Company Profile
Company Overview
Our Mission
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, a Catholic, Dominican, college-preparatory school, educates young women for a life of faith, integrity, and truth.
Accreditation & Governance
FSHA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Western Catholic Education Association (WCEA), and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA).
We invite you to visit our website www.fsha.org.
Company History
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy was founded by the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose in 1931. The school’s original mission-style buildings, designed in 1927 as a resort hotel by noted Southern California architect Myron Hunt, overlook the San Gabriel Valley and the Pasadena Rose Bowl from the crest of the scenic San Rafael Hills.
The resort, originally built and managed by Senator Frank P. Flint, opened in 1927 as the Flintridge Hotel and was soon after sold to the Biltmore Hotel chain. Unfortunately, the hilltop retreat was deemed too expensive to maintain and closed shortly after the onset of the Great Depression. At the same time, the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose were making plans to build a convent and girls’ school on a tract of land they had purchased in Sierra Madre.
After hearing about the resort’s closure, the Archbishop Cantwell contacted the Sisters and suggested that perhaps the abandoned hotel would suit their needs. Following his advice, the Sisters purchased the entire resort, including the nine original buildings, hotel furnishings and surrounding land, at auction for $150,000. According to legend, on August 15, 1931, three Dominican Sisters traveled up the hill to take possession of their new school, carrying with them a single five dollar bill and a statue of the Blessed Mother. Two weeks later, the school opened for the first day of classes on September 2, 1931, with 200 students enrolled in grades 1 through 12.
Originally exclusively a boarding school, FSHA began accepting day students in 1951, phasing out the elementary grades and becoming exclusively a high school. From the beginning, the school’s day population drew from a wide geographical area that now includes the entire Los Angeles basin, with many joining us from the neighboring communities of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. International boarding students have flocked to FSHA from all over the world since the day the school was founded!
Since FSHA’s inception, the Dominican Sisters as well as many dedicated professionals have provided leadership and staffing for the school, the classrooms and the residence halls. Together, they have built a school committed to the development of young women through its challenging academic program, complemented by a lasting commitment to an arts education, a vibrant campus ministry, Christian service, a competitive athletic program and a history rich in tradition.