Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy

This school is way too pretentious for me. I have ADHD growing up. The school is simply not for people with disabilities. The school is always full of rich kids that get expensive cars for their b-​day. It is really weird for me.
I was living in the boarding house at the time. I found it to be outdated. Mrs Lem was amazing but most girls in the boarding house were full of themselves and they were all international students.
I am glad I end up in Australia where it is now my home for 16 years. Aussies are more laid back and super friendly. They have an amazing education where they treat you normal even through you have learning disabilities.

This is in response to the girl that left FSHA. Yes, Sacred Heart has many wealthy families and there are a handful of girls that get that shinny new car for their 16^th. But there are also girls like my daughters who drive their grandmothers hand me down. My daughters also have friends who don’t even have that. My daughters are blessed to attend Sacred Heart because of the generosity of the school and donors. Although, we are not poor, we are not CEO’s either, we are just hard working people. My daughters have friends that do live in La Canada and definitely have never looked down on those of us don’t. In fact they have never been anything but gracious and inviting.
Most importantly is the education, faculty and all that this Catholic Dominican run school offers. The sisters are amazing and embody all that it means to be a woman of faith and integrity. Sister Carolyn, Sister Celeste are strong, loving leaders that embrace our girls and are a blessing to their lives. My girls came in with very strong academics and have continued to thrive beyond what I ever imagined. We are looking at some of the top colleges for my Junior daughter who meets and exceeds many of their admittance requirements.
Flintridge Sacred Heart is an amazing institution, I consider us very blessed to be a part of this community.

Don’t trust everything you read on Unilocal.It makes sense that a student could only handle FSHA for a year might have some lukewarm things to say about being a TOLOG. I went there for four years, after attending an overpriced non-​religious private K-​12 institution for 8 years.
Let me just say that FSHA is full of extremely caring administrators, staff, faculty, and students. Yeah, I had a handful of teachers that I don’t think were all that great. But those are made up and more by other, stand-​out educators. (Mrs. Reed and Mr. Bernstein, just to pick one department [English] are game-​changers the quality of whom you will not find elsewhere).
You’d expect a cloistered, all-​girls community to be catty, prissy, even unpleasant. But it was a lot of fun, and I made friends with most of the people in my class. I’m happy that I know 98% of the girls I met there. Maybe other schools have major drama, and maybe on average single-​sex schools have more drama than coed schools, but FSHA is different. I had four great years there, on basis of great company alone.
So, yes, I have mentioned (1) high teaching quality, (2) the nice people that go there, but what of the opportunities it presents? Well, how about its excellent, well-​funded, successful sports teams, led by fun, challenging coaches? How about its beloved performing and visual arts programs (which do need more funding) that inspire and support young artists who go on to pursue their crafts in college? What about the literary opportunities, the science and math clubs, the service groups?
That’s 3. Lastly, beyond FSHA: You will learn to love the red dress uniform. You will meet great guys who go to the local boys’ schools (Damien, Loyola, St. Francis, just to name a few). You will keep your friends after graduation. You will go to college.
What kind of college? Well, FSHA isn’t full of freak geniuses, true. But that doesn’t stop TOLOGS from going to Ivies every year. Girls who want to go to MIT can go there. Girls get excellent scholarships, if they take full advantage of the opportunities available on the Hill. And if they don’t, or if they’re not that academic, they still go to some pretty good schools. Check the website.
I wouldn’t judge the school by its demographics. Most of the students can afford to go there full-​price, yes, but a lot of them are on scholarship, so there is a good amount of diversity with regard to income. One thing is indeed homogeneous: TOLOGS are nice, and don’t be so skeptical. Ask anyone who actually gave it a shot.

Oh, FSHA. What shame will be brought on me for being the FTR on Unilocal?
So y’all know… «Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, a Catholic, Dominican, college-​preparatory school, educates young women for a life of faith, integrity, and truth.»
But the real mission statement should raise questions along these lines:
Is your net family income considered upper-​middle class?
Do you like looking down on those who can’t afford to live on the hill?
Does your daddy by you a jag for your 16^th?
Or maybe your father is the CEO of some conglomerate in Korea, and wants only the best in American education for his daughter?
If you answered yes to two or more of the above questions, then FSHA just might be where you went to school. I only hacked it for a year before I ran back to the low brow world of private Catholic schools in Hollywood. I should have been thankful for the scholarship that supported my year as a TOLOG, but sadly the entire year was so surreal I find myself writing the review reliving the most awkward of my high school years.
The campus is beautiful. You can’t beat a night with the boarders hanging out watching a show at the Rose Bowl from above. If I had to go to boarding school, this place is pretty darn cool, if you don’t mind playing Rapunzel. But then again, if your family can afford to board, getting off the hill isn’t as much of a financial constraint as it should be.
In terms of educational quality, I didn’t find my year at FSHA all that challenging. The facilities were a bit dated by comparison to some other private schools in the area, but the faculty was top notch. Sister Dorothy and Sister Mary Catherine were hands down the warmest and sincere sisters, ever.
I consider my year at FSHA as the year I lived like the «other» people do. I’ll probably never be as rich as 95% of the families who send their daughters here, but I suppose if I was, I would give it 5 stars. Averaged with my 1 star, and we’ll call it a 3 star experience at a 5 star price.