IN Sewickley Fall 2019 | Page 30

SPONSORED CONTENT BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT SPONSORED CONTENT Our Lady of the Sacred Heart— More Than a School, It’s a Family A “ OLSH serves as a solid continuation of the faith and values taught and lived in our home. We appreciate the family or close-knit atmosphere and that faith is at the center of everything at OLSH.” –Lee Sweeney, father of Lucy ’19, Finn ’21, and Peter ‘23 t Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School in Moon Township, it’s not uncommon to see football players attending, or starring in, the spring musical. It’s not uncommon to see theater students attending softball games and cheering on their classmates. And it’s definitely not uncommon seeing teachers coaching and directing it all. That’s because OLSH is a family, where everyone supports each other while pursuing their personal best. With about 310 students, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, an independent Catholic school and ministry of the Felician Sisters, is a close- knit community where students build strong relationships with each other and the faculty who teach them along the way. “Our mission statement highlights educating and transforming each student, which is important because every student is different,” said Jessica Cerchiaro, Director of Marketing & Communications. “We’re small in size so students receive individual attention, yet there are a lot of opportunities for students to find their niche and what’s important to them.” Not only do faculty and staff comprise a large part of this educational family, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart also has relationships with post-secondary schools like the University of Notre Dame and Duquesne University, which open pathways to resources students can’t find anywhere else. “Through Notre Dame’s Teacher Investment Program, our teachers get special training to better assist students in navigating their AP exams,” Cerchiaro said. “And for any students who need support, the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Writing and Learning Center, or OWL Center, is a university-modeled facility that was developed in partnership with Duquesne. Students are trained to be peer tutors to assist with writing across the curriculum. Students can also go there for subject tutoring during and after school at no additional cost. Through these programs, we’ve seen a measurable increase in our students’ academic performance. The number of students enrolling in AP courses at OLSH has nearly doubled over the last two years and this year our students earned qualifying scores on 75.2% of the AP exams taken.” Our Lady of the Sacred Heart also has a relationship with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit for the Advanced Learning and Leadership Initiative (ALLI). This program assists students who are not performing at grade level and may have difficulty with critical thinking or organizational skills. Through this initiative, OLSH has a reading specialist on campus every day of the week to help students who need individual remediation. And while academics and faith are a primary focus at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, there’s plenty of school spirit, as well. The school made history in 2018-2019 by winning three WPIAL championships—football and girls and boys basketball—as well as winning a Gene Kelly Award for best musical. What’s more, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart has 15 scholarship opportunities available to students. About 46 percent of the school’s families qualify for financial assistance and everyone who qualifies for assistance receives some level of aid from the school. For more information on Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, visit the website at olsh.org, or call the school directly at 412.264.5140. It is located at 1504 Woodcrest Avenue, Moon Township, 15108, and is easily accessible from routes I-79, 376, and 65. You can also email the school at [email protected]. Join us at Open House - Sunday, November 3 or Thursday, November 7 28 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE ❘ icmags.com