Campus Life

Clubs and Activities

Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ

In no order of things is adolescence the time of the simple life.
Capitalizing on the opportunity to augment character development and leadership skills, SHS offers many extracurricular activities and programs—outside of arts and athletics—for students to share their gifts and talents with others, to identify, master, and try new interests and passions, and grow in both self-confidence and self-discovery.

The range of student- and faculty-led clubs vary from year to year, and are typically tied to levels of student participation and interests. However, a number of key programs related to student media, student government, cultural identity, creative process and technology, spirituality and service, and more traditional academic disciplines abound each academic cycle.

GR 1-8 Student Life Program

The Lower & Middle Schools are dedicated to being a community where all students can find their niche, where all can grow, and where all can excel and take pride in their individual and collective accomplishments. To this end, the GR 1-8 Student Life program offers a number of opportunities designed to encourage and maximize each student’s personal growth and potential outside of the classroom experience.

List of 8 items.

  • Code of the Heart

    The Code of the Heart is an important framework taught throughout our Preschool - Grade 8, designed to foster and put into practice the values outlined in the Goals & Criteria of Sacred Heart Schools. This framework is summarized in four specific areas of behavioral expectation; in other words, Sacred Heart students are taught and encouraged to be Ready, Responsible, Respectful, and Caring in all aspects of their lives as classmates and community members.
    Learn More

  • Community Building

    Within the GR 1-8 experience, a number of diverse opportunities are designed to encourage and maximize each student’s personal growth while maintaining their sense of belonging to the greater community:

    • Weekly all-school assemblies are held with the goal of building community among all GR 1-8 students, faculty, and staff. The Student Council opens each assembly, followed by student presentations or special visitors such as musicians, speakers, or authors. As appropriate, Kindergarten classes may also join select assemblies.
    • Through song and skit, prayer and meditation, Mass and prayer services, students learn to connect the greater school community to the sacred. Religious and liturgical activities allow students of the Sacred Heart to explore religion more deeply, with the intent of enhancing the students’ own personal spirituality and faith practices.

    • Cultural celebrations, tied to specific holidays, holy days, or other special events integral to members of our diverse community are often marked by an assembly, goûter, and classroom activity or discussion that enables students and families to share and teach about their heritage. As example, Diwali, Nowruz, and Lunar New Year are regularly part of our school calendar of activities.
    • Our “buddy program” pairs older students with younger ones to form a mentoring relationship. Collaborating on activities, attending joint grade picnics, or simply gathering together as “buddies”, a bond is built between our younger and older students on campus.
    • School spirit is fostered across grades 1-8 by participation in specific events such as Spirit Week, Talent Show, 7th and 8th grade dances, “Gator Gear Free Dress Fridays,” and 6th Grade Fun Nights. While these events actively promote school spirit, Gator spirit lives daily throughout the student body.
    • Finally, students may connect to the greater Sacred Heart community by participating in Sacred Heart Summer Network Projects throughout the United States. 5th–8th grade students have the opportunity to participate in Sacred Heart Service Projects throughout the year with students from other Sacred Heart network schools. Past offerings have ranged from a spring trip working on the organic Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie, NY, to students preparing and distributing bag lunches to the hungry and homeless in inner-city Detroit.

  • Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

    Rooted in Goal IV, Criterion 2, “The school promotes a safe and welcoming environment in which each person is valued, cared for and respected”, the purpose of our social-emotional learning curriculum is to build emotional intelligence and self-advocacy skills in the students.

    In the Lower School, the key components of the SEL program are conflict management, I-statements, self-regulation, empathy, emotion identification, and collaboration. These skills are further developed in the Middle School’s Advising program, with added focus on resiliency, self-agency and reflection. With a 1:12 advisor to advisee ratio in the middle school, meaningful connections are made between adult and student. Advisors help prepare their advisees for the spring Student-Led Conference, aimed at fostering student ownership of learning, encouraging consistent self-reflection in the students, and enhancing communication of student progress. This formal process of self-evaluation and reflection supports our commitment to Sacred Heart’s Goal V:  “Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom.”  

  • Field Trips & Overnights

    Complementing classroom lessons and deepening the overall learning experience, students often are presented with field trip opportunities to nearby and/or regional locations. Built as day trips, sample destinations have included the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, downtown Menlo Park (for Second Grade City project), and Chabot Space and Science Center.

    Overnight travel is typically a yearly opportunity for select older grades, in conjunction with specific coursework or for class-building. For example, as part of their California history study, students in grade 4 have visited the historic town of Coloma Outdoor Discovery School in El Dorado County to "experience" life in as a gold minor. Students in grade 6 typically participate in an Outdoor Education experience as part of their incoming orientation, and to build community. Middle school performing arts students have traveled to Anaheim to complete in a Disney-hosted arts intensive. Students participating in our grade 8 Model U.N./Government Team have traveled to New York to participate in the National High School Model United Nations congress. And annually, our grade 8 students travel to Washington, DC, an extension of  U.S. history and government study and to further build and honor class unity of the graduating class.

  • Student Clubs (MS)

    Students in grades 6-8 can take part in a number of special interest clubs, organized annually. The following is a sample list of clubs that have operated in recent years, encompassing coding to crisis response, arts to athletics, spirituality to service and more.
     
    •Avocado Club
    •Beyond Magenta
    •Bombastic Board Game Club
    •Foreign Language Movie Club
    •Comic Book Drawing Club
    •Badminton Club
    •Gator Guides
    •Fantasy Sports Club
    •Chess Club
    •Liturgical Signers
    •Morning Chorus
    •Leadership Club
    •Coding/Computer Science Club
    •Art Club
    •Knitterati
    •Girls Tech Club
    •SERT- Student Emergency Response Team
    •Gator Surf Club
    •UnInstrument Club
    •Service Club

  • Student Leadership

    Student leadership opportunities exist in many forms in grades 1-8. 

