Report
The Ridge
December 2011
December offers time to reflect on all the good things December is a month when it’s natural to be reflective, especially for a Sacred Heart community. Our founder, Madeleine Sophie Barat, had a unique way of quieting herself in the midst of a tumultuous world (even in the 1800s!) and using spiritual reflection to discover what she was being called to do by the same God who moved her to form the Society of the Sacred Heart. She knew education was a key to success for young women in her world; she also knew infusing an educational program with an integrated spiritual experience would take learning beyond rote routine, books and memorization. For St. Madeleine Sophie, the girls’ education was an experience of God’s love for them, and through the learning process students learned not only about formulas and conjugations, but about themselves and God. And all of this was her passion at a time when educating women was seen as a luxury. While reflecting on all the good things that occur today on our campus, the one of which I am most proud is the attention we give to our mission as lived through the Goals and Criteria. We know that what we do and how we do it prepares our students well for whatever the future holds. We take young girls and form them into women of influence — women who will be called to lead. I see the confidence our graduates exhibit and am reminded constantly that we are held, rightfully, to a high standard. And we should be—since we are privileged to work with and offer this distinctive Sacred Heart education to young girls, each of whom will one day be, in the words of Maya Angelou, a “Phenomenal Woman”—
“ It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.”
Our students have that fire and flash, that swing and joy—and they are phenomenal. They are just what our foundress had hoped for when she launched her enterprise two centuries ago. This holiday season, take some time as a family to reflect on the incredible blessings you have been given and the outstanding opportunities you have been offered. Give thanks for the gifts that are truly meaningful in your lives. I hope our work with your daughters is counted high among those blessings; we certainly consider you and your family a gift to our community. My best to you and your families this blessed time of year. May all faiths come
together and celebrate in the words of Gerard Manley Hopkins:
Of her flesh He took flesh: He does take fresh and fresh, Though much the mystery how, Not flesh but spirit now And makes, O marvellous! New Nazareths in us, Where she shall yet conceive Him, morning, noon, and eve; New Bethlems, and he born There, evening, noon, and morn – Bethlem or Nazareth, Men here may draw like breath More Christ and baffle death; Who, born so, comes to be New self and nobler me In each one and each one More makes, when all is done, Both God’s and Mary’s Son.
Much peace to you and yours!
Mark Pierotti Head of School