Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart ( ) is a combined primary and secondary independent girls'

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

located at 10202 Memorial Drive in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. A member of the

Network of Sacred Heart Schools The School of the Sacred Heart is an international network of private Catholic schools that are run by or affiliated with the Society of the Sacred Heart, which was founded in France by Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat. Membership of the network exce ...

, it offers a college preparatory curriculum for girls. Duchesne, which enrolls girls from pre-K3 to the 12th grade, is part of the

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

and the

Independent Schools Association of the Southwest The Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS) is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit association of 89 independent schools located in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, states of Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and ...

. Duchesne is in the

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

area and is east of the city of

Hunters Creek Village Hunters Creek Village is a city in Harris County, Texas, United States, part of the metropolitan area. The population was 4,385 at the 2020 census. It is part of a collection of upscale residential communities in west Houston known as the Mem ...

History

Duchesne was established in September 1960 as a part of the

, with 58 high-school pupils. The school is named after

Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne Rose Philippine Duchesne, RSCJ (; August 29, 1769 – November 18, 1852), was a French religious sister and educator whom Pope John Paul II canonized in 1988. A native of France, she immigrated as a missionary to America, and is recognized for h ...

, the first member of the

Society of the Sacred Heart The Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (; ), abbreviated RSCJ, is a Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of pontifical right for women established in France by Madeleine Sophie Barat in 1800. History Madeleine Soph ...

to come to America. The school is part of the

. The campus was built around a large oak tree, in the center of its campus. It became a symbol for the school because the name "Duchesne" is French for "of the oak". The oak tree also represents a notable graduation tradition at Duchesne. As each senior is called up to receive her diploma, she passes under the oak tree. On September 17, 2014, the original oak tree fell during a thunderstorm. it was over fifty years old and had been weakened after surviving a severe drought. On February 17, 2015, a new oak tree was transported by crane to a location near where the old oak tree previously stood and is currently still standing. The new oak tree allows the graduation tradition to continue. Another fixture of the campus is a two-story white house that stood on the property when it was purchased for the school. It faces the oak tree and houses the

RSCJ The Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (; ), abbreviated RSCJ, is a Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of pontifical right for women established in France by Madeleine Sophie Barat in 1800. History Madeleine Sophi ...

who live on campus. Some of the school's classes were originally conducted here.

Student life

The school is divided into three divisions: the Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School. The school has an annual tradition known as Congé - a day where classes are canceled and the Senior class organizes games and activities for the entire school to participate in.

Academics and culture

In 1974, ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...

'' stated that students from Duchesne and nearby Saint Agnes Academy originated from "mostly business and professional people with money"."''Texas Monthly'''s Guide to Private Schools Part Two." ''

''.

Emmis Communications Emmis Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for "Truth" (''Emet'') was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR ...

, October 1974. Vol. 2, No. 10. ISSN 0148-7736. Start pag
83
Cited: p
87
In 2017, Niche ranked Duchesne among the Best Private High Schools in the Houston metro area.

Upper School Curriculum

Upper school students must complete four years of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

as well as three years of

foreign language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a specific country. Native speakers from that country usually need to acquire it through conscious learning, such as through language lessons at schoo ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

to graduate. As a part of the student's religious studies, freshman and sophomores must complete two service projects each semester, while juniors and seniors take a social awareness course and volunteer throughout the Houston area. Additionally, Upper School students must have three

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

bins, three computer science bins, and three PE bins by the time they graduate. Each 6 week module is one bin, three bins is the equivalent of one year-long course.

Athletics

Duchesne offers 11 sports for students to participate in throughout the academic year. In the fall, Duchesne offers field hockey, cross country, and volleyball as sports. Soccer, basketball, and swimming are played in the winter season. In the spring, students play

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

, and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. Duchesne is affiliated with the

Southwest Preparatory Conference The Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) is an athletic conference for large, elite private high schools in Texas. It is composed of the following schools: Current members Former members See also * List of private schools in Texas * T ...

Notable Organizations

Robotics

Iron Plaid 3103 is the school's all-girl high school robotics team associated with FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). Founded in 2009, the team has won numerous awards, including the Rookie All-Star award and a Finalist award in 2009, the Engineering Inspiration award, Industrial Design award and Industrial Safety award in 2014, the Engineering Inspiration award in 2015 and in 2017. The team has attended championships a total of 4 times.

Notes

External links

Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart
– Official website {{authority control Independent Schools Association of the Southwest Girls' schools in Texas Private K–12 schools in Houston Catholic secondary schools in Texas Sacred Heart schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 1960 1960 establishments in Texas