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Part of the “x” factor of a Sacred Heart school is that we belong to something larger than ourselves; we are part of a national and international network. Participation in this larger “something” forms us in our unique educational mission.

At this week’s meeting in St. Charles of the Heads and Board Chairs of Sacred Heart schools throughout North America, we talked about the many ways our faculty, staff and students can connect.  

The Head of School from San Francisco recently did a study of excellence in schools. She found that excellence in education is found not so much in our competitors down the street or across town, but across the ocean—meaning internationally. According to her research, the best reading performance happens in Finland, and the best math performance is seen in Japan. As she studied these “best” schools in the world, she discovered that the number one indicator of success in of all those schools of excellence was educating to a global perspective.

Sacred Heart schools have long had this perspective as part of our very being. That was joyfully reassuring to us, as I hope it might be to you!

Happy October,

Sister Glavin
 

Dear Parents,

This afternoon our Eighth Class students will lead our whole school community in an all-school prayer service. I am writing this before the prayer itself, but, the prayer has been inspired by a painting called “Mary, Undoer of Knots,” which shows Mary untangling a long ribbon, the symbolic action of which is evocative of smoothing life’s difficulties.

The painting hangs outside a church in Augsburg, Germany, where Pope Francis saw it before he was Pope (while studying in the mid-1980s). We know the painting is important to the Pope because when he was installed as auxiliary bishop in 1992, he distributed prayer cards featuring the image and, as pontiff, he had the image carved into a chalice that he presented to Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.  Referring to the “knots” encountered in everyday life, Francis said during a prayer in St. Peter’s Square:

Even the most tangled knots are loosened by (God’s) grace.

In honor of the Pope’s visit, artists in Philadelphia have constructed an exhibit outside the cathedral that will house more than 30,000 knots, each representing a personal hardship or societal challenge.

Uniting ourselves with those prayers in Philadelphia, we at the Academy have, under the direction of the Eighth Class prayer leaders and Religion teacher Kathleen Hammell, created prayer knots that have been hanging in Mater’s Hallway.

During the prayer, our knots will be untied by others and woven together as we pray for the knots in all our lives and in our world.

May Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray with us as we offer our lives’ knots up to the One whose Grace can loosen them.

In union with that One,

Maureen Glavin, rscj

Dear Parents,

As I continue to provide a peak into some aspects of Academy learning, let me introduce you to a unique enrichment experience which is provided to all of our First through Fourth Class students: Classroom Connections.

In Classroom Connections, Mrs. George creates an environment in which student learning is extended into high interest units such as Art History, Astronomy, Classical Music, Ornithology and Architecture. The program has been completely designed by Mrs. George, and with her passionate enthusiasm it reflects her lifelong love of learning that was inspired by her own Sacred Heart education here.

The focus in this semester’s Classroom Connections for 2nd, 3rd and 4th Class students is Art History. Mrs. George explains in her curriculum overview:

“The works of the masters will be studied, their stories told, and their paintings emulated. Each student will be the curator of his or her own art museum as well as a contributor to our own Lower School Museum. Not only will the students be immersed into the art of the masters, they will be encouraged to discover the artistic genius within each of them.”

This engaging class is a perfect example of classic Sacred Heart education! Mrs. George says, “Enrichment is about improving our lives; it’s about making all of us better people.”

May we all find opportunities to experience enrichment and, through that, may we all continue to grow into better people—students and adults alike!

Blessings on your week,

Maureen Glavin, rscj