Michael F. Baber was first introduced to Sacred Heart Greenwich through an ad in the newspaper. It featured a third grader peering into a microscope and a very memorable tagline: “Ninety-eight percent of doctors are men — we’re trying to change that.”
“It was a very bold statement,” Baber recalled. “It said each student had a voice, a purpose, an impact.”
Sacred Heart is an independent all-girls’ Catholic college-preparatory school in Greenwich. Its rigorous academic program challenges students to take on a variety of leadership roles on campus and beyond.
Baber first came to Connecticut after marrying his wife, Lauren, who graduated from the school in 1979. As he learned more about the school community, he fell in love with its mission, he said.
“Some schools will promise you great college acceptance rates, others a stellar athletic program, or niche offerings like STEM,” Baber added. “Sacred Heart Greenwich has all of those things and more.”
Baber was recently named Sacred Heart Greenwich’s inaugural president and new head of school. He initially taught there from 2000 to 2015 before serving at other schools within Sacred Heart’s network.
During his formative years at Sacred Heart Greenwich, Baber taught theology and psychology to juniors and seniors, served as a high school advisor, and coached the tennis and cross country teams. He was also one of the architects of Senior Seminar, a required 12th-grade capstone course.
He regards his current position as a “great joy,” saying that educating the next generation of leaders is an “awesome responsibility.”
“Our students are actively engaged in their own learning and have an insatiable appetite to know,” Baber said. “When I taught here they were trying to do things in a cross-disciplinary way, before it was in vogue.”
There are five foundational values, the Goals & Criteria of Sacred Heart Schools, that encompass the Sacred Heart Greenwich experience: spirituality, academic excellence, justice, community, and decision-making. If parents sense their child has a higher purpose in life, then Sacred Heart is the place for them, Baber said.
One thing that sets Greenwich’s girls apart from other Sacred Heart students is their strong sense of self-confidence, Baber said.
“Whether it’s a first grader trying out a new skill in the classroom, a middle schooler launching a community service project, or a high schooler finding their passion, each and every student feels at home here,” Baber said. “A Sacred Heart education is not only a gift — it’s an investment.”
By building meaningful relationships with children and their families, Sacred Heart is transforming the world one girl at a time.
“The advantage of working here is that the strength of the sisterhood is palpable,” Baber added. “It’s a prized possession that will work to their advantage as they network in college and beyond.”
Sacred Heart is located at 1177 King St. in Greenwich. For more information, visit www.shgreenwich.org.
The preceding content is a paid advertisement for Sacred Heart Greenwich.
