The intention of Sacred Heart education is to address the whole person. You come as you are and are cared for with great love. The hope is to implant you a sacred love for yourself, to challenge you to be more honest, to lead you along the road of integrity.

- Life at the Sacred Heart

Tax Credit Scholarship

At the core of our Sacred Heart mission is the desire to provide a Woodlands Academy education to qualified students. We have long met Sacred Heart’s mission of providing an education to students from a wide variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and I invite your attention to the tax credit scholarship information contained in this letter.

In August 2017, the House and Senate passed a comprehensive education funding bill that was signed into law by the governor. The law includes a provision for tax credit scholarships, which provide strong incentives for donors to support non-public school scholarships for low-income students in the state. Illinois students from low-income families may use these new scholarships to attend a non-public school of their choice. Several Woodlands Academy students reside in focus districts and may qualify for tax credit scholarships.

We ask our benefactors who are interested in participating in the tax credit program to consider directing scholarship donations to Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart. This will ensure that these designated funds are allotted to qualified Woodlands students as nearly 19% of our current student body may qualify for these scholarship dollars. We strongly recommend that individuals consult with their tax advisor regarding the implications and advantages of the tax credits. The school's Affordability Office will work with current families who may be eligible to apply for the Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship program.

All donors must have an account prior to applying for a tax credit. To apply, begin by going to the mytax.illinois.gov website and request a "Letter ID" number. This is required for the Illinois Department of Revenue website when tax credit applications open on January 2nd. The "Letter ID" will be sent to you via USPS and could take up to 10 days to arrive.

The Archdiocese has affiliated with the Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) Empower Illinois that will serve as an umbrella for all Catholic schools. At this time Woodlands Academy will be working with Empower Illinois.

For more information about the Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship program, please click below.