Amid Catholic Schools Week, Sacred Heart Schools is excited to share that we have financial commitments for the Office of Catholic Identity and Ursuline Charism, totaling $1 million. As a community of Catholic schools rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Ursuline charism, we are called to educate our students, faculty, and staff through the work of this Office.
President Dr. Karen McNay and the SHS Advancement Office, with the support of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, worked to secure these gifts to endow the Office of Catholic Identity and Ursuline Charism in perpetuity.
Sacred Heart Schools’ strategic plan for 2022-2026, Sacred Heart Forever, began with this aspiration: To purposefully engage students and our community in the Ursuline core values, in meaningful service to others, and in opportunities to experience our broader world more deeply.
The following goals supporting that aspiration prompted the creation of the Office of Catholic Identity and Ursuline Charism to ensure these values and beliefs are engaged throughout the schools.
To enhance learning experiences that shape and form moral leaders with expanding world views.
To strengthen the SHS community’s understanding of how the Gospel and Ursuline Charism animate the Ursuline Core Values and our activities.
To grow the SHS community’s understanding of meaningful service as mutually beneficial activities that embrace the dignity of every human and build community.
To build upon and integrate within all schools the teaching mission of Jesus and the inspiration and witness of the Ursuline Sisters’ legacy and mission.
To deepen the SHS community’s understanding and practice of Reverence as an opportunity to see and engage in the world more broadly.
Created in July 2022, the Office is staffed and operating, working through formation with the faculty and staff and serving the 1,850+ Sacred Heart Schools students.
- Faith formation for faculty and staff with the Ursuline Sisters
- Saint Angela Retreat series for all SHS employees
- Weekly campus communications, including Mission Monday messages, campus prayer intentions, and Catechetical Moments.
- Continued Catechesis of the Good Shepherd programming, Mass and prayer service planning, welcoming of guests, such as Archbishop Fabre, and partnering with the schools in myriad ways.
At the announcement of the Office, President Dr. Karen McNay said, “The strategic importance of this office moving forward is immeasurable. The Louisville community has been taught and served by the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville for generations. Our duty and privilege are to continue to carry their mission into the future.”
Sister Jean Anne Zappa, OSU, President of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, added, "Since 1858, the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville have supported the mission of Catholic education. As the founders of Sacred Heart Academy in 1877 and the sponsors of Sacred Heart Schools since 1990, the Ursulines have been active in many ways in these schools—by our presence in the classroom, serving on committees, the board of trustees, and gifts of support.
For 145 years, we have been blessed by the leadership, teaching mission, and devotion to the Catholic faith of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville. This Office will ensure that legacy is steadfast and strong for generations of Sacred Heart Schools students.