School History

Sacred Heart School in Moreauville, Louisiana was first opened in 1899 and staffed by the Daughters of the Cross Sisters. The convent and the school were dedicated to St. Francis de Sales, their founder.

In 1908, the school, convent and rectory was burned in a tragic fire. The people of the parish quickly rose to the occasion and responded to the request of the Pastor, Father Gimbert, to rebuild the entire parish plant. By the end of 1910, the church, the school and the rectory was completed.

The school continued to operate until 1920, when the threat of low enrollment caused the school to be temporarily closed. The low enrollment and the insufficient funds caused the Daughters of the Cross Sisters to withdraw and the buildings were sold to the public school and moved from the premises.

Twenty-eight years later, in 1947, Fr. DeKeurver asked the Daughters of the Cross to return to Moreauville to re-open the school, since the buildings had been sold and moved, Fr. DeKeurver and the people of Moreauville went to work and built a new school building.

In 1953, under the direction of Fr. John Peeters, the school was enlarged by adding an auditorium and 2 classrooms.

In 1959, Msgr. John Timmermans was named pastor and remained until 1999. Under his direction the school flourished. In the spring of 1963, due to the shortage of sisters, the Daughters of the Cross announced that they would no longer be able to staff the school. In the fall of 1963, the school came under the direction of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Under the direction of Msgr. Timmermans and the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows, a gymnasium with two classrooms, a cafeteria, and two more classrooms were added to the school.

Sacred Heart school was granted approval by the state of Louisiana in 1964 and has maintained its approval ever since.

Throughout the years, Sacred Heart’s enrollment continued to climb. In order to meet the needs of God’s people in Avoyelles parish, in 2006, the school began a capital campaign to gradually expand each grade to 2 classrooms. The remodeling and expansion of Sacred Heart began in 2008 and continued until the summer of 2019 with the renovation of the gym.