HANDBOOK FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS - Immaculate Heart ...

HISTORY
Immaculate Heart High School was founded in 1906 by the Sisters of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary (now the Immaculate Heart Community), a Catholic religious order of
women who traced their origin to Olot, Spain, where they were founded by Father
Masmitja de Puig in 1848.
In 1871, at the request of the Bishop of Monterey-Los Angeles, Thaddeus Amat, ten sisters
from this order were sent as missionaries to California. They arrived at Gilroy, the
northernmost town in the Diocese. From there they opened convent schools in San Juan
Bautista, San Bernardino and San Luis Obispo. In 1886, the sisters opened the Cathedral
School in Los Angeles. This was the first parochial school in the city. Four years later,
they established the Immaculate Heart Academy in the Pico Heights area. This later
became Bishop Conaty High School.
In 1903, Thomas J. Conaty was appointed Bishop. Under his auspices, the sisters
purchased, for $10,000, a fifteen-acre plot of land in the Hollywood Hills near what is
now Western and Franklin Avenues. The place at that time was outside the city limits,
flanked by olive and orange trees and approached only by a wagon road.
On April 24, 1905, the ground-breaking took place for a grayish-white edifice, of Moorish,
mission architecture. This convent building included classrooms for high school and
elementary students, boarding facilities for girls, offices and living quarters for the sisters.
In June, 1906, six young women became the first graduates of Immaculate Heart High School.
The total enrollment for the school at that time was listed at 75 students.
Immaculate Heart soon established its reputation as an excellent college preparatory school
for girls. By far the majority of its more than 9,000 graduates continued their education at
colleges and universities across the country. They have served with distinction as artists,
musicians, educators, journalists, doctors, lawyers, judges, and stars of stage and screen,
to name but a few of the many professions and careers they have entered. Some Immaculate
Heart women were pioneers in professions not accustomed to having women.
Immaculate Heart principals were great women of vision who are remembered with
affection and love. Names that trigger most memories are those of Sister Nepomucen,
Sister Eulalia, Mother Eucharia, Kathleen Lucitt and Ruth Anne Murray.
In 1948, the auditorium building was added to the high school. In 1973, the original
convent building was condemned by the city and was torn down. It was replaced by
a classroom/library building. The Jo Anne Cotsen Building (formerly the Immaculate
Heart College Student Union Building) was purchased from the American Film
Institute in 1983. The original swimming pool was replaced by a competition-size pool
in 1985; and a small chapel, La Capilla de Maria, was dedicated on December 8, 1987.
A science/computer building and a student/faculty center opened in the fall of 1990, and
in 1992, a playing field was completed. In the summer of 1998, major renovation on the
auditorium building was begun. The Visual Arts Department was remodeled to create
two large classrooms for the studio arts and a computer graphics laboratory. In the
summer of 2005, the old shower/dressing room facility adjacent to the swimming pool
was replaced by a two story structure containing a weight room, showers, and lockers as
well as office, meeting and storage space for the high school and middle school
athletics programs.
A middle school for seventh and eighth grade girls was added in September, 1975.
Beginning in September 1995, sixth grade students were also admitted. The middle
school provides an excellent academic preparation for students who wish to continue
their education in a college-preparatory high school.
Immaculate Heart High School now draws its students from 65 parishes. Some students come
from as far away as San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. Immaculate Heart also takes pride
in the fact that many of the students are daughters and granddaughters of alumnae.
Changes, certainly. Immaculate Heart will always face squarely the changing needs of its young
women. It has to be sensitive to their moral and intellectual development as well as to the
acquisition of ideas and ideals that women—particularly contemporary women—must enjoy. But
in its spirit and style, Immaculate Heart has always been characterized by a fortunate mixture of the
traditional and the innovative; of discipline and freedom; of play and work; of concern for the things
of the heart as well as the mind; of a readiness to create and to celebrate. It defines its task as simple,
but acknowledges the complexities involved in helping young women to think clearly, to choose
wisely and to achieve self-respect.
ACCREDITATIONS & PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
GENERAL POLICIES
Immaculate Heart High School is accredited by the Western Catholic Educational
Association, Western Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges and by the
California Association of Independent Schools.
In addition, Immaculate Heart maintains membership in the following
professional organizations:
American Counselors Association
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
California Association for Supervision & Curriculum
Development
California Association of School Counselors
California Interscholastic Federation, Southern Section
National Association for College Admission Counselors
National Association of Secondary School Principals
National Catholic Education Association
National Middle School Association
The College Board
Western Catholic Educational Association
NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY
Immaculate Heart High School admits students of any race, color, national and/or ethnic
origin to all rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available
to students at the school
CALIFORNIA STATE LAW IN A PRIVATE SCHOOL
Immaculate Heart High School adheres to the educational codes of the State of California
as they pertain to private school education within the state.
CHILD ABUSE POLICY
Immaculate Heart fully complies with the Child Abuse Policy prescribed by California State
Law (Section10802). Child abuse includes physical injury which is inflicted on a child by other
than accidental means, sexual exploitation or assault and child neglect. Out of concern for
abused children and their families, California State Law requires that known or suspected
incidents of child abuse must be reported immediately, or as soon as practically possible,
by telephone to a child protective agency. Teachers, counselors, retreat leaders and other
school personnel will respect the verbal or written confidences of students, except in cases
where the health or safety of the student or others is involved.
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