Divine Savior Holy Angels High School
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| Divine Savior Holy Angels High School |
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| Established | 1892 (Holy Angels), 1926 (Divine Savior) |
| Type | Private all-female secondary |
| President | Ellen S. Bartel |
| Principal | S. Virginia Honish, SDS. |
| Faculty | 55 |
| Students | 655 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA |
| Accreditation | North Central Association |
| Mascot | Dashers |
| Website | www.dsha.info |
Divine Savior Holy Angels High School (DSHA) is an all-girls Roman Catholic high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee and sponsored by the Sisters of the Divine Savior.
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[edit] History
The school was formed in 1970 after the merging of Holy Angels Academy and Divine Savior High School. Holy Angels (HA) was founded in 1892 by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 12th Street and Cedar Street (now Kilbourn Avenue) in Milwaukee. Divine Savior High School (DS) was established in 1926 by the Sisters of the Divine Savior as a convent school, but it opened its doors to lay students in 1948. In 1951, DS moved to a new building near 100th Street and Capitol Drive.
Demographic and economic pressures in the 1960s led to a welcome merger of the two schools and communities in 1970. Dr. Angela T. Pienkos (DS '58) was named the first lay principal of the new school in 1976.
Changes to the school in the past decade include construction of the Marie Esser Hansen (HA '43) Library, computer laboratory, and business computer classroom in 1996 and the Rose A. Monaghan Science Center and lecture hall in 1998. In 2003, the school was dramatically altered with the addition of the Marie Esser Hansen Family Fine Arts Theatre, the Fridl Family Foyer, the Quad (a new cafeteria donated by Betty Quadracci), a new art suite, and new administrative areas. These physical changes were accompanied by a new strategic plan, revised mission and vision statements, a new logo, and new school uniforms.
[edit] Demographics
In 2005-2006, the school enrolled 655 young women from the Milwaukee area and surrounding counties. The school drew from over 100 parochial, private, and public schools throughout southeastern Wisconsin. Non-Catholic student enrollment was 8%.
[edit] Academics
As a college prep high school, Divine Savior Holy Angels provides a variety of honors-level and Advanced Placement courses, as well as a variety of electives in visual arts, computer science, physical education, journalism, speech, music, dance, and theatre arts. Languages offered are Spanish, French, German, and Latin. Students are required to complete theology courses all four years, plus overnight retreats and community service.
The German department is especially strong, with DSHA students placing first at the 2005 German Day competition at UW-Madison for the third year in a row, a feat that has never occurred before in the history of the competition. The Latin program also regularly achieves success at the Wisconsin Junior Classical League's Latin Convention with a third-place overall showing in 2005 and first place in the spirit competition.
For the last several years, approximately 99% of the DSHA graduates have pursued post-secondary education. The graduating class of 2005 sent 97% to four-year colleges or universities and 2% to two-year colleges.
[edit] Co-curriculars
The following sports are offered at DSHA: basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, rugby, downhill ski racing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. In the last few years, DSHA has had an exceptionally strong rugby team, winning the girl's national competition in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Tennis is also a strong sport for the school.
DSHA's mascot is the Dasher, a friendly and unaggressive female penguin named Penny. The colors are red and yellow.
DSHA performs a large-scale musical in the fall, two spring dramas, and a small-scale musical in the summer. The graduating class writes, directs, and performs an annual Senior Production, usually poking fun at the people and events of the last four years.
The high school also has an active student council, a variety of service-oriented organizations, a Model UN, foreign exchange programs, and a variety of other clubs. The school integrates special meeting times into the daily schedule to encourage club meetings.
