Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart

Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart is a private, Roman Catholic, all-girls middle school and high school in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The school is a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart schools and is part of the global Network of Sacred Heart Schools.^[2] Forest Ridge educates girls in grades 5 through 12. It is an International Baccalaureate World School.^[3]

History

Forest Ridge was established in Seattle in 1907 as the Convent of the Sacred Heart- Forest Ridge by the Religious of the Sacred Heart. The informal name was Forest Ridge Convent or FRC. The school relocated to Somerset Hill in Bellevue in 1971. Currently, Forest Ridge's informal names are FR or FRS (for Forest Ridge School). In 2006, Forest Ridge opened the doors to its newest additions: the Sacred Heart Center, which houses the campus chapel, and a state of the art high school building. At this time, the school also renovated the campus science labs for both the middle and high schools.^[4] The architects responsible for this expansion were Bassetti Architects.^[5] The 2007 to 2008 school year marked Forest Ridge's 100th year of education, making the graduating seniors the centennial class. During the 2007-2008 school year, which ended June 9, 2008, 367 students (187 middle schoolers and 180 high schoolers) attended Forest Ridge.^[6]

Academics

It is known for maintaining a long history of academic excellence and rigor in the classroom. Forest Ridge regularly sends many of its graduates to Ivy League universities and 100% are accepted into universities every year. Beginning in 2011, the school now offers the IB Diploma Programme of the International Baccalaureate Programme World Schools.^[7]

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.^[8] 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 almost two decades of experience implementing the latest technologies into the learning environment. As of Fall of 2008, all students and faculty were on the Tablet PC platform which allowed even richer educational experiences through inking capabilities, paperless assignments, and a more natural student interface. The school requires a standardized laptop for each student thus enabling more efficient and streamlined support for the 1 to 1 program. Forest Ridge has been using Lenovo Tablet PC computers since 2007.

Athletics

Forest Ridge offers a no-cut policy. Students can choose from a variety of sports such as soccer, cross country, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, softball, track, tennis and golf. For 2008-2009, many high school student athletes received Emerald City awards and entered state championships.^[9]

Campus Atmosphere

As a Sacred Heart school, Forest Ridge encourages women to form a personal and active faith in God, have deep respect for intellectual values, have social awareness that compels to action, and grow in an atmosphere of wise freedom. Forest Ridge organizes campus-wide presentations on pressing issues in the local and global community. In 2010, the campus adopted an effort to educate towards clean water and sustainability. With different initiatives continually popping up each year, the women of Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart graduate with a deep respect for social issues and a strong inclination towards continued civic engagement.

References

External links

• School Website
• Network of Sacred Heart Schools
• Private School Review
• Greatschools.org
• International Baccalaureate Programme
• Microsoft case studies