Blessed Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP, an Italian Catholic missionary, founds the Sinsinawa Dominican sisters. He serves both the Native Americans and settlers, founding—and in some cases designing and building—village churches. His mission takes him from the north shore of Lake Michigan through the Fox and Wisconsin Mississippi river valleys into northeastern Iowa. 

Blessed Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP, an Italian Catholic missionary, founds the Sinsinawa Dominican sisters. He serves both the Native Americans and settlers, founding—and in some cases designing and building—village churches. His mission takes him from the north shore of Lake Michigan through the Fox and Wisconsin Mississippi river valleys into northeastern Iowa. 

Former Wisconsin Governor, Washburn, moves to Minneapolis and donates his lakeside estate to the sisters for use as a convent and school for girls. The sisters take in and educate both paying boarders and orphaned girls in need. St. Regina Academy at Edgewood is founded and its first graduate is Cassie Matthews, in June 1893.

In November, the villa and a new 4-story brick and stone building burn in a tragic fire, leaving only the carriage house and a few outbuildings standing. Three students die and sister is hospitalized after trying in vain to save them. Some of the stone is salvaged and crushed for a driveway, while some other materials are sold, and construction begins once again in the spring on the new structure.

The school reopens under a new name, Sacred Heart Academy at Edgewood. The academy building includes convent and dormitory rooms, classrooms and a chapel.

The early 20th century brought significant growth: a series of new buildings constructed between 1908 and 1917.

With the outbreak of World War I, students at Sacred Heart Academy begin providing volunteer service to the Red Cross, knitting sweaters and wristlets, making pajamas and shotbags, and folding surgical dressings.

in 1918 School has to be closed for a month due to an exceptionally virulent worldwide pandemic of Spanish flu—as many as 40 Sacred Heart Academy students are sick at a time. In 1919, a grotto is erected next to Marshall Hall, dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, in gratitude that no sister or student died of the disease that killed thousands.

Edgewood entered a new era in the 1920s. At the request of the growing number of the city’s Catholic parishes and parents, boys are admitted as day students. In 1925, Albert Kelsey, son-in-law of Governor Washburn, designs a new cream brick building decorated with terra cotta tilework. The building plan has a 10-story tower with wings on either side. The cost is prohibitive so the plans are scaled back to include just a 4-story central tower.  

In 1927 the school formally becomes Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart, marking its evolution into a full co-educational college preparatory high school enriched by emerging traditions in academics, athletics, and student life.

In addition, junior college courses are now offered for young women, who live in the tower of the building while the academy building continues to serve as convent, dormitory and classroom/studio space. The east end of the building houses the largest room, a combination auditorium and gymnasium. Coach Willis Jones organizes a football team, with 25 boys reporting for practice.

Over the decades, Edgewood has expanded its campus to meet the needs of a growing student body and alumni community. Major additions include a second gymnasium, a Performing Arts Center, a Science Center, and a Strength and Conditioning Center. Significant upgrades have enhances the learning environment, including a renovated and expanded Commons, a multi-functional library, new administration and Student Services suites, new air conditioning and sprinkler system to all three florrs of the main 1927 building, and improvments to the football field and track.

Today, Edgewood High School serves approximately 600 students in grades 9-12, drawing from more than 25 middle schools across Dane County. Enrollment is open to students of all educational and religious backgrounds. The school remains deeply grounded in its Sinsinawa Dominican values - Truth, Compassions, Justice, Community, and Partnership - while offering a rigorous college preparatory curriculum. Students benefit from more than 35 AP and dual-enrollment courses, small class sizes averagin 18 students, and over 30 co-curricular clubs and 30 sports teams. With a strong national reputation among colleges and universities, Edgewood graduates are well prepared for life after high school, with 99% continuing on to post-secondary education.

Rooted in a proud history and inspired by its mission, Edgewood High School continues to education students for lives of learning, service and personal responsibility.