With Gratitude & Joy: Announcing SHA’s Next Head of School

Dear Sacred Heart Academy Community,

It is our great pleasure to announce, effective immediately, the appointment of Robin Nolan as Sacred Heart Academy's Head of School. The Board of Trustees has unanimously endorsed Robin’s appointment as the right person to continue to lead Sacred Heart Academy (SHA) during this pivotal moment in the school’s history.

Throughout the search process, the Board and the Search Committee were guided by two critical considerations for SHA’s future: Mission and Sustainability. The SHA community's feedback during the search process was clear. The next Head of School needed to demonstrate a love for and dedication to the educational mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart and a commitment to the Goals and Criteria. Further, that commitment needed to be combined with an understanding of the critical business operations of the school to sustain our mission for the future.

In preliminary meetings with the Search Committee and over the course of her day-long visit with many of Sacred Heart constituents, Robin shared her journey as a student at an all-girls Catholic high school to her career dedicated to advocating for and supporting the sustainability of Catholic education in the Greater Philadelphia region. She considers her Catholic education to be foundational and expressed how her time at SHA, first as our Director of Advancement and then in her role as Interim Head of School, brought her to know and love the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During the Head of School search process, Robin repeatedly identified Goal IV (Community) as her favorite goal, because it reflects her servant leadership style and her belief that Sacred Heart is a place where every girl is known and loved and a community rooted in faith, relationship and a shared commitment to accompanying one another in learning and growth.

During her service as Interim Head of School this year, Robin demonstrated a deep commitment to the mission of Sacred Heart, a love for our mission and a passion for sharing the message of our mission. Robin’s multi-pronged approach to sustainability for the future has included a focus on campus improvements, curriculum and programs, the school’s Sacred Heart identity, enhanced development and fundraising and mission aligned enrollment strategies. This strategy has produced results during the current school year upon which SHA can build and grow for the future.

Prior to joining SHA as Director of Advancement in 2023, Robin served most recently as Senior Program Manager for the Yass Prize/Center for Education Reform, where she focused on grant writing, education policy and the mission-centered impact of educational innovation. Previously, she spent seven years as Director of Institutional Advancement at Father Judge High School, where she led marketing, development, communications and enrollment-supportive messaging, including coordinating the initial planning of the quiet phase of a $20 million capital campaign. At her alma mater, St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls, she rebuilt and led the Development Office, strengthened donor pipelines, supported enrollment initiatives and represented the school in alumnae, business, civic and community settings.

Across every role, Robin has led with mission alignment, transparency, relationship-building and a consistent commitment to institutional excellence. A practicing Catholic who has been deeply inspired by the Sacred Heart Goals and Criteria during her time at SHA, she believes wholeheartedly in the profound responsibility of educating young women of purpose, intellect, faith and compassion. She remains committed to strengthening SHA’s connection to the International Sacred Heart Network, ensuring academic rigor grounded in faith and values and cultivating a community rooted in joy, respect and shared purpose.

Robin and her husband, Tim, have been married for more than 26 years and are the proud parents of their daughter, Julia, a kindergarten teacher in Philadelphia. Her commitment to educating girls is rooted in a deep family legacy — her mother attended Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls and both Robin and Julia are graduates of St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls.

On behalf of the Board and the Search Committee, we are humbled by and grateful for the love, commitment and prayers of the SHA community throughout these past several months as we journeyed towards this milestone moment. We also acknowledge the blessed guidance of Sacred Heart Network leadership, the RSCJ community and our Network search consultant Joseph Ciancaglini (former longtime Head of School at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City).

We have valued the active participation and support of all of the trustees, alumnae, parents, faculty, staff and students who shared their passionate hopes for Sacred Heart’s future at every stage of our search and we will be counting on your continued prayer, participation and support as we warmly congratulate Robin Nolan on her appointment as SHA’s Head of School.

In love and trust,

Mary Locke Cavallaro '86, P'22
Chair, Board of Trustees

Nancy Merola Franz '88, P'17, '19, '21
Chair, Head of School Search Committee