Mission: Goals & Criteria

Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr (SHA) educates to a Mission embodied in Five Goals & Criteria - the same as all Sacred Heart Schools in the North American Network.

Goal I: A personal and active faith in God

The School identifies itself to the wider community as a Catholic-independent-Sacred Heart School and embodies the mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
The School forms its student and adult members in attitudes of the heart of Jesus, such as gratitude, generosity, compassion and forgiveness.
The School community reflects an ethos of joy, hope and celebration and its programs assert that there is meaning and value in life.
The School community welcomes and respects persons of all faiths and educates to an understanding of the religions and spiritual traditions of the world.
School leadership prioritizes space and time for silence and contemplation for its members to deepen their interior life.
Members of the school community, open to the transforming power of the Spirit of God, engage in personal and communal prayer, discernment and reflection which inform their actions.
The School community, rooted in the love of Jesus Christ, nurtures the spiritual lives of its members through the exploration of one’s relationship to God, to self, to others and to creation.

Goal II: A deep respect for intellectual values

Sacred Heart educators develop and implement a dynamic curriculum, effective instructional methodology, current educational research and ongoing evaluation.

Sacred Heart educators and students utilize a variety of teaching and learning strategies to support their growth and development.

The School curricular and co-curricular programs integrate innovation and collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving, the exploration of emerging technologies and critical evaluation of information.

The School utilizes space and the physical environment in alignment with best pedagogical practices.

The School cultivates aesthetic values and the creative use of the imagination.

Sacred Heart educators assume responsibility for their professional growth, supported by resources and a culture that promotes life-long learning.

Goal III: A social awareness which impels to action

Sacred Heart educators prepare students to serve the common good in an interdependent world.
Sacred Heart educators immerse students in diverse global perspectives, developing competencies such as critical consciousness, language facility and cultural literacy.
The School, drawing from Catholic Social Teaching, educates students to analyze and work to eradicate social structures, practices, systems, and values that perpetuate racism and other injustices.
All members of the School community accept accountability for the care of God’s creation, practice effective stewardship of the earth's resources and work to alleviate the climate crisis.
School programs promote informed active citizenship and civic responsibility on the local, national and global level.
The School community engages in direct service, advocacy, outreach and partnerships to work for justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
Sacred Heart educators work to develop in the students a life-long commitment to service.

Goal IV: The building of community as a Christian value

The School, affirming that all are created in the image and likeness of God, promotes the inherent dignity of the human person and strives for relationships characterized by inclusion and mutual respect.
The School implements an ongoing plan for educating all members of the community to the charism, mission and heritage of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
The School engages with the Network of Sacred Heart Schools in the United States and Canada and Sacred Heart schools around the world.
All members of the School community support a clean, healthy and safe environment.
Members of the School community practice and teach with a spirit of peace and reconciliation the principles of non-violence and conflict management.
School leadership demonstrates a conscious effort to recruit students and employ faculty and staff of diverse races, ethnicities and backgrounds.
School leadership allocates financial resources to support socio-economic diversity both in the admissions process and in the daily life of students.

GOAL V: Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom

Student and adult members of the School community grow in courage and confidence as they discover new abilities, cultivate strengths, learn from mistakes, develop empathy and exercise resilience in meeting challenges.
All members of the School community take personal responsibility for health and balance in their lives supported by a school culture that promotes spiritual, intellectual, physical and social-emotional well-being.
Members of the School community model and teach respectful dialogue in support of clear, direct open communication.
All members of the School community endeavor to practice informed, ethical decision-making and accountability.
Student and adult members of the School community model, practice, and teach safe, ethical and responsible use of technology.
Sacred Heart educators cultivate in the students life skills, such as initiative, creativity and agility.
Sacred Heart schools recognize and educate to motivational, inspirational, and transformational leadership.

While each Sacred Heart educational institution has its own ethos and defining characteristics, the Mission embodied in the Five Goals & Criteria unmistakably defines every Sacred Heart campus.

Sacred Heart Education
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