Sacred Heart lower school students return to campus

Yesterday, 264 lower school students (K-5) returned to campus at Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton. The school is the oldest in the area. Here’s a bit of history on how it came to be:

At the close of the 19th century, the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (RSCJ) established its 13th Sacred Heart school in the U.S. and second on the West Coast—the Academy of the Sacred Heart—a boarding school for girls located on the San Francisco Peninsula.

Utilizing 40 acres of land purchased in 1894 from the Faxon Dean Atherton family, campus construction began with the iconic Main Building, housing both classroom and living space for student residents and RSCJ alike.

Under the direction of founder and headmistress Rev. Mother Jane Fox, the school opened its doors in 1898 and began to flourish, adding a separate co-educational elementary school in 1906 (St. Joseph’s), a college division for women in 1921 (sold to USF in 1978), and a preschool in the 1970s.

Photos courtesy of Sacred Heart Schools