Sacred Heart Academy plans expanded campus

An elite all-girls Catholic high school in Hempstead is launching an ambitious plan to gain something it has lacked since its founding in 1949: an athletic field.

Sacred Heart Academy has bought four houses adjacent to its small campus and is looking at a fifth so it can begin the project.

The plans also include building a science, math and technology center on another part of the grounds.

Hempstead Village Mayor Wayne Hall Sr. said that while the school has brought positive things to the village, he is not sure all residents would support the expansion since they may feel it will change the character of the neighborhood and take some houses off the tax rolls.

"As a homeowner, I have to be against it because when homes go off the tax rolls, we have to make up for it," said Reginal Lucas, president of Hempstead Coordinating Council of Civic Associations Inc. "I am sure most of the members will also feel the way that I am feeling."

Residents at a village-sponsored meeting Tuesday night also raised concerns about students parking in surrounding streets.

Since its founding by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, the school has scrambled to find space for its students to run track and play soccer, lacrosse and other sports, said Sister Jeanne M. Ross, the school's president. It doesn't have a home field, and must transport the girls to a hodgepodge of locations for their activities -- even for "home games."

Ross said the expansion plan -- via the science center -- is also aimed at eventually helping lead graduates into fields including math, science and engineering where women are underrepresented.

"We want to get them into" the board rooms of top American corporations and research institutes, she said.

With the economy dour and real estate prices on Long Island still relatively expensive, the school's expansion is unusual, said Phyllis Zagano, a religious studies researcher at Hofstra University and herself a graduate of Sacred Heart.

"I don't know of any other private schools on Long Island expanding the way she is, and certainly no Catholic school," Zagano said.

Last year, Sacred Heart graduates won $28 million in college scholarships, Ross said. The school has 900 students and a waiting list to get in. As part of a "good neighbor" policy, Sacred Heart offers full scholarships to students from low-income families in Hempstead and the surrounding area who show academic promise.

Ross said the school has spent about $3 million buying the houses, and it will cost several million more to build the athletic facility and, eventually, the science center.

Some students travel daily by train and cab from as far as Southampton to attend the school, a two-hour commute one-way, Ross said.

With Aisha Al-Muslim