Winter 2006 - Sacred Heart Schools

My Opinion: Nefara Riesch (SHP‘05)
“Not only does fi nancial aid allow
people from all over the socioeconomic
spectrum to receive an
equal education, it creates an environment
that everyone benefi ts
from. The world is not made up
of one socio-economic group, so
there is no reason a school should
be.”
“Despite the challenges of being
the only Samoan girl at our school and trying to balance
my life between the two completely different worlds of
Sunnyvale and Atherton, I am so grateful for the opportunity
to go to SHP. If I hadn’t gone to Sacred Heart, I
would not have such a positive outlook on my future. The
Offi ce of Diversity staff, my incredible teachers, my basketball
coaches, and Mr. Dioli gave me the ambition and
the skills to not only move forward in life, but to do so with
confi dence and relentless will power. “
“When I look around at the other freshmen at UCLA, I
see that many of them lack the simple skills necessary to
succeed in college, especially study skills. That’s how I
might have been without my excellent SHP training. I am
able to get all my assignments done on-time and virtually
stress-free because of what I learned about organization
and time-management at SHP.”
After graduating from SHP with the Dark Blue Ribbon,
Nefara accepted a full scholarship at UCLA. She is currently
a freshman.
assistance for our students.
In addition to tuition expenses, SHS
has created the Student Assistance
Fund to address the non-tuition
financial needs of students, such as
tutoring or testing, uniforms, cafeteria,
lunches, school trips, sports equipment,
and enrichment classes. In fact, at the
beginning of the school year the SJSH
Parent Association members chose to
put the $17,000 they had raised through
activities such as eScrip toward the
Student Assistance Fund.
“The SJSH Parent Association Board
wanted to support the Student Assistance
Fund because we are chartered
to assist the SHS administration in
providing an equitable educational
opportunity for all students,” said Dee
Armstrong, President of the SJSH
Parent
Association Board.
“The SJSH Parent Board decided
unanimously to donate our fundraising
dollars to the Student Assistance Fund,”
said SJSH parent Sandy Levison.
“In order to fully support Sacred
Heartʼs commitment to diversity, we
all have to do our part. Financial aid
does not stop with tuition; it is about
alleviating all the financial barriers
a student may encounter so they can
take full advantage of a Sacred Heart
education.”
At a recent international conference
of the Religious of the Sacred Heart,
participants affirmed our continued
commitment to St. Madeleine Sophieʼs
original vision: “We live in a world
where the poor become poorer and
the rich richer. In certain institutions
of learning or universities, we are
dealing with the privileged class, those
privileged through wealth or through
learning, or through power. [We need
to ask ourselves,] How can we develop
a specific pedagogy so that the social
classes which are more favored will
commit themselves to the cause
and interests of the poor, instead of
remaining closed in their privileges”
For teachers and administrators
at SHS Atherton, financial aid is
a clear part of accomplishing this
ideal education. As SHP Science
Department Chair Guy Letteer
points out, “Goal Three of the
Sacred Heart Goals and Criteria
specifically charges us with
teaching our students to achieve
social awareness and ultimately
to act on this knowledge. To
offer a Sacred Heart education
to only those who can afford it
would circumvent the very goals
that are so vitally central to this
experience.”
Joan Eagleson, Director of
the SJSH Learning Center adds,
“Madeleine Sophie understood
the importance for every child
to have the opportunity of a
Sacred Heart education, and
she never drew back because
of any obstacle. As Sacred
Heart schools, we need to open
our doors, our hearts, and our
financial support to all potential
students who want to learn about
Godʼs love, and share what they learn
with people around them.”
“We have a moral responsibility as a
Sacred Heart School to reach out and
support all families,” said SJSH Lower
School Dean Sally Peterson, “Our
students need to learn how to respect
and work together with children
who may think differently and have
differing perspectives on the world
than they do.”
My Opinion:
Doug
Lowney
(SJSH‘84,
SHP‘88)
f we did not have
“Isocio-economic
diversity at SHS, we
would fail to nurture
students to live in
the socio-economically diverse world. Why
would we want to prepare students for a
world that doesn’t exist”
“I’m so grateful for the fi nancial aid that
made my SHS education possible. For me,
Sacred Heart was about so much more
than academic programs. There were
teachers who knew me, counseled me
through the foolish moments of adolescence,
and guided me to develop my own
intellectual interests.”
After SHS, Doug went on to study at Vassar
College. Now he is an AP English Teacher
and Service-Learning Coordinator at SHP.
The Heart of the Matter 21