West Catholic Preparatory High School is a co-educational Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 45th and Chestnut Streets, the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia.
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History
The school opened on September 8, 1989, as a result of a merger between West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys, opened in 1916, and West Philadelphia Catholic Girls High School, opened in 1927.
When they originally opened, both West Catholic Girls and West Catholic Boys served students from West Philadelphia, Southwest Philadelphia and Delaware County. As more Archdiocesan high schools opened in the suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s, West's "feeder schools" became limited to parishes in West and Southwest Philadelphia. With the advent of "open enrollment" for Archdiocesan high schools in the 1990s, West Catholic continued to draw from West and Southwest Philadelphia, and also attracted students from Philadelphia and its suburbs. Currently (2011), approximately 25% of the students come from suburban areas, with the other 75% from across the City of Philadelphia.
In July 2013, the school announced its official name change to West Catholic Preparatory High School, as part of its overall strategic plan.
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Academics
Based on the school's student focus and support; school organization and culture; challenging standards and curriculum; active teaching and learning; professional community; leadership and educational vitality; school, family, and community partnerships, and indicators of success the Blue Ribbon Schools program (in affiliation with the United States Department of Education) has awarded West Catholic the prestigious 'Blue Ribbon School of Excellence' recognition several times.
West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys was named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the Blue Ribbon Schools program in the academic year of 1983-1984 Co-Educational West Philadelphia Catholic High School was also named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the Blue Ribbon Schools program in the academic years of 1994-1996.
West Catholic graduates have gone on to Swarthmore, NYU, Georgetown, Columbia, Stanford, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others. West Catholic graduates earned scholarships such as Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards, Gates Millennium Scholarships, Nelson Scholarships, Mayor's Scholarships, and an F.C. Haab Science Scholarship.
The Brothers of the Christian Schools
West Catholic's faculty includes a number of Catholic religious orders, most notably, the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, also known as the Christian Brothers. The Christian Brothers are a Roman Catholic lay religious teaching order, founded by French Priest Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. De La Salle was a canon of the cathedral and came from a wealthy family. De La Salle's goal was setting up free schools where the children of the working and poor class citizens could learn reading, writing and arithmetic and also receive religious instruction and other training appropriate for forming good Christians.
The Christian Brothers taught at West Catholic Boys beginning in 1926 (succeeding the Brothers of Mary). Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) and the Sisters of St. Joseph (Chestnut Hill) are two of the women's religious teaching orders from West Catholic Girls. In addition to the religious orders, the school's faculty includes a number of lay teachers. The Chaplain is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Partnerships
As a resident of the University City, West Catholic Preparatory High School has taken advantage of its unique location by establishing a partnership with several Universities in Philadelphia:
- University of Pennsylvania
- Drexel University
- University of the Sciences of Philadelphia
Athletics
West Catholic is a member of the Philadelphia Catholic League Blue Division, which comprises schools with smaller enrollment. They currently offer the following sports at the varsity level:
- Girls' Volleyball
- Football
- Cheerleading
- Baseball
- Boys' Basketball
- Girls' Basketball
- Baseball
- Softball
- Girls' Indoor/Outdoor Track
- Boys' Indoor/Outdoor Track
Football Championship History
West Catholic has won several football championships. The following is a listing of the championship wins, the year they were won, and the winning head coach:
- Tom Tracey- 1925
- Jocko McGarry- 1932
- Bob Dougherty- 1940, 1941, 1943, 1944
- Bill McCoy- 1945, 1946
- Jack Shields- 1951
- Vince McAneny- 1962
- John McAneny- 1965
- Brian Fluck- 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
State AA Champion 2010
Rankings
West Catholic is currently second in the Catholic League's list of the Most Football Championships Won (behind Saint Joseph's Preparatory School, which holds the title with 15 championships won).
Basketball
West Catholic has won a number of men's basketball championships:
- Brother Michael Quinlan- 1921
- Jocko McGarry- 1931
- Pat Conway- 1938
- Joe Langan- 1949
- Jim Usilton, Jr- 1952, 1953, 1955
- Bill Ludlow- 1959
In 1971 West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Girls won the city championship at the Palestra.
In 1974 West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Girls won the city championship.
Rankings
West Catholic is currently fourth in the Catholic League's list of Most Basketball Championships Won (with the leader being Roman Catholic High School, which holds the title with 27 basketball championships won).
Alumni
- Herb Magee, head basketball coach for Philadelphia University and former NBA basketball player
- Peter Boyle, actor
- John D. Caputo, philosopher and theologian, Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion Emeritus at Syracuse University and David R. Cook Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Villanova University
- Elizabeth Gallagher, artist and author
- Jim Murray, co-founder of the Ronald McDonald House and a former general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles
- Joseph Mark McShea, founding bishop of Allentown
- John Joseph Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New York, 1984-2000.
- Michael Brooks, former NBA basketball player and captain of 1980 Olympic Basketball team
- Jim Washington, a former NBA basketball player
- Jim Lynam, CSN Philly analyst and former collegiate and NBA basketball coach
- Senator Philip Hart, former United States Senator (D-Michigan) and lawyer
- Thomas J. Bristow aka Spins Nitely, musician and comedian
- Thomas M. Rienzi, Lt. General US Army and Catholic Deacon
- Jaelen Strong, NFL wide receiver for the Houston Texans
- Malcolm Nance, Naval officer, global terrorism expert, network television commentator
- Akyra Murray, 2016 Orlando Pulse Nightclub Shooting victim
Paul Westhead, Coached champion teams in both NBA and WNBA.
Trivia
Fashion
West Catholic School for Girls was located near the Philadelphia television studios where American Bandstand was first broadcast in the 1950s, and many girls from West regularly attended the show. The girls were forbidden to wear their school uniforms on TV, and wore cardigans over their uniforms, with their blouses' rounded collars showing. "Peter Pan collars" became popular as a result.
Student body
There were 410 students attending West Catholic:
Ethnicity
- Black - 80.5%
- White - 1.7%
- Asian/Pacific Islander - 1.3%
- Hispanic - 8.4%
- Other - 8.1%
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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