January 29, 2021
Dear Prospective Families,
During these challenging times, we recognize that some of you may have missed our application deadline in December. Please know that we continue to welcome you to submit applications for the following programs:
- Pre-Kindergarten 2021-22
- Junior Kindergarten 2021-22 or Early Decision for Senior Kindergarten 2022-23
- Regular Decision Senior Kindergarten 2021-22
To apply for admission, submit your application online via Ravenna. If you need assistance or have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to the Admissions Office at 773.681.8494 or admissions@shschicago.org. As always, we are happy to help!
Sincerely,
The Admissions Team
How Sacred Heart Tends to the Needs of our
Community Partners and Spreads Love
"Volunteers are love in motion!" The author of the quote may be unknown, but the meaning is clear—volunteering and serving others are actions rooted in love. Sacred Heart is committed to teaching both the head and the heart, and that's why the academics are rigorous, but students also learn about compassion and respect—for oneself and others. Community life, which includes teaching, are centered in love, and Sacred Heart has, as one of its five guiding principles, the value of service to others. Goal III states that: Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to a social awareness which impels to action. Social awareness is taught each day as students, faculty and staff try to live out the Goals.
Despite the pandemic, outreach efforts to the community continued at the school, and students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff all pitched in to help, along with fellow neighbors. Sacred Heart's Community Partners—Care for Real, Howard Area Community Center, Misericordia Heart of Mercy Home, Ten Thousand Villages (Evanston), Inspiration Cafe, Ignatian Services, Family Matters, Centro Romero, and Evangeline Booth Lodge and Family Shelter—are located on the northeast side of Chicago and serve some of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country. Typically, each 7th and 8th grade student is accompanied to a Community Partner site with one or two faculty members, staff or parents once a month to learn about the social justice issue the agency addresses. They also volunteer at that time. We invite you to learn more about Sacred Heart's program of service learning by clicking here.
Sacred Heart normally holds several drives throughout the year, and they were supplemented this year due to the pandemic. A household supply drive was set up by the Edgewater Community Religious Association (ECRA), with whom Sacred Heart has a longstanding and warm relationship. The drive was held on behalf of Care for Real, our Community Partner, which supplies food for more than 1.25 million meals each year and, in addition, offers a free clothes closet, supply items, a pet food pantry and support services. The drive took place at the nearby Ismaili Jamatkhana Center parking lot; several Muslim families send students to Sacred Heart, and Ismaili is represented at our annual Interfaith Prayer Service as well as at other events. Working again with Ismaili staff, Sacred Heart held a separate coat drive for Care for Real in which fall and winter outerwear, both for adults and children, were enthusiastically accepted.
Next, Sacred Heart held its annual fall food drive for Ignatian Services, and both preschool and SK-8 families filled the van with food and supplies at the preschool. Two high school alums took part in the food drive effort. Also, the Sheridan Road Alumni Association (SRAA) spent a day in October gathering adult and children's bicycles for "Working Bikes," which gives donated bicycles new life by redistributing them as tools of empowerment in local and global communities.
November presented many other opportunities to give back, including writing to soldiers for Veterans Day, which a group of senior kindergartners did—proving that one is never too old or too young to volunteer! At Inspiration Cafe (IC), each Thanksgiving dinner item was donated by SHS staff and families (see photo above); then it was cooked and served by IC staff for the participants, many of whom are homeless. When the call went out at Sacred Heart to provide sack lunches to Inspiration Cafe's clients, the response was immediate and overwhelming. Five hundred sack lunches were assembled by Sacred Heart families along with beautifully decorated paper sacks and notes.
Christmas or holiday time reveals abundant need during non-pandemic years, and COVID made family finances more dire. Usually, Sacred Heart students can be found at this time of year crafting blankets, knitting scarves and hats, collecting toys, and putting packages together for Howard Area Community Center (HACC) families who request assistance. This year, Sacred Heart bought 350 gift cards for children and food gift cards for 90 families, doubling the total gift cards usually given. All this was on top of the "First Friday Acts of Kindness" Day for students, which focuses on helping at home and at drive contributions.
In February, families will gather for a virtual afternoon of service supporting Cradles to Crayons, an organization that provides children from birth through age 12 with the essential items needed to thrive. Volunteers will be creating hygiene kits and well-wish notes for many local children.
Maria-Paz Salas, Coordinator of Service Learning and Community Partners, says, "What a year! Our Community Partners have struggled and shown resilience, hope, love and humility while helping thousands of people in our city. It is most inspiring to be in touch with our Partners and see how they are moving ahead, running this marathon with less help and more clients, all while continuing to teach us lessons of social justice."
Chat with Division Heads of
Lower (3-5) and Middle School (6-8)
Thursday, Feb. 4, 1 pm
Virtual Admissions Information Session
Wednesday, Feb. 10, 10 am
Chat with Division Heads of
Preschool (PK/JK) and Primary School (SK-2)
Friday, Feb. 19, 10 am
Talk and Tours
Offered most days that school is in session.
Are you following Sacred Heart Schools on Instagram and Facebook? Don't miss all the exciting events happening on Sheridan Road!
Sacred Heart is a Catholic, independent, PK-8 school that warmly welcomes children of all faiths. In Chicago since 1876 and
200 years around the world.
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6250 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60660
P: 773.262.4446 | F: 773.262.6178
www.shschicago.org