff, Board members and friends, Goal IV challenges us to go beyond our first thoughts of this beautiful community of Christ’s heart.
Goal IV offers us a form of cultural norms and sets out for each of us a way of being and interacting. Starting from the most basic belief that all are created in the image and likeness of God, Criteria 1 calls us to “promote the inherent dignity of the human person” and asks us all to engage in relationships grounded in respect and inclusivity. As an outflow of that experience, Criteria 5 asks all members of our school community to “practice and teach the principles of non-violence and conflict management” in “a spirit of peace and reconciliation.”
School leadership is identified in Goal IV as a key player in the development of community as a Christian value through the Criteria calling for “a conscious effort to recruit students and employ faculty and staff of diverse races, ethnicities and backgrounds.” Likewise, socio-economic diversity is valued in the Criteria as the Academy is called to allocate financial resources that support this, both through admissions and the experience lived by our students.
Criteria 2 of Goal IV draws our attention to “educating all members of the school community to the charism, mission and heritage of the Society of the Sacred Heart.” Several weeks ago in Thursday Mail, I spoke directly to our understanding of Saint Madeleine Sophie’s charism to prepare us for a deeper understanding of this Criteria. The celebration of the Feast of Mater Admirabilis as well as the upcoming Feast of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne are also expressions of our engagement with our shared heritage.
Growing from our local community to a more expanded understanding of the community to which we belong, within Goal IV we, as a school, are asked to engage as a member of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools in the United States and Canada as well as those around the world. In today’s Thursday Mail you will hear of how the Academy hosted a gathering of the Society’s Provincial Team, Network Board Chairs and Trustees as well as the Heads of Sacred Heart Schools. We do this annually as the Academy of the Sacred Heart is the launching off point for the foundation of many other Sacred Heart Schools and the final resting place of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne who, along with her companions, brought Sacred Heart education to these lands.
In conclusion, Goal IV is rich in its direction for how we experience community and how we strive to extend ourselves outward from this historic campus.
Wishing you all a blessed week and a joyful celebration of the All Saints and All Souls feast days,
Dr. Susan Dempf
Head of School
Dear Academy of the Sacred Heart Community,
I am writing with an update on the search for our next Head of School with particular attention to the following:
