Academic standards are high at this institution and the teaching instruction offered typically includes a higher number of instructors and teachers with post-graduate degrees; many teachers at this public high school also teach at Memorial University.

Students have also had successes with national academic programs such as SHAD and the Canada Wide Science Fair, and at provincial competitions in drama, debating, and other activities.

The Holy Heart of Mary Chamber Choir, formerly led by Susan Quinn and now led by Robert Colbourne, won a gold medal at the International Youth and Music Festival in Vienna, Austria, in 1996, and has continued to win local and national awards since then, including First Prize for under-19 school choirs at the National Music Festival of Canada in 2007.

The Holy Heart Performing Arts Program hosts their classes and shows here, lead and directed by John Rao.

Some of the most expensive condos in St. John's (prices ranging from $500,000 to over $1,000,000) are within Place Bonaventure, directly to the left of the school.