The History of Sacred Heart

1876 -2010 SACRED HEART SCHOOLS: 134 YEARS IN CHICAGO

In 1876, just five years after the great Chicago fire, Mother Elizabeth Tucker and three other Religious of the Sacred Heart arrived here from St. Louis to open a school for young women.

They found a bustling town, intent on rebuilding, and moved into a small house on Dearborn Street, which their school quickly outgrew. The sisters joined the building boom, erecting a building on the corner of State Street and Chicago Avenue, adjacent to Holy Name Cathedral.  At this new facility, the Religious operated two schools. The Academy, which had an enrollment of approximately 100, and a parish school, known as the Cathedral School, whose enrollment soon swelled to more than 650. 

In 1904, the nuns were forced by overcrowding to relocate their schools to a large residence on North Clark Street.

In 1907, the Religious purchased twin houses on Pine Grove Avenue, only blocks from Lake Michigan and within walking distance of Wrigley Field.

Due to the burgeoning enrollment, the Religious decided in the spring of 1927 to build our current school building at 6250 North Sheridan Road.

The large double gymnasium, the Campbell Building, was added in 1967 and the Rosemont addition was built the following year. Sacred Heart then consisted of an all-girls high school, the Academy of the Sacred Heart, an all-girls elementary school and an all-boys elementary school, Hardey Preparatory.

In May 2004, a four-story, 33,000 sq. ft academic wing known as Sheridan South was dedicated by Francis Cardinal George. It added science and computer labs, a new library, multi-purpose meeting room, 12 classrooms and a rooftop playground.

Currently, Sacred Heart Schools enrolls 680 students in Kindergarten through 8th grade.

The Beginnings of Hardey Preparatory

In September 1929, a few boys joined the girls in the school. Soon, however, the parents of these boys began to desire the establishment of a boys school.

In 1935, Reverend Mother Hill established Hardey Preparatory School for Boys, named in honor of Mother Aloysia Hardey, one of the first and most influential American-born Religious of the Sacred Heart.