Archbishop Wood Catholic High School

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**Archbishop Wood High School**
Coronam, Fidelitas, Merebit

Established	1964
School type	Private
President	Dr. Frederick Ciao (2004-)
Principal	Mrs. Mary M. Harkins (2005-)
Faculty	56
Staff	85
Students	1100+
Mascot	The Viking
Location	655 York Road, Warminster, Pennsylvania, 18974
Information	215.672.5050
Website	http://www.archwood.org/

Archbishop Wood Catholic High School exists within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as part of the Catholic school system. The school was built in 1964 in Warminster Township in Bucks County. Named after James Frederick Wood, a nineteenth century Philadelphia archbishop, the school enjoys its status as one of the premier high schools in its archdiocese.

1 Founding
2 School Seal and Motto
3 Notable Alumni
4 Athletics
5 Mr. Bill Masterson Retires
6 Class of 2005
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Founding

Archbishop Wood was founded and built in 1964 in Warminster Township, Pennsylvania as two separate, but essentially identical, buildings. The school was originally divided into "Archbishop Wood High School For Boys" and "Archbishop Wood High School For Girls". Though the original blueprints for the school included an auditorium to be built in the space between the separate buildings, budgetary constraints forced plans for the auditorium to be scrapped. By 1987, funding for the auditorium had been secured thanks to donations by the Archbishop Wood Alumni Association, and the Sofia Friedman Auditorium was completed by 1989, coinciding with the joining of the two schools into "Archbishop Wood Catholic High School", wherein the school became co-educational and the two buildings were united by means of the auditorium.

[edit] School Seal and Motto

The school seal is in the shape of a shield bearing a cross with green ivy and a gold crown superimposed. The symbolism of the seal and free translation of the motto:

Fidelity (the ivy) to Christian principles (the cross) will merit for student and the graduate the crown of everlasting life. Emblazoned below the shield is the school motto: "Coronam Fidelitas Merebit", meaning "Faithfulness Merits The Crown".

[edit] Notable Alumni

Andrew M. Allen (1973)
Terri Schiavo (1981)

[edit] Athletics

Archbishop Wood has a proud athletic tradition with numerous Philadelphia Catholic League Champions.

The Championship teams are:

Boys Soccer: 2004
Football: 1974, 1978, 2003b, 2004b, 2005b (b - Blue Division Champions. Small Enrollment)
Baseball: 1990, 1993
Boys Cross Country (Under the Direction of Mr. John P. Sharp, 1974-2002) d. 2003
- 1969 (Varsity: Steve Landis, John Gall)
- 1979 (Varsity: Martin Loscalzo, Leo Resinksi)
- 1983 (Varsity: Bob Winkler, Tom Brewer, John Meighan, Bob Devlin, Mike Leib, Mike Haney, Kevin Thompson, Joe Rueger)
- 1984 (Varsity: Bob Winkler, Mike Ewing, Mike Leib, Mike Haney, Greg Penko, Joe Rueger)
- 1986 (Varsity: Mike Ewing, Brian Moroney, Curt Burkholder, Dave Penko, Brett Amberson, Gordon Hornig, Andy Waldron, Dennis Daniluk)
- 1987 (Varsity: Mike Ewing, Brian Moroney, Brett Amberson, Curt Burkholder)
- 1988 (Varsity: Brett Amberson, Chris Wiegand, David Crowley, Michael Vivian, Rob Templeton)
- 1990 (Varsity: Brian McCafferty, Jason Switzer, Doug Menzak, Keith Clements, Dennis Monahan, Mike Coyne, Joe Bryson, Jim McShane)
- 1991 (Varsity: Brian McCafferty, Jason Switzer, Keith Clements, Dennis Monahan, Mike Coyne, Jim McShane, Chris Kennedy, Brian Rodowicz)
- 1995 (Varsity: Geoff Angelone, David Polis, Chris Haas, Nick Pagano, Brian McVan, Tom Waldron, Mike Kochanski, Dan Pavlik)

[edit] Mr. Bill Masterson Retires

With the conclusion of the first semester during the 2005-2006 school year, Mr. William Masterson officially retired, moving with his wife to the Delaware beach. Masterson was the last remaining faculty member that had taught at Archbishop Wood since it opened in 1964, making him one of the longest serving teachers in the Philadelphia archdiocese. In addition to his classroom responsibilities, Masterson served as the school's Alumni Director.

[edit] Class of 2005

The Class of 2005 was notable for, among other accomplishments, successfully defending the Boys Football Philadelphia Catholic League Championship Blue Division by beating West Philadelphia Catholic High School for the second year in a row. The football team would go on to dominate the PCL small enrollment division again in the 2005-2006 school year, winning the PCL blue title for the third straight year.

Boys Soccer beat St. Joseph's Preparatory school in November 2004 to win its first PCL title under Head Coach Joseph Krantz.

The Viking Voice Newspaper achieved previously unseen heights, as over thirty student-writers became involved. In all, five editions were released in the 2004-2005 school year totaling 64 pages (a figure more than double that of the previous three years combined) of news content in issues larger (the final issue being 20 pages) than ever before produced at the school. Digital issues of The Viking Voice from the 2004-2005 school year are available online. There are also two digital issues from the spring of the 2003-2004 school year available there.