New Student Orientation Day Today!

What a great day with our Student Orientation for Grade 7 and all students new to Grades 8-12!  The Student Councils and Advisory Leaders planned a great day of tours, 'break the ice' activities and just plain fun before their first day tomorrow.

First Day of School for Jr. Primary & Primary Students

We welcomed very excited Junior Primary and Primary students at school today!  They are meeting their teachers and new friends.  What a special day for students and their parents.

Sr. Suzanne Cooke RSCJ Interview about 9 Sacred Heart Olympians

We are pleased to share this link with you provided by the Network of Sacred Heart Schools and the Communications Office of the Society of the Sacred Heart. "Yesterday afternoon, Suzanne Cooke, RSCJ, head of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools, was interviewed for "News NIghtly" on EWTN. The interview was to discuss the 9 SH Olympic Athletes participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics and their connection to the Network of Sacred Heart Schools. The Communications Office for the Society has been able to provide us with a link to Suzanne's segment of the whole broadcast:

https://www.dropbox.com/…/Suzanne%20Cook%20Interview%2008-1…

‪#‎WeAreSacredHeart‬

Erin Rafuse, Sacred Heart Alum, Races Fri. August 12 in Rio!

You will want to get to a television set tomorrow, Friday August 12th, at approximately 1pm to cheer on Erin Rafuse, Sacred Heart School of Halifax’s Olympian competing in the Women’s Sailing Double Handed Skiff-49erFX.  We are so proud of her and all the Sacred Heart Olympians from around the world.

Erin spent thirteen years here at Sacred Heart in Halifax, graduating in 2006. Growing up, competitive sport has always been a driving force in Erin’s life. At the age of 12, Erin started taking sailing lessons at RNSYS. Soon after, she was invited to join the Canadian Optimist Atlantic Sailing Team, providing a platform for competitive racing. Over her teenage years, Erin continued to develop as a sailor competing nationally and internationally in Optimist, Byte, Byte CII and Radial. In 2009, Erin qualified as a National Sailing Team member in the Laser Radial. From 2006-2012 Erin juggled sailing and a psychology degree at Carleton University. As of this year, Erin has decided to take a new route in sailing, teaming up with crew Danielle Boyd in the new Women’s Double Handed skiff ‐ 49erFX with a goal of medaling at the Rio 2016 Summer Games.

You will be interested to know that Erin is not the first Olympian to have attended Sacred Heart School of Halifax.  Others include track athlete Aileen Meagher '31 and kayaker Jillian (Jill) D'Alessio '03.

Follow all of the Sacred Heart Olympians and link to the Olympic schedule by accessing the Society of the Sacred Heart Website. And check out this amazing article about, Katie Ledecky, from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland. She is a four-time Olympic gold medal medalist and a nine-time world champion.

And watch for our TV Ads all through the Olympics.  If you see them, let us know at news@shsh.ca.  We’d love to hear from you.

Don't forget to use the hashtag: #GoSacredHeartOlympians

Hannah Baillie Returns from Exchange to Scotland

Travelling to Perth, Scotland as part of the Sacred Heart Exchange Program was a wonderful experience filled with many unique moments that I will never forget. The similarities between Kilgraston School in Bridge of Earn and our own Sacred Heart School of Halifax were numerous, which was very comforting and provided a distinct sense of community despite being far from home and with people I had never met before. One of these similarities included their end of year Prize Day which was very similar in format to our Prize Day. One night, I was fortunate to take part in an authentic Scottish ceilidh where I was able to dance with the other girls from my grade. The girls had learned the steps to the extremely fast pace dances at a young age and were able to teach me the steps while violin and bagpipe music played in the background. I also had the chance to tour around Scotland with my host family. I visited the Scottish Highlands, Loch Ness, St. Andrews, and Edinburgh castle. Perhaps one of the most memorable experiences was being woken up by my shocked homestay family on June 23, 2016 - the morning after the United Kingdom voted to become independent from the European Union. The result of the Brexit vote had many people in Scotland worried and confused about the future of their country. Overall, my exchange experience was one that I will never forget, and I look forward to welcoming my host sister to Halifax in October.

Hannah Baillie, Gr. 11

(for more information on our student exchange program, please contact Mme Charlotte Riley at criley@shsh.ca)

New Sacred Heart Video on during the Olympics

Have you seen our new Sacred Heart video?  

Check it out!

Click here

Sacred Heart Olympic Athletes! Cheer them on!

The Sacred Heart Network is proud to say that we have 6 Olympians competing in Rio 2016: 

• Erin Rafuse '06, Women's doublehanded skiff--49erFX sailing races from Sacred Heart School of Halifax, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Katie Ledecky '15 swimming from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, Bethesda, MD 
  KK Clark '08, water polo player from Sacred Heart Prep, Atherton, CA
• Lia Neal '13, swimmer from Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York, NY
• Denise Sheldon, Head of the Delegation for USA Volleyball from St. Joseph's and Sacred Heart Prep, Atherton, CA
• Anabelle Smith '93, synchronized diver from Sacred Heart, Australia 

Road to Rio Article in The Herald about Erin Rafuse.

Schedule for Sacred Heart Olympians (compiled by Sacred Heart Greenwich)

Olympic Listings 

Olympic Schedule

#GoSacredHeartOlympians 

Sacred Heart Exchange Experience from Tokyo!

Attending Seishin Joshi Gakuin was a wonderful experience. As the first student to go on this exchange, I made the first connection between the two Sacred Heart Schools. Fortunately, bonding with the school in Tokyo was effortless. Within the first few days, I already felt like part of the family-- "Once a child of the Sacred Heart, always a child of the Sacred Heart," as we say. I befriended all of the girls in my class and even made a few friendships that I know will last a lifetime. The exchange coordinator of the school, who was also one of the English teachers, Ms. Kumiko, was very welcoming and kind. It was a pleasure to meet her. She as well as my classmates were very helpful in getting me settled during the first week. As well, since Japan is part of my background, I was also able to further improve my skills in Japanese, since I had no choice but to use it (except in the two English classes). I would highly recommend anyone to visit this school. The Japanese aspect might be challenging, but I can state for a fact that the girls are determined learners of English, so the language barrier would not be a big obstacle.

Grade 12 student Karen Ballesteros

(to learn more about our Sacred Heart Student Exchange program, contact Charlotte Riley criley@shsh.ca)