Parents Read to Kindergarten Class via Skype

But never step foot in the classroom at any time.

Parents of Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School kindergartners have been reading to the entire kindergarten class without stepping foot in the classroom. Skype has allowed parents to serve as guest readers each month even when they cannot be on campus. Parents have been reading books from their home or office using computers and iPads while students watch and listen using the classroom's interactive SMART Board.

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Open Letter From the Villa Duchesne Board of Trustees:

School in Frontenac welcomes Elizabeth Miller as the new Head of School in July.

Dear Sacred Heart Family, The Board of Trustees for Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School is pleased to announce Elizabeth Miller as our next Head of School, effective July 1, 2013. The trustees unanimously voted to offer the position to Elizabeth following a comprehensive national search. They were particularly impressed with Elizabeth's "commitment to her Catholic faith and her vision to immerse herself in the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart education." Elizabeth is currently Upper School Head at Hutchison School, an all girls' school (age 2-grade 12) founded in Memphis in 1902. Her leadership responsibilities include academics, student life, advancement and enrollment management. She previously served as a faculty member and registrar …

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Villa Duchesne Oak Hill "Mums of Alum's" Prepare Packages for Combat Soldiers Overseas

Third year in a row packages are shipped to fighting forces in Afghanistan.

For the third consecutive year, the Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill Mums of Alums gathered, prepared and shipped non-perishable items for military personnel serving overseas, particularly in Afghanistan. Soldiers serving in forward outposts are unable to purchase any items. Tired of MRE’s, meals ready to eat, getting care packages from home is especially a treat. Packaged chicken and packaged tuna are very popular these days. This year’s goal was to meet or exceed the 75 boxes shipped overseas in 2012. A group of Mums of Alums (the mothers of graduates of the school community gathered to box up all of the donated items. For weeks, students at Oak Hill and Villa Duchesne have been bringing non-perishable items to go into the care packages. …

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Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill Students Make Snowflakes for Sandy Hook Elementary

More are needed for the school in Connecticut.

Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School students like senior Sarah Sutherlin made paper snowflakes for the students of Sandy Hook Elementary. The snowflakes will be mailed to Connecticut to decorate a new elementary school building. The idea was inspired by the fact that “like our children, no two snowflakes are alike. ” The Snowflake Drive is sponsored by the Connecticut Parent Teacher Student Association. If you would like to participate, mail your snowflakes to Connecticut PTSA, 60 Connolly Parkway, Building 12, Suite 103, Hamden, CT 06514, by January 12, 2013.

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International Student Art Exchange

Oak Hill students exchange art with Taiwanese students.

Fourth graders at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School exchanged artwork this week with their ePals in Taiwan. This international exchange has been a part of Oak Hill’s art curriculum since 2006. Oak Hill student artwork is currently on display at the school in Tainan, Taiwan and Taiwanese student artwork is displayed at Oak Hill.  

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Global Perspective Coming To Oak Hill Villa Duchesne

Students will share how children eat around the World on March 5.

Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School is bringing a global perspective to National Nutrition Month in March.  Students age 3 through grade six, in conjunction with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, are studying what children eat in France, India, Uganda, and Brazil. Traditional dishes from each of these countries will be served during lunch the week of March 5.  The highlight of the week will be the Earth Balloon, a 20' diameter inflatable model of the earth which students enter to learn about our planet from the inside out. Students have been studying continents, oceans, weather patterns, and ecosystems in anticipation of their Earth Balloon tour on March 7.  Each grade will spend 30 minutes inside the Earth Balloon learning from …

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Villa Duchesne And Oak Hill Celebrate Valentine's Day In Style

Bake sales, sledding, lots of red-fun all the way around.

Villa Duchesne Oak Hill's primary colors of maroon and gray changed to brilliant red to celebrate Valentines Day 2012. The students held bake sales to raise money for Haiti relief, and broke out the sleds for some brief outdoors activities. Students from all the Sacred Heart sister schools around the nation raised money yesterday for free public education in Haiti.  Villa's communications director Sapna Jos was on the move, recording these quick events for the Ladue-Frontenac Patch.

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Going One-On-One with Villa Duchesne Oak Hill Head of School, Part I

Sister Lucie Nordmann talks about what it means to be a Sacred Heart School while holding a position of leadership in the community.

Sister Lucie Nordmann is head of school at Villa Duchesne Oak Hill in Frontenac. She is a former teacher and administrator at the school. She was head of school at two other Sacred Heart Schools, one in Grand Coteau, LA and one in Albany, NY. She also served at St. Luke’s Hospital as a chaplain and patient-family advocate. Ladue-Frontenac Patch: Villa Duchense is part of the Sacred Heart network. What does that mean exactly, and what are the stated values of your school? Sister Lucie Nordmann: One is to be part of the order and carry on the legacy of the religious order of the Sacred Heart established for all the schools around the world at one time. The values in this country and now beyond this country we now articulate as the criteria, …

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