Fun, traditions launch new school year at Woodlands Academy

Students, faculty and staff reporting for the first day of classes at Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart on Tuesday, Aug. 26, were greeted by various spirited signage and decorations inside and outside the building. They were all designed and created by the Class of 2026 as part of the traditional “Seniors Rule” celebration held before students report to their classrooms. During this time, members of the graduating class at the all-girls college-preparatory high school in Lake Forest have a lot of fun celebrating their newfound status at the beginning of each school year. They chose “Hollywoodlands” as the theme for this year’s festivities.

Another tradition is also observed just before classroom activities begin. The Woodlands Academy community gathers for the annual commissioning of faculty and staff. Adult community members are recognized individually for their vital, unique roles in creating the Sacred Heart community at Woodlands. They do so in ways such as teaching, coaching, moderating clubs and activities, advising, and attending to the school’s administrative needs.

And yet another Woodlands Academy tradition took place on Monday, Aug. 25. The New Student Prayer Service marks the end of orientation for first-year students. This annual ceremony welcomes incoming freshmen, transfer students and their families into a tradition of Sacred Heart education that traces its roots back to France in 1800. Woodlands Academy was founded near downtown Chicago in 1858 and moved to Lake Forest in 1904.

The New Student Prayer Service features a candle-lighting ceremony at its conclusion. Each first-year student receives a candle, which is then lit. At the end of the ceremony, all the new students process out of the school’s chapel carrying their lit candles. “The light you hold as you walk past the adults gathered will be a beautiful demonstration of how today marks the beginning of your Sacred Heart journey at Woodlands,” Head of School Susan Tyree Dempf, Ph.D., told them. “Rest assured that your orientation leaders, along with the entire Woodlands community, are individuals you can turn to for guidance and light.”

Before the prayer service, first-year students and their families were assisted by orientation leaders as they toured their new classrooms, took ID photos, visited their lockers and participated in group ice-breaker activities preparing them for the Aug. 26 start of classes.

Woodlands Academy is a Catholic, independent, day-and-boarding, college-preparatory school for young women of all faiths in grades nine through 12. It is part of a worldwide network of Sacred Heart Schools that spans the United States and 40 other countries on six continents. To learn more, visit woodlandsacademy.org.