Central Catholic High School (Lawrence, Massachusetts)

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Central Catholic High School
Address
300 Hampshire Street
Lawrence, Massachusetts, (Essex County), 01841
 United States
Coordinates 42°42′45″N 71°10′17″W / 42.7125°N 71.17139°W / 42.7125; -71.17139Coordinates: 42°42′45″N 71°10′17″W / 42.7125°N 71.17139°W / 42.7125; -71.17139
Information
Type Private, Coeducational
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic,
Marist Brothers
Established 1935
Founder Brother Florentius
President Brother Thomas P. Long
Chairperson Thomas M. Burkardt
Dean Christopher Sullivan (Studies)
Doreen A. Keller (Students)
Rick Nault (Assistant)
Principal David M. DeFillippo
Vice principal Jeanne R. Burns
Asst. Principal Christopher Sullivan
Doreen A. Keller
Rick Nault
Faculty 125
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 1410 (2008)
Student:teacher ratio 10:1
Campus Urban
Color(s) Red, Navy Blue and White             
Athletics conference Merrimack Valley Conference
Team name Raiders
Accreditation(s) New England Association of Schools and Colleges[1]
Tuition $9,750 (2009-2010)
Alumni 12,600
Admissions Director Christopher Merrill
Athletic Director Peter Paladino
Website www.centralcatholic.net

Central Catholic High School is a college preparatory school in Lawrence, Massachusetts associated with the Marist Brothers of the Schools and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and founded in 1935 by Brother Florentius. As of 2006, the current principal, David DeFilippo is the school's first lay person to hold the office, and its president is Brother Rene Roy, FMS. The school has approximately 1400 students and growing (with a class size of approximately 360 students) and 12,600 alumni. It was originally a boys-only school, but has been co-educational since 1996. [4]

Contents

[edit] History

Sources[2][3][4]

  • 1926: Brother Florentius founds Mount Saint Michael Academy in Bronx, New York
  • 1932: Brother Florentius is assigned as principal of St. Anne's School in Lawrence, Massachusetts
  • 1935
    • July: Brother Florentius announces that Central Catholic High School will open in September, meeting the need of an all-boys' school in Lawrence
    • September 16: Fifty boys began their first day of classes at Central Catholic at its location on Haverhill Street
  • 1935-1938: The school outgrows its small campus at the Knights of Columbus building and expands into borrowed spaces at Holy Trinity School, Franklin Street School, and Hampshire Street School. The Hampshire Street site would later grow into the school's current location.
  • 1938
    • May 1: Brother Florentius dies
    • June 10: Ground is broken on Auburn Street, near the intersection of Hampshire Street, on a permanent building for the school
    • August: Brother Joseph Abel is named principal
    • June: The fifty boys who enrolled in school four years previously become the school's first graduating class
    • December 11: The completed building is dedicated, complete with eight classrooms, a library, cafeteria, science laboratory, and residence quarters for the fifteen Marist Brothers who taught at the school
  • June, 1945: The school graduates its 400th student
  • 1950: Memorial Gymnasium Building is completed with the largest-at-the-time auditorium seating 2500 and gymnasium in the Merrimack Valley, locker rooms, and more classrooms. The building, still in use to this day, is known as the "Gym Building"
  • 1951: Memorial Gymnasium Building is dedicated to fourteen alumni killed in action during World War II
  • 1960: The first three lay teachers are hired at the school. Two of these men, Mr. Warren Hayes and Mr. Michael Sullivan, continued teaching until 2001.
  • 1967: The first lay female teacher is hired at the school
  • 1969: The Board of Directors are established and initiate a campaign to construct a new building
  • 1970: The new building, at 300 Hampshire Street, is opened and is still used to this day.
  • September 16, 1971: The Hampshire Street building is dedicated
  • 1972: The Auburn Street building's use is discontinued
  • 1984: The Auburn Street building is demolished
  • Mid '90s: The Memorial Gymnasium Building undergoes extensive renovations.
  • September, 1996: Upon the closing of its sister school, St. Mary's High School, Central Catholic opens in September as a co-educational institution and admitting young women from St Mary's as well as from throughout the Merrimack Valley.
  • December, 1997: Football team wins the MIAA Division II Super Bowl by beating Wakefield, MA 34-16 behind captain Joseph Uliano '98 who was The Eagle-Tribune Defensive Player of the Year and named to both the Boston Herald and Boston Globe All-Scholastic Teams[5].
  • December, 1998: Football team repeats as MIAA Division II Super Bowl champions with its 29-13 victory over Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (Acton, MA) behind captain and 2-time MIAA Super Bowl champion quarterback Niall Murphy '99[5].
  • March 14, 1999: The Central Catholic Boys Varsity Basketball Team wins their first MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) Division 1 State Championship, beating Holy Name of Worcester 63-57 in the title game[6]. The team was lead by Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year[7], Merrimack Valley Conference MVP, Boston Globe All-Scholastic, and eventual McDonald's All-American Scott Hazelton '00[5].
  • 1999: Brother Thomas Long, FMS, who graduated from the school in 1973, is appointed as the first president of the school. Mr. David DeFillippo, from the class of 1966, is appointed as the school's first layperson principal
  • 2003: The replacement of 1100 student lockers paid for by Walk 4 and 5
  • 2005: A brand new $12.5 Million addition is opened which connects the Memorial Gymnasium to the Hampshire street building and includes a new main entrance between the buildings, a new cafeteria, chapel and state-of-the art lab and computer facilities
  • April 25, 2006: In Memoriam: Mr. Peter V. O'Sullivan, beloved teacher, mentor and coach at Central for over 30 years dies.
  • 2006: For the first time in the school's history, 100% of Central Catholic's 272 seniors graduate and go on to higher education.
  • 2007: A female Central Catholic High School junior was charged with threatening to commit murder, threatening to commit assault and battery and threatening to commit mayhem after notes were found in the school and on a MySpace page.
  • March 15, 2008: The Central Catholic Boys Varsity Basketball Team wins the MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) Division 1 State Championship, beating St. John's High School (Shrewsbury, MA) in the title game, and complete the season ranked #17 in the nation by maxpreps.com.

