Campus Ministry & Community Service

Since Christian ideals and values are more than intellectual concepts, students are required to become actively involved in volunteer service during their time at Immaculate Heart. The goal of this program is to instill Christian moral values, practice social justice, and develop the students’ “image of God” through shared experiences with their fellow human beings.

Students are required to contribute a minimum number of hours per grade level and submit reflective entries on their service projects to their religion teacher. The curriculum offers students many opportunities to complete this service, such as food drives for the families on Skid Row and at Alexandria House, excursions to a local retirement home, Operation Gratitude and Home Boy Industries, baking and knitting for fundraisers, and knitting bereavement prayer shawls for a local parish and baby Baptismal scarves for Children's Hospital.

Grade 6 / 12 Hours
Grade 7 / 15 Hours
Grade 8 / 21 Hours

With the guidance of our Campus Minister, our liturgical celebrations are prepared and produced by students on the Campus Ministry Leadership Team. These include school-wide masses and formal prayer services, where all members of our school community have the opportunity to share, participate and reflect upon their faith.

Also included in our campus liturgical life are voluntary Chapel prayer services, seasonal recitation of the Rosary and Stations of the Cross where students and faculty participate in spiritual reflection.

The mission of Immaculate Heart is to foster academic excellence in an environment that encourages life-long commitment to Christian values through leadership and service. To fulfill this mission, Immaculate Heart requires each student to become actively involved in service during each year for a total of 100 hours.

Students may serve through local, national or international organizations or in club- or class-sponsored events. Students’ self-generated service learning projects are also among the possibilities under the guidance of the Service Learning Coordinator. Some of these have involved art projects with children and the elderly, animal adoption, knits for children with cancer and sandwiches for the homeless.

Reflections on service experiences are combined with scriptural and theological reflection in theology classes to cultivate a consciousness of the need for both charity and social justice. Above all, the program seeks to give students the opportunity to connect with others in a spirit of community and kinship.

Required Hours:Grade 12 / 25 Hours

A major component of Immaculate Heart’s mission in educating young women is to create a learning environment where students can mature in their faith as they reflect on their special role as members of the Christian community. Immaculate Heart strives to fulfill this area of its mission through the retreat program.

Each class participates in a unique retreat experience. At the Freshman and Sophomore levels, each respective class travels off campus for their Day of Recollection. This experience affords them time to come together to deepen their identity of who they are as creations of God and members of the human family. Friendship and fun, prayer and play surround the day with God at the center.

At the Junior level, students may participate in the EMMAUS overnight retreat. Led by a team of their peers, students become aware that everything God creates is good, and how valuable each person is – whether friend or stranger – along their path of life. This is accomplished through scripture, dramatization, group discussion, art projects, prayer and play. The EMMAUS experience is enlightening, valuable and gratifying to all Juniors who attend.

At the Senior level, the KAIROS retreat is offered in both the fall and spring semesters. During this four-day overnight experience, which is also led by a student team, Seniors gain an understanding of how much they are loved and valued, and how important both family and friends are to their spiritual life. Designed to help each young woman find her own personal relationship with God, Kairos provides Seniors with time for discernment and discovery of self, and is also a powerful bonding experience for the class.