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In order to meet the growing need for an alternative choice
of education for young women seeking a strong college
preparatory education in the Catholic tradition, Sacred
Heart Academy was founded September 9, 1946, by the Apostles
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who at that time were called
the Missionary Zelatrices of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The
school was established by Sr. M. Antonine Signorelli, who
envisioned, even as early as the 1940s, the growing need for
faith-filled, well-educated women in both the greater New
Haven area and the world in general. The school
establishment was approved by Archbishop Henry J. O'Brien of
Hartford and Diocesan Superintendent of Schools Rev. Francis
Heffernan.
Sacred Heart Academy was first located in New
Haven on Greene Street in the provincial house of the
Missionary Zelatrices of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with an
enrollment of 17 young women. The first few years were
marked by increasing enrollment and physical expansion.
There were three times as many students in the school's
second academic year as the first. In 1948 the school's
increasing enrollment necessitated the building of Clelian
Hall, a modern gymnasium. In 1957, the school relocated to
the same property as the new provincial house on Benham
Street in Hamden, its present location.
Further expansions
and renovations, initiated to meet the changing and growing
needs of the school, include the addition of administrative
offices, additional classrooms and faculty work rooms. In
1984, the Mary and James DiMeo Library and Fine Arts Center
was completed, providing the school a media center able to
house 40,000 volumes. In 1993 the administration added the
Macintosh computer labs. The Philip Paolella, Jr.
Recreational Center, which houses a newly renovated
gymnasium, music rooms and an alumnae room, was completed in
1996 with a fitness center added in 1999. In 1997 both the
integrated multimedia language lab and the Pentium computer
lab were completed as resources for the students. In 2003 a
new track was constructed. The success of these many
projects attests to the generous support of the Apostles of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the faculty and staff, the
Mothers' and Fathers' Clubs, the Alumnae Association and
many other benefactors throughout the years.
In 1949, the
school was accredited by the state of Connecticut as a
standard four year high school. The school was designated a
Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in
1992. In 1988, the school was accredited by the New England
Association of Schools and Colleges. The school remains
accredited by the NEASC. The school is a member of the
National Catholic Education Association, Connecticut
Association of Secondary Schools, and Connecticut
Association of Independent Schools.
As Sacred Heart Academy
grows, the warmth and concern which had been so much a part
of the early years endure, making that spirit a distinctive
characteristic of the school. Dedicated religious maintain a
strong presence within the educational facilities founded by
their congregation. Together with lay faculty and staff,
they continue the tradition of quality Catholic education.
Almost 5,500 young women have shared in the Sacred Heart
Academy experience, and the identity of the school has
remained the people who comprise it, who are faithful to its
past, committed to its present, and eager for its future.
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