Holyoke Catholic High School

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[edit] History

Holyoke Catholic High School was founded in the fall of 1963 at the campus of the former Saint Jerome High School in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The school is the product of the merger of three Catholic parish schools within the City of Holyoke, with a fourth added later in the decade. The school flourished under the leadership of the Rev. John J. Mara for which a building was later named on the campus.

The Chestnut Street campus was occupied from the fall of 1963 until the summer of 2002 when the Diocese of Springfield deemed the buildings "unsafe" for occupation. The Diocese commissioned the small architectural firm of A.P. Casella to conduct the evaluation of the property. In order to address the safety concerns the Diocese suggested that the school be merged with the other Diocesan high school Cathedral High School. The merger would be temporary and last only until a new school could be built. It is believed that the Diocese in the interests of financial stability and self preservation wanted to combine the two school permanently on a site already owned by the Diocese on Brush Hill Ave. in West Springfield, MA. In response to fierce protest by students and alumni, the school was relocated temporarily to the former site of Saint Hyacinth Seminary in Granby, Massachusetts. After being threatened with ejection from that site in 2006, HCHS accepted an offer from Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts to occupy the neighboring Assumption School. The move is slated to take place in 2009.

Not well known for their sports, in the Winter from 2005 to 2006 their Boys Basketball team led by a great group of seniors won the Western Mass Championship against the South Hadley Tigers, who were a heavy favorite for the championship game. This was their first Western Mass Championship in Basketball in a long time. Despite valient efforts put forth by their football team, they struggle to be successful due to low numbers and poor coaching. The baseball team had been successful in the past few years, but with the recent issues regarding the firing of head coach Ned O'malley the team has hit a bump in the road.