This building is part of the Society of Sacred Heart. The Society of Sacred Heart was founded by Madeleine Sophie Barat who was a French Saint of the Catholic Church. This building is comprised of four above ground stories and was built in 1928 by architect David Jerome Spence. This building was run by the nuns of the Sacred Heart Society until 1982.
Madeleine Sophie Barat:
Madeleine was born in 1779 and died in 1865. At the age of twenty she decided to become a nun and gave up this mission at the age of twenty one. Her new mission was "to educate the mind, the body and the spirit of the children" (Sacred Heart High School website). Madeleine Sophie Barat began founding schools for girls around several continents. In 1801 she opened her first school in France. At the age of twenty three Madeleine's dreams began coming true, she was elected Superior General of the Sacred Heart Society. She and her fellow sisters soon began to realize their dreams of educating people. Schools were created and quickly became known as renowned schools to the aristocracy. Madeleine had wanted to create schools which were attainable for anyone who wanted to join them. However, due to this time period it made it very difficult. Therefore she created one school for the poor each time a school for the wealthy was built. This way poverty stricken girls were able to attend school as well. Madeleine's dream of educating children was so that she could teach them about God and religion so that in turn could carry out good deeds on the behalf of God. (Phil Kilroy, "A Life")
The Building Today:
Map of location of Sacred Heart High School. The building is located at 3635 Atwater Avenue.
The Sacred Heart building is now used as a high school. It is a private English all-girls high school. The school will celebrate it's "150th year of excellence and education" (The Sacred Heart High School) this year. Sacred Heart High School is known to be a extremely high quality school. The school attempts to keep their students well-rounded by teaching everything from sports to literary skills.
A brief timeline of 149 years history of Sacred Heart High School: 1861 First temporary House - St. Hubert Street 1862 Second temporary House - Berri Street 1863 Third House - La Gauchetière Street 1872 Fourth House - St. Catherine Street 1892 Fifth House - St. Alexandre Street 1928 Sixth House - 3635 Atwater Avenue 1974 New House System is established 1981 Computer Cove created and computer courses initiated 1982 Board of Directors is established and the Convent becomes The Sacred Heart School of Montreal 1992 The Margaret Johnson Gymnasium opens 1996 The building is wired for networking 1997 The school web site and mail server are brought online 2000 The dining hall is refurbished and renamed the Sault Dining Hall 2001 Renovation of the Chapel 2010-2011 School celebrates 150th Anniversary (Sacred Heart High School website)