By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Sacred Heart Catholic School will have a Grand Re-Opening Showcase for families and the community to see all the changes school has gone through at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 9 on 209 E. Greenwood St.
Sacred Heart Catholic School will be open for an hour so the community can visit the campus and see all the changes in person, and families who attend the grand-opening will get a promotion of $50 off their registration for the upcoming school year.
The school will open their doors to allow people to see all the upgrades starting with a ribbon cutting at 5 p.m. Principal Julie Ricks said they have invited the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce and other local leaders including Mayor Al Arreola and Emilio DeHoyos (the Mayor of Acuna). Alumni of SHCS will also attend to give their testimonies, and the superintendent of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Dr. Marti West will also attend.
Ricks said the first thing they want to show people is the upgrade with technology in the school. Every classroom has a smart board for teachers to use when teaching, and every child from Pre-K3 to eighth grade will receive a chrome book. Assistant principal Sally Zuniga Barrera EdD, said they have about 170 students and they all have their own chrome-books.
Ricks said their technology lab has brand new computers, and alumni Shay Bolner Sarandos donated a marquee sign the front of the school.
Besides technology, SHCS has had changes in their facilities. A new safety fence has been set up to go around the entire perimeter of the school. Ricks said this helps keep their property safe so no one enters from outside. She said it got completed in 2024 along with a built-in canopy outside where students wait to be picked up.
Water-fountain areas have been changed to include dispensers for kids to fill up their water bottles. A new swing set has also been established in the playground, and new restrooms are set up inside the main building for students to use.
As for safety, all the school’s exterior doors have been upgraded, the windows have included a film texture for protection, and a new camera-system has been set up. A new intercom system and phones for the classrooms have also been established throughout the buildings.
Ricks said they want their kids to feel like a family at Sacred Heart. She said they focus on keeping the parents involved and enforcing all the lessons and manners their students learn from their homes.
“One of the things we say is that the parents are the first teacher, and we are here to support the parents,” Ricks said.
Barrera said one of their goals at SHCS is to “get their students to heaven, but to also get them to college.” She also mentioned their teachers are dedicated and focus on looking for their students’ needs.
