Our Mission

Since 1800, when St. Madeleine Sophie Barat founded the Society of the Sacred Heart in France, Religious of the Society of the Sacred Heart and lay Sacred Heart educators have carried out her imperative of educational excellence. Today, the Network of Sacred Heart schools is an association of 25 Catholic schools across the United States and Canada and nearly 150 schools internationally. Independent yet united in spirit and purpose, the international community of Schools of the Sacred Heart believes in educating the whole child, and preparing her to live fully and wisely. At the core of the Sacred Heart education the Goals and Criteria are the principles that express the intentions and hopes of our 200-year tradition.

Carrollton's culture and identity are bound inextricably to the vision set forth in the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart Schools. These values form the moral compass that influence the choices made within our community. Learning to draw upon these values during their school days, Carrollton graduates become women of conviction, courage and confidence.

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  • GOAL I: Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to a personal and active faith in God.

    1. The school identifies itself to the wider community as a Catholic-independent-Sacred Heart School and embodies the mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
    2. The school forms its student and adult members in attitudes of the heart of Jesus, such as gratitude, generosity, compassion, and forgiveness.
    3. The school community reflects an ethos of joy, hope, and celebration and its programs assert that there is meaning and value in life.
    4. The school community welcomes and respects persons of all faiths and educates to an understanding of the religions and spiritual traditions of the world. 
    5. School leadership prioritizes space and time for silence and contemplation for its members to deepen their interior life. 
    6. Members of the school community, open to the transforming power of the Spirit of God, engage in personal and communal prayer, discernment, and reflection which inform their actions. 
    7. The school community, rooted in the love of Jesus Christ, nurtures the spiritual lives of its members through the exploration of one's relationship to God, to self, to others, and to creation. 

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  • GOAL II: Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to a deep respect for intellectual values.

    1. Sacred Heart educators and students engage in challenging experiences that inspire intellectual curiosity, a global mindset, and a life-long love of learning.
    2. Sacred Heart educators develop and implement a dynamic curriculum, effective instructional methodology, current educational research, and ongoing evaluation.
    3. Sacred Heart educators and students utilize a variety of teaching and learning strategies to support their growth and development.
    4. The school's curricular and co-curricular programs integrate innovation and collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving, the exploration of emerging technologies, and critical evaluation of information. 
    5. The school utilizes space and the physical environment in alignment with best pedagogical practices.
    6. The school cultivates aesthetic values and the creative use of the imagination.
    7. Sacred Heart educators assume responsibility for their professional growth, supported by resources and a culture that promotes life-long learning. 

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  • GOAL III: Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to a social awareness which impels to action.

    1. Sacred Heart educators prepare students to serve the common good in an interdependent world.
    2. Sacred Heart educators immerse students in diverse global perspectives, developing competencies such as critical consciousness, language facility, and cultural literacy. 
    3. The school, drawing from Catholic Social Teaching, educates students to analyze and work to eradicate social structures, practices, systems, and values that perpetuate racism and other injustices. 
    4. All members of the school community accept accountability for the care of God's creation, practice effective stewardship of the Earth's resources, and work to alleviate the climate crisis. 
    5. School programs promote informed active citizenship and civic responsibility on the local, national, and global level.
    6. The school community engages in direct service, advocacy, outreach, and partnerships to work for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation.
    7. Sacred Heart educators work to develop in the students a life-long commitment to service.

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  • GOAL IV: Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to the building of community as a Christian value.

    1. The school, affirming that all are created in the image and likeness of God, promotes the inherent dignity of the human person and strives for relationships characterized by inclusion and mutual respect. 
    2. The school implements an ongoing plan for educating all members of the community to the charism, mission and heritage of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
    3. The school engages with the Network of Sacred Heart Schools in the United States and Canada and Sacred Heart schools around the world.
    4. All members of the school community support a clean, healthy, and safe environment.
    5. Members of the school community practice and teach with a spirit of peace and reconciliation the principles of non-violence and conflict management. 
    6. School leadership demonstrates a conscious effort to recruit students and employ faculty and staff of diverse races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. 
    7. School leadership allocates financial resources to support socio-economic diversity both in the admissions process and in the daily life of students. 

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  • GOAL V: Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom

    1. Student and adult members of the school community grow in courage and confidence as they discover new abilities, cultivate strengths, learn from mistakes, develop empathy and exercise resilience in meeting challenges.
    2. All members of the school community take personal responsibility for health and balance in their lives supported by a school culture that promotes spiritual, intellectual, physical, and social-emotional well-being.
    3. Members of the school community model and teach respectful dialogue in support of clear, direct, open communication. 
    4. All members of the school community endeavor to practice informed, ethical decision-making and accountability. 
    5. Student and adult members of the school community model, practice, and teach safe, ethical, and responsible use of technology.
    6. Sacred Heart educators cultivate in the students' life skills, such as initiative, creativity, and agility. 
    7. Sacred Heart schools recognize and educate to motivational, inspirational, and transformational leadership. 

