St. Mary's Ryken High School
| St. Mary's Ryken High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
22600 Camp Calvert Road , , 20650 | |
| Coordinates | 38°17′16″N 76°37′35″W / 38.28778°N 76.62639°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, Coeducational |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1981 |
| President | Mary Joy Hurlburt |
| Principal | Rick Wood |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Average class size | 21 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 14:1 |
| Campus size | 87 acres |
| Color(s) | Blue, Green and White |
| Athletics conference | Washington Catholic Athletic Conference |
| Team name | Knights |
| Accreditation | Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools[1] |
| Dean of Faculty | Jason DeLucco |
| Dean of Academics | Barbara Ives |
| Dean of Students | Gary Willis |
| Athletic Director | Michael Vosburgh |
| Website | http://www.smrhs.org |
St. Mary's Ryken, located on an 87-acre campus on Breton Bay, is a coeducational, secondary school sponsored by the Xaverian brothers. With a values-centered, college preparatory curriculum, 38 athletic teams and over 55 clubs/organizations, SMR inspires students to grow academically, spiritually and socially.
The SMR STEM 100 program is in cooperation with the Patuxent River Naval Air Station Educational Partnership Program and the Office of Naval Research. Phase I of the Master Plan began this spring with the construction of a new 1,000-seat sports stadium with a turf field and six-lane track, and newly renovated spaces for the performing and fine arts programs.
Approximately 99% of each graduating class pursues a higher education at a college, university or military service academy. In the Class of 2009, students received offers of admission from 173 different institutions with over $9.2 million in scholarships. Twenty-nine students received offers totaling $100,000 or more.
It is accredited by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, the Maryland State Board of Education, and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. St. Mary's Ryken provides education for almost 700 students in grades 9-12 and is the only Catholic high school affiliated with the Archdiocese of Washington in Southern Maryland. Students come from St. Mary's, Calvert, Charles and southern Prince George's counties.
History
St. Mary's Ryken began in 1981 with the merger of St. Mary's Academy (founded 1885) and Ryken High School (founded 1956).
In the spring of 2009, St. Mary's Ryken embarked on Phase I of the Master Plan - the first significant reshaping of the campus since 1956. Phase I includes construction of a 1,000 seat sports stadium with turf field and renovations to Paschal and Romuald Halls. Phase II includes plans for new science and academic buildings.
The history of the school begins back in the mid-1880s when Southern Maryland residents Colonel and Mrs. Richard H. Miles purchased property in Leonardtown. They offered this property, known as Rose Hill, to the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) on condition they establish and cultivate a Catholic school. In the spring of 1884, Father Charles Jenkins, S.J. invited Mother Helena Torney and Sister Marie Meynard, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN), to Rose Hill. Traveling from Kentucky, the sisters must have thought it providence, as Southern Maryland was the very birthplace of their founder, Mother Catherine Spalding. With a faculty of four sisters, Sister Madeline Sharkey, SCN took up the challenge and opened St. Mary's Academy in the fall of 1885.
St. Mary's Academy grew rapidly as a co-educational boarding school and accepted students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The burgeoning population of St. Mary's County and Southern Maryland soon rendered the academy too small and a new school building was erected in 1936. In 1956, the school expanded yet again with a dormitory, convent, and new chapel. But with the opening of the new all boys' Ryken High School, the Sisters at St. Mary's Academy carried on their selfless dedication as a school for young women.
In 1916, to their good fortune, the Xaverian Brothers purchased over one hundred acres along Breton Bay from Mr. Enoch Abell. In the beginning, the land was utilized as a camp for boys known as Camp Calvert. Young men flocked from the cities to spend a few weeks of their summer vacations at Camp Calvert. But the brothers' vision for this property was to eventually build a school and novitiate for boys. Their dream became reality in 1956 with the opening of Ryken High School. The school, named after Theodore James Ryken, founder of the Xaverian order, served as a juniorate for those with vocations to the Xaverian Brothers as well as a high school for young men in Southern Maryland. Brother Lambert Bents, CFX, founding principal, led his fellow brothers in developing and perpetuating the spiritually strong foundation still evident at St. Mary's Ryken today.
