Louisville, Kentucky, December 2, 2025 – Long before they can drive or even hold a job, some
local middle school students are already developing new ways to make their community better.
Forty eighth grade students at Sacred Heart Model School (SHMS) have completed their work in
the school’s “L8 Community Project.” Students developed their own innovative programs and
products to support 20 different agencies over the past year, and the school will celebrate the
results at the Community Project Showcase on Thursday, December 4th.
“This is about more than service,” said Tricia Forde, Assistant Principal of SHMS. “These
students have designed their own solutions to community needs or problems - something that
required them to develop new knowledge, skills and talent.”
SHMS is the only Catholic school in Kentucky offering both the International Baccalaureate (IB)
Primary Years and Middle Years Programme, and service hours are part of graduation
requirements. The Community Project goes beyond IB’s requirements, by incorporating Sacred
Heart’s Ursuline Core Values of reverence, service, leadership, and community.
“What makes this program so special is that it embraces our Ursuline identity,” said Leah Huber,
Principal of SHMS. “It asks our students to be leaders who show reverence to God’s creation
through service in their community. In the words of Saint Angela Merici, we want our students to
‘Do something, get moving and risk new things.’”
The process begins in Spring, when 11 community agencies are invited to SHMS for a
community agency fair. Level 7 students meet and interview the participants, and then research
both the agencies and community needs. Working alone or in groups of up to three, students then
design a project proposal, either for one of the invited agencies or another they may have passion
for. Once an agency accepts the proposal, students begin work, with the efforts continuing
through the summer and into the fall of their Level 8 (final) year at SHMS.
Students navigate all aspects of community service over the course of the project. For instance,
while fundraising cannot be the ultimate goal of a project, students can write a proposal for a
“grant” of up to $30 from Sacred Heart’s Jean Frazier Leadership Institute.
The Community Project has been part of the SHMS curriculum for more than a decade, growing
into its current version five years ago. Since then, students have created projects for an average
of 15 agencies per year.
This year’s projects include:
• A tool collection for Common Earth Gardens, a project of Catholic Charities which
empowers refugees and immigrants to put farming skills to work. Students interviewed a
participant so they could share stories at their collection event.
• A tool collection for Common Earth Gardens, a project of Catholic Charities which
empowers refugees and immigrants to put farming skills to work. Students interviewed a
participant so they could share stories at their collection event.
• A student who learned to sew so that he could make totes for children shopping at Hope’s
Closet.
• Students crocheted stuffed animals and then wrote stories with the animals as the main
character for children at Down Syndrome of Louisville.
• Multiple hours spent crocheting sweaters for veterans’ dogs through Seargant’s Army.
• A one-day basketball camp for children at Volunteers of America.
• Developing and leading a wheelchair volleyball program at Nazareth Homes.
Closet.
• Students crocheted stuffed animals and then wrote stories with the animals as the main
character for children at Down Syndrome of Louisville.
• Multiple hours spent crocheting sweaters for veterans’ dogs through Seargant’s Army.
• A one-day basketball camp for children at Volunteers of America.
• Developing and leading a wheelchair volleyball program at Nazareth Homes.
About Sacred Heart Model School
Sacred Heart Model School (SHMS) is a private Catholic co-ed school for students in grades JK-
8, located on the 48-acre Ursuline campus in Louisville, Kentucky. Founded in 1924 by the
Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, SHMS inspires young minds through a values-based Catholic
education grounded in a global view.
Sacred Heart Model School (SHMS) is a private Catholic co-ed school for students in grades JK-
8, located on the 48-acre Ursuline campus in Louisville, Kentucky. Founded in 1924 by the
Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, SHMS inspires young minds through a values-based Catholic
education grounded in a global view.
As an International Baccalaureate (IB), Cognia-accredited, Blue Ribbon School of Excellence,
SHMS is the only Catholic school in Kentucky offering both the IB Primary Years Programme
and Middle Years Programme. SHMS offers a nationally recognized world language program,
including Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese, as well as arts integration with drama, music,
choir, and visual arts. Students also benefit from robust athletic, enrichment and service outreach
programs, innovative facilities, flexible classroom spaces, and the latest classroom technology.
With small class sizes and a distinctive co-ed JK-8 experience, SHMS is dedicated to ensuring
that students are known, challenged, and supported at every step of their journey to grow in
knowledge, character, and confidence.
About Sacred Heart Schools
Sacred Heart Schools is a Catholic community sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville
and guided by the Ursuline Core Values of Reverence, Service, Leadership, and Community.
Founded by the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville in 1877, Sacred Heart Schools’ mission is to
inspire diverse learners to become globally minded, compassionate leaders.
Sacred Heart Schools provides Catholic, Ursuline, International Baccalaureate (IB), and Cognia
accredited education from early childhood through high school. It also offers community-wide
after-school arts instruction and performances. Located on the 48-acre Ursuline campus in
Louisville, Kentucky, Sacred Heart includes four member schools: Sacred Heart Academy (girls,
grades 9-12), Sacred Heart Model School (co-ed, grades JK-8), Sacred Heart Preschool (coed,
ages 1-4) and Sacred Heart School for the Arts (coed, all ages). Additionally, the Jean Frazier
Leadership Institute supports the leadership development of all students.