In Prayerful Expectation: Update and Invitation from Sacred Heart Academy

DECEMBER 18, 2025 — Feast of the Expectation of the Virgin Mary

On this somewhat unknown and often overlooked feastday—celebrating Our Lady expectant with the Christ Child, ready to give birth to our Saviour—Sacred Heart Academy (SHA) shares an update on the past few months and its own expectation for the future.

Why SHA Did Not Open in September 2025

As you are aware, the decision was made on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, that SHA would not open in September 2025. This decision was not reached lightly. It followed months of intensive prayer and discernment, and a clear recognition that several key factors had not materialized by critical deadlines. In light of this, the prudent course was to delay opening at the start of the school year.

Our Origins

It bears recalling that SHA was born from a shared vision of several Catholic families across the Durham region in early 2018. These families recognized a real appetite for faithful Catholic educational alternatives, including a private school. From that vision, SHA took shape—first as a homeschool co-op for five years, and later as a full-fledged school for two beautiful years.

The Continuing Need and Call for Leadership

In surveying the current landscape, the Board recognizes that the underlying need has not changed. There remain many parents and families in the Durham region who desire private options in Catholic education. What would be required for this vision to be realized anew is fresh leadership, particularly as some key leaders have moved away and others now face limitations due to health and age.

Accordingly, the Board has sought to act through a lens of responsible stewardship. It may well be that God raises up new leadership for a relaunch of SHA. This would echo a broader movement already underway, with several new private Catholic schools recently opening across southern Ontario—such as St. Joseph Academy in St. Catharines, Mater Boni Consilii Academy in Oakville, and Sacred Heart School in Welland—under the guidance and auspices of the Consortium of Independent Ontario Catholic Schools (CIOCS).

SHA’s Achievements and Assets

We know firsthand the tremendous work—and expense—incurred by SHA and its many volunteers to:

• establish our corporation and governance structure;

• obtain charitable status;

• develop policies, procedures, documentation, and operational systems;

• build a website and social media presence;

• cultivate robust databases of prospective students, teachers, and donors;

• procure desks, chairs, tables, books, and educational materials;

• foster strong relationships within the Catholic community and with related institutions;

• coordinate volunteer efforts and community engagement;

• plan and organize academic programs and curricula.

All these achievements are not the personal property of the Board or any of its members. Rather, they are assets for any future Catholic private school initiative. For this reason, the Board has sought to preserve them for a time—in what might be called a “chrysalis state.”

Important Recent Steps

After months of preparation, following nine days of intensive novena prayer by the SHA community, our Annual General Meeting was held on December 8, 2025, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. At this AGM, updated by-laws were adopted, strengthening our membership and governance structure and placing the corporation on solid footing for a possible future reopening.

In short, like Our Lady on this Feast of the Expectation, we at SHA look to the future with hope, expectation, and trust. The scene is set for a new beginning.

How You Can Help

First, pray.

Next, discern:

• Have you sensed a call to be involved in Catholic education marked by fidelity to Church teaching and the Magisterium?

• Do you feel a passion for academic excellence rooted in the classical Catholic model—one that forms the mind, cultivates virtue, and orders all learning toward truth, goodness and beauty?

• Are you concerned about the influences shaping our children in present-day Canadian society, and do you feel called to respond?

• As an added (but not required) consideration, do you have children or grandchildren for whom you would like to see this Catholic private school option made available in or around the Durham region?

  
  

If you feel called—or even simply interested—please drop a line to the Board at sacredhearta@gmail.com.

There is no obligation created by contacting us. Your name would simply be added to a growing list of others—what might be called a “council of the willing”—who are interested in working toward a reopening of SHA. There are already several individuals in this group, but we are especially seeking a person, or a committed couple, willing to take the lead in pursuing next steps.

Rest assured, you do not need to have all the answers to reach out to us. Simon Peter certainly did not when he stepped out of the boat onto the turbulent waters of the Sea of Galilee. What he did have was his gaze fixed firmly on the face of the Master.

Building a school truly requires a community. Some will be called primarily to pray; others to lead, administer, organize, or support financially; others to teach, mentor, volunteer, or assist students directly; still others to help source and manage a suitable property. It is only through a collective response—many people saying “yes” to God in ways both small and large—that His work is carried forward.

Remember: God does not call the equipped; He equips the called.

Practical Details

What this means practically:

• There is a stable corporation with charitable status, available for the purpose of advancing private Catholic education—ideally in the Durham region, or elsewhere in Ontario.

• There exists a comprehensive suite of policies, procedures, and systems—a kind of “school in a box”—ready to be unpacked.

• A Board remains in place to assist with transition to new leadership and to offer the benefit of its past experience to any future educational efforts built on the foundations of SHA.

• Very concretely, there is a rental storage unit containing desks, chairs, teaching materials, and books from SHA. This unit will be retained until at least Easter 2026. At that point, a decision will be made either to continue storage (if a reopening in the near future appears likely) or to liquidate these assets should there be no reasonable prospect of reopening for Fall 2026.

• The classical Catholic educational model pursued by SHA is outlined succinctly in The Catholic School Playbook.

• The foundation and preparation already put in place can significantly shorten the path for any new leadership team.

• Volunteer, financial, and community support networks are already partially established.

Conclusion

These, then, are the facts and the timeline. Now we wait—in prayerful expectation. This is not our school, but His. He is the One who moves hearts, minds, and spirits.

Happy and blessed Feast of the Expectation of Mary. We look forward to hearing from you about what the Lord is putting on your heart.