The Network of Sacred Heart Schools is a nonprofit corporation and is governed by a Board of Directors composed of the United States Provincial of the Society of the Sacred Heart, the Executive Director of the Network, and nine to fifteen Directors who are present or former Heads of School and present or former Trustees of Network Schools. The national office is in St. Charles, Missouri.

The Network provides opportunities for faculty and students to share with other Sacred Heart schools in the United States and abroad. High School students may participate in the Exchange Program, which affords them the opportunity to spend time studying at another Sacred Heart school. Students in grades 7-12 may participate in Network sponsored Service Programs and Leadership Training Programs. (Please contact the Prep or High School Dean for further information on these programs.) Class trips and informal visits to Sacred Heart schools add to the sense of belonging to the Network. Faculty and staff collaborate regularly on a national basis and annual meetings bring together Heads and Trustees, administrators and staff from member schools. Families who visit a city where another Sacred Heart school is located are encouraged to plan a visit.

ST. MADELEINE SOPHIE BARAT

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart, was born in Joigny, France, on December 12, 1779. She grew up in the simple home of a barrel maker where she received a remarkable education under the guidance of her brother, Louis. At age 16, Sophie went to Paris to study, following a demanding program that included mathematics, Latin, theology, and biblical studies. It was in Paris that she learned from Father Joseph Varin of plans for a new religious congregation whose end would be to glorify the Heart of Jesus. It was to be rooted in prayer and devoted to the ministry of education. On November 21, 1800, she and three others consecrated their lives "to make known the revelation of God's love, whose source and symbol is the Heart of Christ."

The first school was in Amiens, France. On January 18, 1806, Mother Barat was elected Superior General of the order, an office she held until her death in 1865. She was canonized in 1925, and her feast is celebrated on May 25.

ST. ROSE PHILIPPINE DUCHESNE

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne was born in Grenoble, an ancient city in the French Alps, on August 29, 1769. Strong-willed and impetuous, she was the eldest daughter of a large merchant family. She was educated at home and at the Visitation Monastery of St. Marie d'en Haut, located on a mountain above the city. She entered the cloister there against the wishes of her family.

When the French Revolution swept down from Paris, Philippine was forced to return home. For ten years, she worked in dangerous conditions for the underground church. Philippine was introduced to Madeleine Sophie in 1804, and entered the Society of the Sacred Heart. The two, Philippine and Sophie, remained life-long friends. Philippine's greatest desire was to be a missionary to America, to serve the Native Americans. She persisted in her requests, and in 1818, Mother Barat consented. Philippine and her four companions reached New Orleans on May 29, 1818; Bishop Dubourg soon called them to St. Charles, Missouri where they opened a boarding and day school.

Philippine could never master the English language. However, the mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart spread rapidly throughout the New World, and the schools survived against great odds because of her prayer and sacrifice. Philippine died in St. Charles in 1852. She was canonized by the Church in 1988, and her feast is celebrated on November 18. Her remains rest in the lovely chapel dedicated to her on the campus of the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles.

MATER ADMIRABILIS

In 1844, Pauline Perdrau, a young novice in the Society of the Sacred Heart, took it upon herself to produce a fresco of the Virgin Maryon a wall in a recreational area of the Trinita dei Monti, at the time a Sacred Heart convent in Rome. Sr. Perdrau chose to paint Mary as a young woman, sitting in the temple, clothed in a rose-colored dress. The fresco includes a lily at Mary's side representing her purity; a distaff and spindle, her love of work; a book, her dedication to study and prayer. Representations of Mater Admirabilis (Mother Most Admirable) can be found in all Sacred Heart schools, and her feast is celebrated on October 20.

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