[edit] Mission statement

Central Catholic High School, established and conducted by the Marist Brothers of the Schools, is dedicated to the mission of Saint Marcellin Champagnat: to make Jesus known and loved, educate the whole person and serve others, especially the least favored.

Preparing hearts and minds for college and for life, Central Catholic promotes the spiritual, moral, intellectual, emotional and physical growth of the whole person. Students are readied to assume their place as competent and compassionate members of the church and the human family.

Faculty and students form a Christian living community in which the dignity of each person is respected. Central Catholic shows particular regard for students who are educationally at-risk and economically disadvantaged. Every student is encouraged to develop their God-given talents and use them in the service of others, particularly the least favored.

Central Catholic High School, licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

[edit] Academic departments

[edit] Graduation awards

The two major awards given at graduation ceremonies every year are the Brother Florentius, FMS Memorial Award, which is the highest honor presented to "the graduate who best exemplifies the ideals and values embodied in the founder of Central Catholic High School" and the Florentian Yearbook Dedication, presented "by the graduating class to the person or persons whom they consider worth of special praise." The Florentius award has been given annually since 1963 and the Florentian Dedication has been given annually since the inception of the yearbook in 1945. Also given at graduation are the Michael Garvey Award which is given to an outstanding male student-athlete and the Outstanding Female Student Athlete Award.

