This is the first article in a year-long series of content honoring the 175th anniversary of Sacred Heart Greenwich. The King Street Chronicle reflects on the history, values, and past and present leaders of this school community.
This year, Sacred Heart Greenwich celebrates its 175th anniversary. The Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) originally established this educational institution in New York City as the third Sacred Heart Network school in the United States (US). Over the years, while the school’s location has changed, its core values have remained the same, according to intranet.cshgreenwich.org.
St. Madeleine Sophie Barat founded the first Sacred Heart school in Amiens, France in 1801. She believed that education, especially that of young women, was the pathway towards creating a society that carried out the mission of the heart of Jesus Christ, according to sacredheartusc.education. Seventeen years later, St. Rose Philippine Duschene brought the society to the United States. Shortly after, St. Rose Philippine met Mother Mary Aloysia Hardey and trained her under the key principles of the RSCJ.
At the urging of the Bishop of New York, Mother Hardey opened the first Sacred Heart school in New York City September 17, 1841 on Houston Street. At the time of its founding, anti-Catholic sentiments were present on the streets of New York City, which made establishing a Catholic institution difficult. However, Mother Hardey persisted, according to intranet.cshgreenwich.org.
In 1847, the school on Houston Street closed, but Bishop John Hughes of New York urged Mother Hardey to reopen its doors, as it was the only Catholic school in his diocese. As a result, Mother Hardey rented out a new space on Bleecker Street in 1848. This marked the official establishment of the Convent of the Sacred Heart, which would later become Sacred Heart Greenwich, according to intranet.cshgreenwich.org.
Because of limited space, the school relocated to 49 West 17th Street in 1855. In 1905, due to the expanding commercialization of Lower Manhattan and an increase in student enrollment, Convent of the Sacred Heart moved north to Ogden Estate, or Maplehurst, in the Bronx. Finally, in 1945, the school moved to its current location at the former Steers Estate in Greenwich, Connecticut following the construction of the George Washington Bridge in the front yard of the Maplehurst campus. Regardless of location, the Sacred Heart principles of educating the mind, heart, and will have carried on since its founding, according to intranet.cshgreenwich.org.
In contrast to Sacred Heart Greenwich today, the original school in Lower Manhattan prescribed a mandatory course curriculum. All students took classes in religion, English literature, philosophy, history, geography, mathematics, needlework and dressmaking, domestic economy, and French. Instruction in drawing and music required an additional fee, according to intranet.cshgreenwich.org. Today, while there are required core courses, Sacred Heart Greenwich also offers a wide variety of Advanced Placement (AP) and college preparatory courses, in addition to over ten different electives, according to shgreenwich.org.
Another shift made to the school was the name change from Convent of the Sacred Heart to Sacred Heart Greenwich in 2016, according to greenwichtime.com. Despite these differences, core Sacred Heart traditions remain the same. For instance, upon graduation, seniors still wear long white dresses instead of a cap and gown. Traditions including Congé, goûter, and the annual Prize Day have endured as well, according to intranet.cshgreenwich.org. While the school is no longer located in New York City and members of the RSCJ no longer teach classes, St. Madeleine Sophie’s core values remain embedded in student life today, according to shgreenwich.org.
“For the sake of one child,” St. Madeleine Sophie said, according to www.shgreenwich.org. “I would have founded the Society.”
Featured Image by Emily Shull ’25
