A Little More Grand Coteau

I've saved the most beautiful place for last to share with you from Grand Coteau. Back through a narrow 2 lane road, underneath a line of trees we came upon the Academy of the Sacred Heart.

The grounds of the school were amazing with old, original buildings and newer stately buildings. The horse barns and fields for horses were grand. As soon as we drove onto the property you could just sense this is a place of history and order. (Check out the old water cistern in the picture below.)

From Wikipedia~

The Academy of the Sacred Heart, founded in 1821 in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, is an independent, Catholic school for girls in Pre-Kindergarten-3 through grade twelve, with residential accommodations for students in grades seven through twelve. It is operated independently within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette. It was established in 1821 and as such is the second oldest institution of learning west of the Mississippi. It is the oldest, continually running member of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools in the world. It is also the oldest independent school in the Acadiana region.

Founded under the direction of Saint Philippine Duchesne, the Academy has remained in continuous operation through fire, epidemics, and war.

The Academy has an equestrian program with a barn available for students wishing to bring their own horses. The Academy is home to over twenty school-owned and privately owned horses. Sacred Heart Stables, center for the ASH equestrian studies division, features a fourteen stall barn in addition to the unique six stall barn that was built in 1886. The facility also includes two cement wash racks, two lighted, locking tack rooms, over 20 acres (81,000 m2) of fenced turn out, a round pen, and two fully enclosed riding arenas.

After Hurricane Katrina, it graciously hosted the satellite location for Academy of the Sacred Heart of the Rosary in New Orleans, and its students housed many of the dislocated students from New Orleans.

In 2006, it opened a boys division, St. John Berchmans School, for boys in grades PK3-2nd grade. In the 2007-2008 school year, grades 3-5 will be added. One grade will be added each year thereafter.

Also in 2006, the administration decided to rename the institution that runs both the Academy of the Sacred Heart and St. John Berchmans School. The new name is Schools of the Sacred Heart, Grand Coteau.