St. Patrick High School is an all male college preparatory Catholic high school located in the Belmont-Craigin neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois. Opened in 1861, it is among the oldest continuously open high schools in the Chicago area. The school is the oldest Catholic school in Chicago.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
History
The original school was opened by the Christian Brothers near Adams Street and Des Plaines. In 1953, the school moved to its current site, on Belmont and Austin avenues. The student population was bigger than anticipated, which required almost immediate addition to the new structure; a construction project completed for the 1956--57 school year.
In 1991, one floor of the school was redeveloped as a computer center. After a long term fundraising effort, further addition and remodeling took place with the addition of an atrium, theater, music facilities, media center, and a second smaller gymnasium.
Volleyball Open Gym Chicago Video
Drug Testing Program
In 2004, St. Patrick High School initiated a mandatory drug testing policy for all students. The policy calls for each student to be tested through hair samples at least once each year. Because of the random nature of the testing, some students may get tested more than once. Students who test positive are given the opportunity to work with the school to determine the best counseling route, but must submit to another test within 100 days, at the student's expense.
Student life
Athletics
St. Patrick's athletic teams are named the Shamrocks. The school participates in the East Suburban Catholic Conference (ESCC) for most of their sports, which include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling. The school also sponsors teams in bowling, swimming & diving, and water polo which are not sponsored by the ESCC. All of these sports have state tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).
The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournaments:
- Baseball: 2nd (2005-06)
- Water Polo: 2nd (2002-03)
- Volleyball: 4th (2008-2009)
The water polo team won the ISA state title in 1997, going 28-0. This was not an IHSA sponsored title, as water polo only became an IHSA sponsored sport in 2001.
Non-athletic activities
The school also has an academic team, a chess team, band, FIRST robotics, and dance. The chess team finished second in the IHSA state chess tournament in 1977 and tied for third in 2008.
The cheerleading squad is composed of girls from nearby all-girls schools who choose to try out.
Theatre Department
The school's Theatre Department stages one play in the fall, one student play in the winter, one musical in the spring, and one miscellaneous play in the summer as part of its Community Theater Initiative.
Notable alumni
- Bill Keating (1963), trial attorney and former defensive tackle and guard for the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins
- Raymond J. Leopold, Ph.D. (1963) Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel; Former Motorola Vice President and Chief Technical Officer; and MIT Professor of Aerospace Systems. Holder of 27 patents, he served on a team of three engineers who conceived, developed and implemented the Iridium Satellite-Based Telecommunications System, honored in an exhibit in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
- Tim McGarigle (2002) Former NFL Player for the St. Louis Rams. Former linebacker for the Northwestern Wildcats
- Ray Meyer (1933) was DePaul men's basketball coach (1942-84) and 1979 inductee to the Basketball Hall of Fame
- John G. Mulroe (1977), lawyer and Democratic Party Illinois state senator
- Joe Rau, international level Greco-Roman wrestler
- New Colony Six (1964): 5 of the 6 founding members of the band are 1964 graduates: Chic James (James Chitkowski), Ray Graffia, Wally Kemp, Pat McBride and Gerry Van Kollenberg.
- Dan Santucci (2002) is a former offensive lineman for the Carolina Panthers. Former offensive lineman for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
- Jacob Zachar (2004) is an actor (Rusty on the TV series Greek).
Notable faculty
- Robert Halperin coached football at St. Patrick. He was an Olympic (bronze) and Pan American Games (gold) yachting medalist, Wisconsin and Notre Dame and NFL football player, one of Chicago's most-decorated World War II heroes, and Chairman of Commercial Light Co.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
EmoticonEmoticon