Classes were first held in what is now Paschal Hall in the front campus. With ever rising enrollment, the brothers renovated two novitiate buildings on the grounds to accommodate more students; first Rupert Hall in 1970 and then Xavier Hall in 1973.
In the late 1970s, both schools experienced declining enrollments. With a shared commitment to academic excellence and spiritual growth, the Xaverian Brothers and the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth agreed to merge into one coeducational Catholic high school. In 1981, St. Mary's Ryken High School became heir to the rich traditions of both parent institutions. Since their inceptions, St. Mary's Academy, Ryken High School, and St. Mary's Ryken have proudly graduated over 7,200 students (more than 2,700 from St. Mary's Ryken).
Student Life
Sports
St. Mary's Ryken is a member of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC). It is one of the most competitive conferences in the country, with many of the teams nationally ranked. The student athletes in this conference are some of the most heavily recruited by NCAA Division I colleges and universities.
Most recently, in the spring of 2009, two SMR teams made it to the final championship games in the WCAC: women's softball and men's lacrosse. (The men's lacrosse team won the WCAC conference title in 2007.)
Fall sports: cross country, field hockey, football, soccer, tennis and volleyball. Winter sports: basketball, cheerleading, ice hockey and wrestling. Spring sports: baseball, cheerleading, golf, lacrosse, sailing, softball, tennis and track & field.
Fine Arts
The fine arts are an important part of the St. Mary's Ryken student body. Concert band, orchestra, jazz band, Shakespearean drama, drama, dance, chorus, photography, art appreciation, pre-architecture, pottery, sculpture, photography and studio art are the main fine art classes and clubs. Each has at least one concert, rehearsal or showcase during the school year with all disciplines participating in the annual Fine Arts Festival.
At the 2009 Baltimore/Washington Fiesta-val Band and Orchestra Competition,the SMR Concert Band, Jazz Band, and Orchestra all received first place with an excellent rating. In addition, St. Mary's Ryken received the Overall Champion Award, the Overall Grand Champion Award and the Director's Award of Distinction for Notable Contribution to Musical Excellence.
The school now offers show choir, mixed choir, drama classes, and musicianship.
Spirituality
St. Mary's Ryken is a Catholic school, but it is open to students of all faiths. The school holds liturgies and Mass periodically in the gym, and all students are required to take four years of theology classes; however, students do have the option to take Global Bridges, a global awareness class, their junior year, and philosophy in their senior year.
Uniform
Boys and girls wear oxford cloth shirts in the winter and special polo shirts in the summer. The polo shirt colors are navy blue, white, and forest green, and white polos with club or sport logos are also worn. School pants are khaki dress pants and there are also khaki shorts available. Girls can wear knee-length pleated kilts in khaki. Freshman and sophomore boys wear special SMR ties. The winter uniform now includes a blazer for juniors and seniors as well as a sweater for underclassmen.
The school colors are blue, green, and white, and the official mascot is the knight.
General Information
Full-time faculty : 55
Full-time administrators : 4
Full-time staff : 24
Classes offered : 126
AP Classes offered : 17
Education
Students must complete 28 credits in different academic areas and complete 50 hours of community service by the time they graduate. They are required to take four social studies credits, four English, four religion (except in the case of transfer students), three math, three science, three of the same foreign language, one fine arts, one technology, one physical education, and four electives. Courses are taken at the college preparatory, honors or Advanced Placement level.
The last hour of the day is called "X-hour" (Xaverian hour)and this is when students can participate in one of 55 clubs and/or a study hall.
Notable alumni
- Alfred Gough - Prominent film writer and producer
- John L. Bohanan, Jr. - Delegate in the Maryland General Assembly
External links
Notes and references
- ^ MSA-CSS. "MSA-Commission on Secondary Schools". Retrieved 2009-07-31.