Our History

Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart began in 1961 but its original inspiration goes back several months prior to opening day. The founding of Carrollton is actually the fruit of a confluence of events which helped to shape the history of the City of Miami and the Society of the Sacred Heart both in the United States and in Cuba. Those events, which converged then, may now seem clear and connected but during the months in which they occurred, no one could have foretold the ultimate outcome. The events involve alumnae of the Sacred Heart living in Miami in the late '50's and early '60's, the creation of the Diocese of Miami and the expulsion of the Religious of the Sacred Heart from our schools in Havana and Santiago in Cuba.

The current Archdiocese of Miami was actually formed in 1958 when a decision was made to divide Florida and the newly formed diocese was to be Miami. Bishop Coleman Carroll was named the first bishop. It is the bishop's responsibility to build and form the diocese. Bishop Carroll invited several religious congregations whom he knew to make foundations in Miami. The Religious of the Sacred Heart were among those invited. Before this invitation could be issued, alumnae from Sacred Heart schools and colleges throughout the United States who were living in Miami wondered if there might be a chance to have a school of the Sacred Heart in the new diocese. Simultaneously, as the situation in Cuba worsened the leadership of the Society of the Sacred Heart in Rome began to plan for the probable loss of schools and the subsequent need to re-locate the Religious. Sadly, such a step was not the first time the Society of the Sacred Heart faced probable expulsion due to unfriendly governments. As alumnae from Cuba began to arrive in Miami, it was a question of time when their desires for a school would unite with the desires of the American alumnae and begin to tug at the hearts of the Religious of the Sacred Heart.

All of these factors converged when the schools in Cuba were finally confiscated and the religious escaped to Florida. Greeting them was Reverend Mother Agnes Barry who represented the Vicars and Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Bishop Carroll echoed the requests of alumnae that a Sacred Heart School be founded in Miami as soon as possible. And so as all of these people united in prayer, Mother Barry agreed to send a formal request to the Mother House in Rome and the return telegram on July 13, 1961 simply said "Oui."

Then the work began in earnest to find a proper home for the future of the Sacred Heart in Miami. Assisted by Sacred Heart alumnae such as Mrs. O’Neil and Mrs. Ledo, the Religious began a search for an appropriate property for the school. Mother Malin Craig, treasurer of the Vicariate, and Mother Clare McGowan, Director of Studies joined Reverend Mother Barry and the work of finding students and designing a program began.

El Jardin became the absolute choice when Mother Barry saw the poem carved in the arches about the pool..."One is nearer God's Heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth." Although classes in September were temporarily prevented from occurring in El Jardin, neither lack of the necessary financing nor the absence of city authorization discouraged the alumnae and religious. Classes proceeded in people’s homes, and finally on November 1, 1961 the City Commissioners unanimously agreed that the El Jardin estate on Main Highway could become the site of Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart. Classes opened in El Jardin in January.

Since that time Carrollton has mirrored the growth and evolution of Miami. Today we enjoy a multi-lingual, multi-cultural community of students, parents and faculty from all over the world. Like all of the other Schools of the Sacred Heart across the world, Carrollton focuses on the total education of the student. Her spiritual, intellectual, physical and emotional growth remains at the center of the educational mission.

Once housed solely in the original estate home, El Jardin, the school now boasts two complete campuses, Barat and Duchesne. The second campus was acquired in 1991. The Junior High School has seen additions, which include science labs, state of the art classrooms and a new assembly space. The Barry Building at Barat was added in 1969; it also recently underwent a renovation which included adding an elevator and remodeling bathrooms as well as adding classrooms and a new facade more in keeping with the historic buildings. The Science/Technology Library building has now been in use since 2007. Theplacement of this new building has created a view corridor to El Jardin from the gatehouse on Main Highway. The Intermediate Science/Math Pavilion opened in 2009. The Wellness Center opened in November 2014. The final phase of the Master Plan, a Convocation Center to replace the current all-purpose room in the Barry Building was completed in March 2018.

Cœur de Jésus

Cœur de Jésus, sauvez le monde;
Que l’univers Vous soit soumis;
En Vous seul notre espoir se fonde,
Seigneur, Seigneur, Vous nous l’avez promis.

Vous l’avez dit: Votre promesse
Fait notre espoir, notre bonheur
“Je bénirai dans ma tendresse
Les enfants de mon Sacré Cœur.”
"For the sake of one child, I would have founded the Society."
-Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat