Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
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| Strake Jesuit College Preparatory | |
| Address | |
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| 8900 Bellaire Boulevard Houston, Texas, (Harris County), 77036-4699  United States |
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| Coordinates | 29°42′29″N 95°32′23″W / 29.70809°N 95.53979°WCoordinates: 29°42′29″N 95°32′23″W / 29.70809°N 95.53979°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, All-Boys |
| Motto | "Men for Others", Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, Sic Deus Vult ("For the Greater Glory of God", "God wills it so") |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic, Jesuit |
| Established | June 21, 1960 |
| President | Fr. Daniel K. Lahart, S.J. |
| Principal | Richard Nevle |
| Asst. Principal | Carlos Roman |
| Chaplain | Fr. Flavio Bravo, S.J. |
| Faculty | 111 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Gender | Male |
| Enrollment | 864 (2008) |
| Student:teacher ratio | 12:1 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Campus size | 44 acres |
| Color(s) | Green and White |
| Athletics conference | University Interscholastic League |
| Team name | The Fighting Crusaders |
| Accreditation(s) | Southern Association of Colleges and Schools [1] |
| Average SAT scores | 1200 |
| Publication | Plume (literary magaine) |
| Newspaper | Magis |
| Yearbook | The Crusader |
| Dean of Students | Kelly Clemons |
| Admissions Director | Ken Lojo |
| Athletic Director | Bill McDonald |
| Website | www.strakejesuit.org |
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Strake Jesuit College Preparatory is a Jesuit, university-preparatory school for young men in southwest Houston, Texas, founded June 21, 1960. The school is known for its large collection of art pieces placed around the campus. Its collection is so extensive that the City of Houston has classified the campus as an art museum[2] for which the school maintains a full-time curator. The school is located within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. It is one of two private schools in Texas that are members of the University Interscholastic League, the other being Dallas Jesuit.
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[edit] Athletics
[edit] Cross Country / Track
Cross Country and Track at Strake Jesuit is rich in tradition. The Cross Country Team won 22 straight TCIL State titles with the first one coming in 1972
Current Head Coach Mike Kerley was hired in 1999 bringing excellent coaching that helped the cross country Crusaders adjust to the jump to UIL competition in 2003. The Jesuit Cross Country Team boasts the highest GPA of any sports team, and is highly involved in many other student activities.
James Webb '09, has been the most decorated Jesuit runner in recent history. James Webb burst onto the cross country scene in the fall of 2007 by winning numerous meets in Houston, getting second in the 17-5A district meet, and then a fifth place finish of 15:51 at the region III meet. Strake Jesuit won the region III meet, after also winning the 2006 regional title, by edging Mayde Creek 90 to 92. The Strake Jesuit team finished 9th at the state meet in 2007. In the 2008 track season James was 2nd in the 1600m and 1st in the 3200m at the 17-5A district meet, at the regional meet James finished 2nd in the 1600m and 1st in the 3200m qualifying him for state track meet. James was fifth in the 3200m and sixth in the 1600m running against the best runners in the state.
During the 2008 Cross Country season James won the 18-5A district title, and then won the Region III title with a time of 15:19. He led the cross country team to a 9th place overall finish at the 2008 state cross country meet. In the 2009 track season, James set new district records with times of 4:14 and 9:26 in the 1600m and 3200m respectively. He followed up his recording breaking performance by winning both 1600m and 3200m Region III titles. J He finished third in the UIL 5A State Championships Track and Field 3200m with a time of 8:55.36. Also he finished fourth in the 1600m with a time of 4:15.64. James Webb, who was class president and valedictorian during the 2008-09 school year is now running at Princeton University. Other notable Jesuit cross country runners who now run in college are- Will Herrington '08, Saint Louis University- Greg York '08, University of Arizona - Robert Ontko '07, Case Western.
[edit] Basketball
The Strake Jesuit Crusader basketball team recently completed the 2008-2009 regular season undefeated at 32-0.[3] The team features six NCAA Division 1 signees in Joey Brooks (Notre Dame),Austin Peterson (Memphis),Tim Frazier (Penn State), Eric Baars (Harvard), Wes "Phenom" Williams (Miami), and Steven Rogers (Rice). Regular season highlights included a victory in the Jaycees Tournament in Houston, marking the first time a private school had ever won the tournament.[4] The Crusaders progressed through the district and regional playoffs, barely defeating Houston Chavez 59-58 in the Regional Final. At the state semi-final game at the Erwin Center in Austin, the Crusaders faced the Eagles of DeSoto. Despite holding a six point lead with under 5 minutes to go, the Crusaders couldn't seal the win; losing to DeSoto by a score of 48-44. Guard Tim Frazier was elected to the All-State team and led the Crusaders in scoring in the semi-final game. Jesuit finished the season 37-1 and became the first private school team to reach the state tournament in Austin. Also the alma mater of NBA player Jake Voskuhl [5][6]
[edit] Strake Jesuit Educational Television
The school uses a closed-circuit television system known as Strake Jesuit Educational Television (SJET). SJET was established of that magnitude was unique for an institution such as a high school; today such a system remains rare for most high schools. Daily morning prayer is led by students via the system, and announcements are shown in a format similar to typical television news programs. Programs are produced by students under the guidance of Mr. Jim Gilbert, who has moderated SJET since its inception. The students participating in SJET can take Television Production for half a class credit.[7]
Around 1999, Strake Jesuit updated its SJET system with the addition of smart boards in some classrooms, and boards were added to all classrooms by the beginning of the 2006 school year. Smart boards use projectors and touch sensitive technology to produce an interactive way of teaching. They are also used for the display of the SJET morning announcements.
