Sacred Heart Academy

On October 4, 1877, the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville established Sacred Heart Academy on land now known as the Ursuline Campus. During the 2002-03 school year – the 125th year in SHA’s history – the school community celebrated this notable anniversary with a myriad of special events, activities and a commemorative coffee table book. Dianne Aprile, former Courier-Journal columnist, book author, and 1967 Sacred Heart Academy alumna, mused about the school’s illustrious history and colorful traditions in the 125th anniversary book, titled, Sacred Heart Academy – 125 Years Of Excellence In Education Rooted In Ursuline Tradition. “In the beginning, there were three Ursuline nuns, $22.50 and a dream. The Sisters hailed from Bavaria, the $22.50 was what they brought with them to set up a convent, and their dream was to serve the German-Catholic immigrant families of Louisville who welcomed them with open arms. The Sisters arrived in Louisville, Kentucky, on Halloween, 1858, and wasted no time putting down roots. Within two decades, they had opened one academy next door to their convent on East Chestnut Street and another on land that is now known as Lexington Road. “That second school – the centerpiece of what, over time, would become the Ursuline Campus – was Sacred Heart Academy, now celebrating its 125th anniversary. Over the course of those years, the school and the campus have survived war, flood, fire, shifting trends in education, dramatic cultural change, major construction, expansion and renovation. “What has endured … is the spirit of the Ursuline Sisters – their generosity and the deeply held principles that guide them. Graduates of Sacred Heart Academy have borne that spirit into the world for more than a century.”