Hirebyle is a small village located in the Western Ghats of Chickmagalur District in the State of Karnataka. In 1960 at the invitation of Fr. Fidelis Pinto, Parish Priest of St. Joseph’s Church, Hirebyle the Ursuline Franciscan Sisters made their way to Hirebyle . A small house was given by the Parish as a residence that was occupied by the sisters on May 28, 1960. They christened it Sacred Heart Convent. Sisters Millicent Pinto, Alphonsa Fernandes and Precilla D’Sa were the pioneers.
Recognizing the educational needs of the locality, mainly of the estate labourers’ children, Sisters ventured to start a primary school with only 12 children on May 26, 1961. Sacred Heart High School was yet another venture in the village of Hirebile. The girls after primary education had no suitable school in the locality to continue their studies. Sr Jyothi Fernandes, Provincial Superior of Mysore who had a soft corner for the poor girls, opted to take the road less travelled. Her dream materialized at the inauguration of the high school on May 29, 2006. The efforts of Mr Gilbert Pereira, a parishioner, Mr Ronald Colaco (both are alumni of Sacred Heart Primary School) Sr Emily D’Souza, the Deputy Secretary of Educational Society and Sr Jeswita D’ Souza, the Primary School headmistress are to be noted for their initiatives, support and hard work.
A number of appeals and meetings with the Management yielded fruits and on June 2, 2010 permission was granted by the Education Department to start English Medium Higher Primary Section (Class VI-VII) and High School Section (Class VIII-X). Sr. Sandra Pinto ( 2006-2012) the First Headmistress , continued to be the headmistress of both the Schools. She was succeeded by Sr Lilly Rodrigues (2012-13) and Sr Elwin W. D’Souza (2013-2015) who continued the good work begun by Sr Sandra. At present Sr Vilma Gonsalves carries on the responsibility as the headmistress of the School.