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Sacred Heart School has been a central part of Highbridge since opening its doors in 1926, fostering a strong community both inside and outside of the school.

Our School

Sacred Heart has educated generations of children, empowering them to unlock new opportunities and lead loving, fulfilling lives.

Sacred Heart School has been a central part of the Highbridge community since its founding in 1926. By reinforcing traditional values, implementing a research-based curriculum, and leveraging the power of our caring community, Sacred Heart educates and forms students who graduates with the knowledge, skills, and character necessary to make a difference in the world.

Inside our Nelson Avenue school, we recognize that our greatest calling is to educate the whole child, mind, body and soul. Students learn and mature in a safe environment. Each day from 8 am to 4 pm, students receive an academically sound, values-based education taught by our committed faculty.

From halls to horizons, the promise we see in our graduating students each year gives us tremendous hope for their future and the future of the world.

Our History

While Metro Catholic is only thirty years old, our students inherit a legacy dating back more than 150 years.

For over 150 years, the Sisters of Notre Dame have been proclaiming God’s goodness and compassionate love for people of all faiths and cultures in the Catholic schools of Cleveland’s west side. Metro Catholic came into existence in 1988 thanks to the sisters’ vision, and our school remains rooted in the zeal of its founding mothers—and in a legacy that stretches back to our city’s earliest days.

In 1869, German immigrant families found in Cleveland what they could not find back in their homeland: the freedom to educate their children in the newly established St. Stephens’ Catholic School. In the decades that followed, other parishes on the west side of Cleveland established similar schools—including St. Boniface and St. Stephens.

 

In the mid-1980’s, three women—Sr. Grace Corbett, SND, Sr. Regina Davala, SND, and Sr. Virginia Reesing, SND, principals of those three parish schools, saw the city changing rapidly and had the courage to change with it. To continue the legacy of quality education for families of modest means, they led the merging of the three parish schools—St. Boniface, St. Michael’s, and St. Stephens.

Metro Catholic School is now located at two campuses. Preschool through Grade 1 learn on the St. Boniface property, and grades two through eight on the St. Stephen property.

 

The educational principles of the Sisters of Notre Dame permeate St. Francis to this day:

  • The centrality of a good and provident God
  • The human dignity of each person as an image of God
  • The Notre Dame educator as Gospel witness
  • And an integrated education for transformation.

In 2022, Metro Catholic innovated again by joining the Partnership Schools, a vibrant network of Catholic elementary schools working in the heart of New York and Cleveland. For more on the Partnership, click here.

Core Values

Since we began over 90 years ago, Sacred Heart has strengthened our community and transformed children’s lives. Our work is animated by the values we seek to practice every day and transmit to our students.

At Sacred Heart, as in all Partnership Schools, we embrace four core values that guide all we do: integrity, humility, hard work, and service.

Integrity

I watch what I do to see what I believe.

– Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ

Integrity means that our actions reflect our beliefs and live up to our moral ideals. We hold all in our communities to the highest academic and ethical standards, both within the walls of our school buildings and as representatives in our communities. As we equip our students with a clear understanding of the moral principles and virtues of the Catholic faith, we instill habits of honesty, forthrightness, and respect for themselves and others.

Humility

Those who humble themselves will be exalted.

– Luke 14:11

Integrity means that our actions reflect our beliefs and live up to our moral ideals. We hold all in our communities to the highest academic and ethical standards, both within the walls of our school buildings and as representatives in our communities. As we equip our students with a clear understanding of the moral principles and virtues of the Catholic faith, we instill habits of honesty, forthrightness, and respect for themselves and others.

Hard Work

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

– Frederick Douglass

Each of us is made uniquely by God for greatness. In order to fully develop the gifts God gave us, hard work provides opportunities for us to sharpen our skills, develop our talents, and strengthen our minds and hearts for life’s journey. Effort, persistence, and determination are essential to learning and success in life. Hope alone does not result in success; we seek to instill in our students a work ethic marked by tenacity, stamina, and zeal.

Service

Only a life lived for others is worthwhile.

– Albert Einstein

At Partnership Schools, we believe that we are made for each other, so we aim to develop young men and women for others. When we see God in others, we think less of ourselves and so put others first. Our teachers “fan into a flame the gifts God gave” each child (2 Timothy 1), cultivating their gifts, broadening their understanding of the community and the world, and offering their gifts in service of our local neighborhood.

Root Beliefs

The Sacred Heart community embraces the following set of root beliefs that guide our actions, our words, and our decisions. These beliefs inform each aspect of our school—our policies, procedures, rituals, routines, relationships, and even the physical spaces.

We believe in...

  • Christ in all things.
  • Excellence comes from effort.
  • The work we do every day matters.
  • I can. I will.
  • The little things are the big things.

Leadership

A team of leaders support Sacred Heart’s students, families, and staff every day.

Abigail Akano, Principal
aakano@shhighbridge.org
718.293.4288 ext. 5

Morris Johnson, Academic Dean
mjohnson@shhighbridge.org
718.293.4288 ext. 114

Jennifer Fabian, Director of School Operations
jfabian@shhighbridge.org
718.293.4288 ext. 3