Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton (SHS) traces its heritage back to the year 1800, when St. Madeleine Sophie Barat founded the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (RSCJ) in France. Eighteen years later, her good friend and follower St. Rose Philippine Duchesne brought the Society to North America and established the first Sacred Heart schools in St. Louis and New Orleans—the first of many to follow across the U.S., and worldwide.

Today, Schools of the Sacred Heart can be found in 41 countries across six continents, with the U.S. - Canada Province comprising a total of 25 schools. Under the guidance of the RSCJ and in collaboration with lay administration, Sacred Heart schools remain uniquely tied to founder St. Madeleine Sophie, and reflect a common ethos and values-system based on the attitudes of the Heart of Jesus, as well as a universal mission to educate the whole child toward a meaningful life of leadership, faith, purpose, and compassion.

Sacred Heart students and alumni have access to a number of national and international opportunities for exchange study, service projects, and other activities that enable cross-cultural connections and support among the worldwide network of schools. As noted by the RSCJ, “once a child of the Sacred Heart, always a child of the Sacred Heart.”