Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart

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Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart is a private, Roman Catholic, all-girls middle school and high school in Bellevue, Washington. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle.

1 Background
2 Technology in the Classroom
3 Goals
4 Uniform
5 Drama
6 Conge
7 External links
8 Notes and references

[edit] Background

Forest Ridge was established in Seattle in 1907 as Forest Ridge Convent of the Sacred Heart by the Religious of the Sacred Heart. The school relocated to Somerset Hill in Bellevue in 1971. The 2007 to 2008 school year was the 100th school year at Forest Ridge and the graduating seniors will be the centennial graduating class. ^[1] Forest Ridge educates girls grades 5 through 12. During the 2007-2008 school year, which ended June 9, 2008, 367 students, 187 middle schoolers and 180 high schoolers, attended Forest Ridge. ^[2]

[edit] Technology in the Classroom

In 1996 Forest Ridge was one of the first schools in the United States to participate in the Anytime Anywhere Learning program. Each student and teacher has their own laptop for use in class and at home. As one of the pioneers in this 1 to 1 laptop learning endeavor, Forest Ridge has more than a decade of experience implementing the latest technologies into the learning environment. As of Fall of 2008 all students and faculty will be on the Tablet PC platform which allows even richer educational experiences through inking capabilities, paperless assignments and a more natural student interface. The school requires a standardized laptop for each student attending thus enabling more efficient and streamlined support for the 1 to 1 program.

[edit] Goals

As part of the network of Sacred Heart schools in the U.S., Forest Ridge follows a set of five goals and criteria: 1. A personal and active faith in God. 2. Deep respect for intellectual values. 3. A social awareness which impels to action. 4. The building of community as a Christian value. 5. Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom.

[edit] Uniform

Students at Forest Ridge wear a uniform Mondays through Fridays in middle school and Mondays through Thursdays in high school. Worn on Mondays, some special occasions, and when a student has committed a uniform violation, "full dress" uniform consists of a black-watch plaid skirt, a white polo shirt, black or brown closed-toe leather shoes, forest green (navy blue for seniors) knee highs, and a forest green (navy blue for seniors) sweater. "Uniform options" are allowed Tuesdays through Thursdays for the high school and through Fridays for the middle school. These options consist of khakis, khaki capris, khaki shorts, cargo pants, white polos, forest green polos, navy polos for seniors, the blackwatch plaid skirt, khaki skirt for middle school students, white socks, and gray or green Forest Ridge sweatshirts. On Thursdays, high school students may wear sweatshirts from Forest Ridge clubs, sports, drama, or class spirit. High school students have free dress each Friday and middle school students the first Friday of each month. Students may also wear free dress on their birthdays.

[edit] Drama

Home to the Lee Theatre, Forest Ridge offers drama to all students and requires high school students participate in at least one production before graduation. The middle school performs a straight show in the winter and a musical in the spring. During the 2007-2008 year, Forest Ridge Middle School performed "Alice in Wonderland" and "Honk!Jr." The high school performs a musical in the fall, a festival of One Act Plays (often directed by students, with some plays written by students), and a straight show in the spring. Forest Ridge High School performed "Singin' in the Rain" and "An Ideal Husband" during the 2007 to 2008 year, and featured three student-written plays in the annual One Acts Festival, two by Kenzie Day ('08) and one by Xanda Schofield ('09). As Forest Ridge is an all-girls schools, male roles are played by female actors in wigs and make-up. Performances are on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturday matinee and evenings for the high school and Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday matinees for the middle school.

[edit] Conge

Conge is a special tradition that happens at all the networking Sacred Heart schools around the world. A day without classes, a conge is a special surprise celebration for the students that happens twice a year. One conge, often off-campus, is planned by the ASB officers and another, often on-campus, by the senior class.