Throughout the course of the year, the student body may view new installments of the school's own game show, "Scribbage Match" during the morning announcements. SJET is also commonly used to announce items of interest to the student body, including student council candidate speeches and messages from the faculty. In addition, 'news strips', 'interviews', and other programs that are "intended" to be comical (such as teacher impersonations) are shown on SJET. Special guests are featured on occasion. The ten SJET announcers, two of whom announce on any given day, compose a story every school quarter; it is then shown to the student body after announcements are finished, should time permit.[7]
[[Image:Sjlax.jpg|thumb|right|A member of the Jesuit lacrosse team]
[edit] Spiritual Life
[edit] Retreats
All students, members of faculty and staff take part in a retreat at some point during the school year. Apart for taking part in their own retreat, many teachers are involved in retreats for students.
Freshmen participate in a 3 day retreat, led by juniors and seniors who spend several months in preparation. Sophomores are responsible for the 'nuts and bolts' dimension of the retreat such as errands, meals and cleaning. Freshmen gather in homes, spend a night at school, visit nursing homes, and engage in various activities designed to promote spiritual growth and class bonding.
Sophomores take part in a retreat with their fathers or father-figures. The purpose of the sophomore retreat is to develop the relationship between father & son as well as the spirituality of the student.
Juniors have a choice of retreat. One is a 3 day retreat experience, the first day of which is spent with the disadvantaged members of the Houston area. Afterwards, juniors spend 2 days reflecting on the experience, upon the broken-ness of the world, and how Christ is present in the poorest of the poor. Another option is the prayer-styles retreat, which was begun in 1996 after requests from students over 2-3 years. During this 3 day residential retreat, juniors discover and experience a variety of prayer methods such as meditation, praying with music, nature, psalms and using such things as play-dough in prayer.
Seniors participate in the 4 day Kairos retreat, during which they, together with faculty, share their lives particularly those moments when they have experienced God, emptiness, joy, pain or healing. The purpose is for students to see how God is present in all aspects of life. There is a special session of this retreat held each year that is also open to juniors, often referred to as "Junior Kairos". There was a time when Michael "The Rainman" Collins(aka batman) was admitted to an insane asylum in the midst of one of these retreats, because he is widely regarded as being a few clowns short of a circus. [8]
[edit] Community Service
Catholicism embraces a preferential option for the poor, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that a healthy spirituality is expressed in a concern for the social aspects of life.[9] Strake Jesuit embraces this concept, and was one of the first Catholic schools in Texas to require its students to engage in community service in order to graduate.
Freshmen visit nursing homes, sophomores collect Christmas gifts for underprivileged children, juniors engage in various projects and seniors are required to spend 100 hours of service in such places as soup kitchens, camps for special needs children and missions abroad. Seniors are also required to produce a reflection paper on the experience.[10]
The Strake Jesuit website states: Strake Jesuit College Preparatory is grounded in the conviction of St. Ignatius Loyola that God is to be found in all things. All activities of the school, from biology to band, from football to forensics, have this objective: to find God in all of God's wondrous creation.[11] It is the declared goal of the Pastoral Department to foster this aim.
[edit] Notes
- ^ SACS-CASI. "SACS-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". http://www.advanc-ed.org/schools_districts/school_district_listings/?. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
- ^ http://www.strakejesuit.org/s/103/section.aspx?sid=103&gid=1&pgid=874
- ^ "Strake Jesuit eyes history in boys basketball playoffs". Chron.com - Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/6276049.html. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
- ^ "ESPN Strake Jesuit climbs to top of state rankings -ESPN Rise BOYSBASKETBALL". http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/basketball/boys/news/story?id=3818385. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
- ^ "For Strake Jesuit, UIL's public-school tourney is a private matter". http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/highschool/03/11/0311strake.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=54. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
- ^ "Strake Jesuit eyes history in boys basketball playoffs". http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/6276049.html. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
- ^ a b Strake Jesuit - SJET
- ^ Strake Jesuit - Retreats
- ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church - PART 3 SECTION 2 CHAPTER 2 ARTICLE 7
- ^ Strake Jesuit - Community Service
- ^ Strake Jesuit - Spiritual Life
[edit] External links
- Official website of school
- Jesuit Secondary Education Association for other Jesuit high schools
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