At the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, Woodlands Academy and Forest Ridge School began our Sacred Heart Global Academy (SHGA) partnership. This innovative, one-of-a-kind program connects Sacred Heart students and educators around the world as a community of authentic leaders, agile thinkers, and lifelong learners. Throughout the year, SHGA offered eight one-semester courses that provided synchronous learning for both our international and domestic students. Our original goal, to provide quality educational opportunities to all our students (in the U.S. and abroad), was achieved. However, we also discovered a variety of other advantages and benefits to our virtual programming.

Also during this time, Woodlands Academy and Stone Ridge School partnered to offer Solidarity and Sustainability: A Network Virtual Dialogue Exchange. This semester-long exchange program utilized dialogue skills to create a student-centered program focused on issues of Social Justice. Students met monthly to discuss issues important to them while also developing friendships across the Network. The program culminated in an Alum Panel featuring three young Alum who continue to live out Goal III: A Social Awareness that Impels to Action.

Additionally, members of Sacred Heart Schools Atherton partnered with other global Sacred Heart schools to connect students in virtual exchange during the pandemic. This highly successful, engaging, and collaborative experience is now known as Sacred Heart LIVE. 


Sacred Heart Global Academy has transformed our vision of global education. As Clare Sisisky, GEBG Executive Director says, "If a school's global programs seek to develop global competence (...) global off-campus programs (whether local, national, and international) should include contact and connection across cultures and that virtual exchange should continue to make intercultural connection more accessible and more frequent." Although in-person cultural experiences will always continue at our schools, we also know that the power of virtual exchange and virtual education can connect our international Sacred Heart community in new and exciting ways, helping us work towards our vision to develop each student's global mindset.