History of Sacred Heart Academy

In 1535, St. Angela Merici established in Brescia, Italy a group of women dedicated to teaching young girls. She called this group the Company of St. Ursula and placed it under the patronage of St. Ursula, a fifth century virgin and martyr, who was revered in St. Angela's day as patroness of young women and of education. From Italy, the Company, called Ursulines, spread to many other countries.

The Ursulines came to Louisville, Kentucky in 1858 from Straubing, Germany at the request of Bishop Martin Spalding of Louisville. In 1877, they opened Sacred Heart Academy as a boarding and day school for boys and girls in grades one through eight and for girls in grades nine through twelve. During the 1920s, the lower grades became a separate school taking the name of Sacred Heart Model School (www.ucschools.com/shms). In 1990, the two schools as well as three other schools on the campus, Ursuline Montessori School (www.ucschools.com/ums), the Ursuline Child Development Center (www.ucschools.com/ucdc), and the Ursuline School for the Performing Arts (www.ucschools.com/uspa), were separately incorporated as the Ursuline Campus Schools www.ucschools.com, sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters www.ursulineslou.org.