Who We Are

Duchesne Academy educates young women to be active participants in their own development. We provide a safe, loving place for them to learn how to evaluate complex matters with poise and discernment. We are preparing our students not only for college, but for a lifelong pursuit of faith, understanding, and wisdom.

Celebrating Sacred Heart values, we empower insightful, compassionate women with a sense of social responsibility and a deeply rooted spiritual life. When these confident, adept women go out into the world, they lead change in their communities.

Duchesne of the Sacred Heart is an independent, Catholic, college-preparatory high school for girls in grades 9-12. Duchesne was established in Omaha in 1881 and is one of 25 Network of Sacred Heart Schools in the United States and Canada.

Our Mission and Goals

Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart is a Catholic, college-preparatory high school for girls of all faiths and backgrounds. Our philosophy is rooted in the 200-year tradition of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Sharing in the Society's mission to reveal God’s love in the heart of the world, Schools of the Sacred Heart commit to educate to:

1. A personal and active faith in God

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.
The school forms its student and adult members in attitudes of the heart of Jesus, such as gratitude, generosity, compassion and forgiveness.
The school community reflects an ethos of joy, hope and celebration and its programs assert that there is meaning and value in life.
The school community welcomes and respects persons of all faiths and educates to an understanding of the religions and spiritual traditions of the world.
School leadership prioritizes space and time for silence and contemplation for its members to deepen their interior life.
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.
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.

2. A deep respect for intellectual values

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

3. A social awareness that impels to action

Sacred Heart educators prepare students to serve the common good in an interdependent world.
Sacred Heart educators immerse students in diverse global perspectives, developing competencies such as critical consciousness, language facility and cultural literacy.
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.
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.
School programs promote informed active citizenship and civic responsibility on the local, national and global level.
The school community engages in direct service, advocacy, outreach and partnerships to work for justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
Sacred Heart educators work to develop in the students a life-long commitment to service.

4. The building of community as a Christian value

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.
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.
The school engages with the Network of Sacred Heart Schools in the United States and Canada and Sacred Heart schools around the world.
All members of the school community support a clean, healthy and safe environment.
Members of the school community practice and teach with a spirit of peace and reconciliation the principles of non-violence and conflict management.
School leadership demonstrates a conscious effort to recruit students and employ faculty and staff of diverse races, ethnicities and backgrounds.
School leadership allocates financial resources to support socio economic diversity both in the admissions process and in the daily life of students.

5. Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom

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.
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.
Members of the school community model and teach respectful dialogue in support of clear, direct, open communication.
All members of the school community endeavor to practice informed, ethical decision-making and accountability.
Student and adult members of the school community model, practice, and teach safe, ethical and responsible use of technology.
Sacred Heart educators cultivate in the students life skills, such as initiative, creativity and agility.
Sacred Heart schools recognize and educate to motivational inspirational, and transformational leadership.

"Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart, once said, “for the sake of one child, I would have founded the Society.” In a true sense, you are that one." - Life at the Sacred Heart, 1985

Our Philosophy

Duchesne Academy, a member of an international network of schools operated by the Society of the Sacred Heart, is an independent Catholic girls’ school in Omaha, Nebraska. Duchesne offers a unique education focusing on commitment to: faith in God, academic excellence, development of social responsibility, formation of an inclusive community and personal dignity. This education reflects the values given priority by St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart.

Duchesne strives to meet the intellectual needs of the whole person by providing an atmosphere where students and faculty discover truth and appropriate this truth individually. The community recognizes the contemporary world as a field of learning experiences and incorporates this dimension in the educational thrust. Self-discipline and experiences reflected upon bring about the integration of mind and heart.

Importance is placed on skills necessary for living in the present and future world, on friendships that are life-long, on significant memories and on an underlying faith which permeates all. Reflection on personal choices leads to a growing awareness of one's relationship to God and concern for others.

Duchesne strives to give each person a sense of dignity and self-worth which liberates her to become a morally responsible human being who can confront issues intelligently and work to bring about necessary and constructive change in world and human conditions.

In This Section

Our Mission and Goals

1. A personal and active faith in God

2. A deep respect for intellectual values

3. A social awareness that impels to action

4. The building of community as a Christian value

5. Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom

Our Philosophy

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