[edit] Athletics

Central Catholic Raiders are a member of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Merrimack Valley Conference. Up until 2000, the athletic teams were known as the Red Raiders, but the school dropped the word "Red" in 2000. The school offers 22 varsity programs and 51 teams at levels such as varsity, junior varsity, and freshman. On February 24, 2007 the Central Catholic Raiders received their first-ever invitation to participate in a play-in game for the Super Eight Hockey Tournament. The team beat Waltham in the play-in game and then proceeded to win one game against Malden Catholic High School and lose to both Catholic Memorial and Weymouth High School respectively in the round-robin bracket round. The football team, track teams, and girls' lacrosse team share the Veterans Memorial Stadium (Lawrence) with Lawrence High School. The baseball team has qualified for the MIAA tournament 19 of the past 23 years winning the North Sectional Championship once while runners up two other times.The baseball team has 7 MVC championship crowns ('08 & '09 most recent). In 2008 the baseball team won the MIAA prestigious sportsmanship TEAM award as well as the Massachusetts Alliance for Sportsmanship award given by the Boston Red Sox. The football team has won two Super Bowl championships and 6 MVC titles. The boys and girls basketball squads are state powerhouses. The boys winning the state championship in 2008. The golf team year in and year out competes for the MVC championship winning 5 back to back titles in recent years as well as in 2009. Wrestling and track perennially contend for MVC, sectional, and state championships. The boys recently won the 2009 state championship in outdoor track. The softball team in '08 won the Div 2 North Sectional Championship. The Lady raider soccer program just captured their first MVC crown in ten years in 2008 and repeated in 09'. On March 14 of 09' the girls won the state championship in girls hoop at the DCU Center in Worcester,MA. The school colors are red, navy blue & white.

[edit] Sports teams

  • Baseball (boys' varsity, junior varsity, and freshman) Marc Pelletier
  • Basketball (boys' and girls' varsity, junior varsity, and freshman) Rick Nault/Sue Downer
  • Cheerleading (girls' varsity and junior varsity)
  • Cross Country (boys' and girls' varsity and junior varsity) Rob Benedetto & Rob MacDougall/Collette Madore
  • Field Hockey (girl's varsity and junior varsity) Dennis King and Don Jalbert
  • Football (varsity, junior varsity, sophomore, and freshman) Charles Adamopoulos
  • Golf (varsity) Vincent Pastore
  • Gymnastics (varsity) Robbie Gould
  • Ice hockey (varsity, junior varsity a, and junior varsity b) Mike Janacowski
  • Indoor Track (boys' and girls' varsity and junior varsity) Sully Grella/Mike Leal/Katie Sullivan
  • Lacrosse (boys' and girls' varsity and junior varsity) Kevin Lally/Joe Young/Phil Rowley
  • Outdoor Track (boys' and girls' varsity, junior varsity)Sully Grella & Mike Leal/ Katie Sullivan
  • Soccer (boys' and girls' varsity, junior varsity, and freshman)Shawn Chase/Anne Marinaro
  • Softball (girls' varsity, junior varsity, and freshman)Stacy Ciccilo
  • Swimming and Diving (boys' and girls' varsity)
  • Tennis (boys' and girls' varsity)John Rich
  • Volleyball (boys' and girls' varsity and junior varsity and girls' freshman)Gannon Paris
  • Wrestling (boys varsity and junior varsity)Dennis King
  • Field Hockey (girls junior varsity and varsity)

[edit] Non-athletic activities and clubs

  • Liturgical Band
  • Student Newspaper (Raider Review)
  • Passport Club
  • GUTS (Guys and Girls United to Serve)
  • Student Council
    • Executive Board - consisting of class officers from all four grade levels
    • Homeroom Representatives
  • Theatre Guild
  • Campus Ministry
  • Model United Nations
  • National Honor Society
  • Interact Club (Part of Rotary International)
  • Bowling Club
  • Yearbook Club
  • Technology Committee
  • Art Club
  • Walk-A-Thon Committee
  • Ski Club
  • School Life Committee
  • Cinema Club
  • Math League
  • Mock Trial Club
  • Peer Leadership
  • Project Rebuild
  • Marist Youth Group
  • Walk-A-Thon Planning Committee
  • Fear Nothing
  • Sound and Sight Club
  • Fishing Club
  • Concert/Pep/Jazz Band

[edit] References

  1. ^ NEASC-CIS. "NEASC-Commission on Independent Schools". http://cis.neasc.org/cis_directory_of_schools. Retrieved 2009-07-28. 
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ [3]
  5. ^ a b c http://www.centralcatholic.net/2008_Hall_of_Fame_Program.pdf
  6. ^ "Central Catholic does job". Boston Globe. March 14, 1999. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8525074.html. 
  7. ^ Massachusetts Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Catholic_High_School_(Lawrence,_Massachusetts)"