Dear Stone Ridge Community, 

Each year, we select one of the five Goals of Sacred Heart Education as a focal point for our work and reflection. In 2025–2026, we turn to Goal III: “A social awareness which impels to action.”

At our kick-off Social Action Assembly, I shared with Upper School students that I attribute Goal III—and the Social Action program itself—for why I am at Stone Ridge today. For more than fifty years, this program has shaped many alumnae, myself included, and opened our eyes to the inequities and injustices around us. It also gave me the courage, confidence, and call to servant leadership that inspired me to take action—leading me to become a Jesuit Volunteer and fueling my thirty-six-year career in education.

I was drawn back to Stone Ridge because I have consistently seen our alumnae making a difference in the world—driven by a commitment to the common good and a desire to put their faith into action. Witnessing the ripple effect of their talents shaping society is deeply inspiring and exemplifies the transformative power of a Sacred Heart education. This same power endures in every generation of Stone Ridge students, who learn to see the world through both a critical and compassionate lens.

The pages of this magazine offer just a glimpse of how Goal III comes to life today and how it intertwines with the other four Goals of Sacred Heart Education— through our students’ faith, learning, courage, and growing commitment to serve the common good in an interdependent world.

Rooted in Catholic Social Teaching and the vision of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, Goal III calls us to more than empathy and understanding—it calls us to engagement. Sacred Heart educators help students understand the world as it is and imagine it as it could be. We cultivate critical consciousness, cultural literacy, and global awareness, challenging students to analyze and work to dismantle systems and structures of injustice, care for God’s creation, and use their gifts in service of others. In each academic division, we see students learning to lead with both heart and mind—ready to make a difference.

"We cultivate critical consciousness, cultural literacy, and global awareness, challenging students to analyze and work to dismantle systems and structures of injustice, care for God’s creation, and use their gifts in service of others."

This issue of the Stone Ridge Magazine also celebrates the Class of 2025, whose achievements and promise give us great hope for the future. You’ll find reflections from their Valedictorian, Sophia Moraczewski ’25, and Salutatorian, Giovanna Ingoglia ’25, as well as the address delivered by our 2025 Commencement speaker, Dr. Hilary C. Robinson ’99.

Dr. Robinson, a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is an acclaimed scholar, public servant, and advocate whose work lies at the powerful intersection of law, technology, and social justice. An Associate Professor of Law and Sociology at Northeastern University, she also plays a vital role in the university’s Center for Law, Information, and Creativity. Like so many of our alumnae, Dr. Robinson embodies what it means to live a life of purpose, intellect, and service—values at the very heart of Goal III and a Sacred Heart education. Her words to our graduates were both a celebration and a challenge: to use their education not only for personal success, but also to build a more just and compassionate world.

The pages of this magazine also include our Annual Report from 2024-2025. We are profoundly grateful to our alumnae, parents, grandparents, faculty, staff, and friends, whose generosity keeps our mission at the forefront of their philanthropic priorities. Your investment is making a difference—enabling us to sustain innovative programs, nurture the next generation of leaders, and uphold the ideals of Sacred Heart education.

We cultivate critical consciousness, cultural literacy, and global awareness, challenging students to analyze and work to dismantle systems and structures of injustice, care for God’s creation, and use their gifts in service of others.

As a nation and a global community, we face complex social, political, and environmental challenges. I believe wholeheartedly that the solution to many of these challenges lies in the hearts and minds of the students we serve. Our mission is more relevant now than ever, even as it becomes more complex to deliver the exceptional education that forms leaders for our future. To continue this vital work, we will rely on your ongoing partnership and support.

At the center of leading that work are the extraordinary faculty, staff, and administrators with whom I have the privilege of serving. They are simply second to none. Their professionalism, creativity, and deep dedication to the ideals of Sacred Heart education form the heartbeat of this community. Each day, they model integrity, faith, and care, and they hold an unwavering belief in the potential within every student. Stone Ridge is moving forward with great momentum because of the tireless commitment by our Sacred Heart educators, and because of our remarkable students who bring their earnest effort, good humor, joyful sisterhood, and tenacious spirit to our campus every day.

The year ahead marks an important moment in the life of the school as we continue to shape Stone Ridge’s next strategic plan and prepare for the next phase of our campus improvement project. These initiatives will strengthen our ability to educate our students for lives of purpose and leadership. I invite you to please tune in to our communications through social media, email, and other channels. There is so much happening at Stone Ridge, and we want to share the good news with our community to keep you both informed and engaged. In this shared effort, we continue the work that began with Madeleine Sophie: to transform the world by revealing Christ’s love through the vehicle of education.

With gratitude and hope,

Catherine Ronan Karrels ’86 

Head of School