    The Peace Makers Program provides a special opportunity for younger students to develop basic conflict management skills while taking a leadership role among the primary grades. All third grade students are trained to be “Peace Makers”.  Their role is to help first and second grade students effectively resolve any issues that may arise on the playground during morning recess.   There are two pairs of Peace Makers at every morning recess to assist the adults who supervise the students.

    Throughout the school year, students in grades 1-5 may be selected to serve as an in-class host for a visiting prospective student.

    In grades 4 and 5, students have the opportunity to apply to become class representatives. “Class reps” meet regularly and act as the “voice” of each grade level by sharing student generated ideas with the Student Council Moderators. They also help coordinate assemblies and act as environmental stewards on campus.

    In grades 6-8, students have the opportunity to participate in Student Council. Framed around the Sacred Heart criterion “Schools programs provide for recognizing, nurturing and exercising leadership in its many forms,” students in the Middle School are given the opportunity to practice leadership skills through student government. Members meet regularly as a group, plan activities for the year and coordinate tasks according to their specific areas of responsibility. Council members represent the school at outside functions and act as the voice of the student body to the administration.  Students run for office and elected by their peers, with elections being held each year for the following year’s council.

    Middle school students participating in the Gator Guides Program serve as student ambassadors, working with the Admissions Office to represent the school and provide prospective families with a current student perspective. First and foremost, Gator Guides host and orient applicants on their campus visits, ensuring they feel welcome and included for a "day in the life" at SHS Middle School. Gator Guides attend our Open House events and serve on student panels to answer questions and share insight into student life and the Sacred Heart experience. Being a Gator Guide is a privilege and selected students exhibit maturity, leadership, school spirit and a true understanding of our discipline/honor system, Code of the Heart.

  • Athletics

    In athletics, students in grades 4 - 8 can participate in any of our “no cuts” sports teams, which compete along four seasons of play.

  • Performing Arts

    In the performing arts, students can take part in drama productions--including the all-school musical for grades K-12 held every three years, the annual Middle School play, and the GR 4-8 musical. Student musicians also have numerous opportunities with instrumental and choral groups - including performance at the Holiday Treat, spring arts festival, and other school events, liturgies, or assemblies throughout the year. 

SHP Student Life Program

The SHP Student Life team's involvement with day-to-day school operations encompasses the daily routine, the overall supervision of the campus, general order and discipline, programming and presentations, and a wide array of student activities throughout the year. SHP's Office of Student Life seeks to provide learning experiences beyond the classroom, that also complement academic coursework.
 
Striving to provide an atmosphere where students are challenged, supported, and heard, the entire Student Life team encourages and assists student organizations in planning, implementing, and assessing programming, in order to promote individual growth, and in particular, skills related to leadership, personal responsibility, and collaboration.

Among our many programs for SHP students, the Student Life team coordinates, works in conjunction with, or oversees:

  • casual and formal dances
  • fine and performing arts events
  • service learning opportunities
  • entertainment such as DJs, student rock, and jazz concerts
  • Spirit Week & Homecoming
  • student government
  • student clubs and organizations

SHP Student Clubs & Organizations

List of 6 items.

  • Media & Governance

    Associated Student Body
    Class Officers 
    The Heart Beat Student Newspaper
    Yearbook
    KSHS Radio - active during broadcast times only
    SHPTV Broadcast

  • Creative Process & Technology

    Robotics

    Kitsch (Improvisation)
    Literary Magazine
    PULSE Dance Team
    Drama Club
    Architectural Design/Home Design Baking and Festivities Board Game Club Computer Science Club Debate Club Environmental Justice Global MAP: Motivate, Advocate, Participate Golf Club Happiness Club History Club Holiday Club Investment Group K-Pop Club Latin Club Mandarin Club Online Chess Club Poet Reef Jamaica Club Poker Club Real Talk Robotics Team Sacred Heart Honey Sewing Club SHPolitics Surf Club Talk About Tech Virtual Reality Club Y.A.Y (you are you)    ? Architectural Design/Home Design
    Baking and Festivities
    Board Game Club
    Computer Science Club
    Debate Club Environmental
    Justice Global MAP: Motivate, Advocate, Participate
    Golf Club
    Happiness Club
    History Club
    Holiday Club
    Investment Group
    K-Pop Club
    Latin Club
    Mandarin Club
    Chess Club
    Poet Reef Jamaica Club
    Poker Club
    Real Talk
    Sacred Heart Honey
    Sewing Club
    SHPolitics
    Surf Club
    Talk About Tech
    Virtual Reality Club
    Y.A.Y (you are you)

  • Social Justice & Empowerment

    IRIS
    S.U.R.J
    The Women's Group
    Political Activists of Sacred Heart (P.A.S.H.)
    All Students Matter Tutoring Club
    Debate Club 

  • Global Emphasis & Impact

    Model United Nations
    French Club
    Mandarin Club
    Entrepreneurs Club
    Political Party Planning
    Current Events Club

  • Spiritual

    Campus Ministry
    Sacred Heart Society

  • Sports & Special Interests

    Bocce Ball Club
    Bowling Gators
    Esports
    SHP Student Booster Club
    Ski and Snowboarding Club
    Surfing Club
    Wiffle Ball World Series


Sacred Heart Schools Atherton

Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton

150 Valparaiso Ave
Atherton, CA 94027
650 322 1866
Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, SHS is a Catholic, independent, co-ed day school for students in preschool through grade 12
Network of Sacred Heart Schools