Salpointe Catholic High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Salpointe Catholic High School |
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| Established | 1950 |
| Type | Private co-educational secondary |
| Faculty | ~139 |
| Students | ~1,275 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Tucson, Arizona USA |
| Accreditation | North Central Association |
| Mascot | Lancers |
| Head of School | Fr. Frederick Tillotson, O.Carm. |
| Literary magazine | Reflections |
| Newsmagazine | The Crusader |
| Website | www.salpointe.org |
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Founding and Early Development
Salpointe Catholic High School is a co-ed Catholic high school in Tucson, Arizona, run by the Carmelite Order. It was founded in 1950 as a school for 100 pupils, and is named for Arizona's first Bishop, Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, who worked as a missionary in the Arizona Territory from 1866 to 1885. Much of Salpointe's early development was headed by Helena S. Corcoran, who donated $8-$10 million for construction of the Salpointe infrastructure ($10M, in 1963 dollars, is $61,080,225 in 2005 dollars). Under her sponsorship, the school grew from 400 to 1,000 pupils, and the physical infrastructure that forms today's campus was established.
[edit] Salpointe Today
According to Salpointe statistics, the current enrollment is 1,275 students—609 males and 666 females. Of the 139 faculty, staff and administrators, 134 are laypersons. There are three Carmelite priests, one diocesan priest and a nun.
Salpointe, an icon of Catholic and college-preparatory education in Tucson for half a century, is still boasting solid achievements but has waved goodbye to the days of competitive waiting lists. Enrollment today (1,275) is down from 1,450 in the mid- to late '90s. Over the past 10 years, the number of freshman applicants has dropped by 200 or more. It is believed that the opening of Catalina Foothills High School, and Ironwood Ridge High School of Amphitheater School District, likely put a dent in Salpointe's numbers. Still, the dip is troubling to administrators because Catholics make up the largest organized faith group in Tucson, about 27 percent of the population.
Nevertheless, Salpointe's graduating classes testify to the school's academic and spiritual luster, and the Salpointe experience retains many of its most significant features. Salpointe graduates are consistently accepted to the country's most prestigious Universities, and go on to lead extraordinary lives at the local and national level.
The school is the smallest in Tucson to achieve the Arizona Interscholastic Association's largest classification (5A), and Salpointe voluntarily competes with this division's much larger schools in various athletic and extracurricular activities.
Salpointe is accredited as a College Preparatory school by the North Central Association.
[edit] Financials
Salpointe's annual budget is approximately $9 million. Its educational endowment stands at approximately $1.5 million, though a major development campaign is under way. By way of comparison, Salpointe's chief in-state rival - Brophy College Prep - has raised more than $35 million in recent years as part of its major gifts campaign. Given that the two schools maintain a comparable enrollment, and that Brophy tuition costs $10,500 while Salpointe tuition costs $6,350, the outcome of Salpointe's major gifts campaign should have a significant impact on its ability to compete with other Arizona schools on a resource-per-capita basis.
Due to this financial situation, much of Salpointe's year-to-year financial aid is derived from voluntary contributions to the CTSO, an organization that orchestrates community contributions to tucson Catholic schools under the auspices of the Arizona Private School Tuition Tax Credit Law. Salpointe awarded 182 scholarships in 2004, based upon $422,997 in contributions (less CTSO operating expenses).
Significantly, according to the Arizona Corporation Commission, Salpointe has not established 501(c)(3) non-profit status.
[edit] Admissions
Admission to Salpointe is by competitive application. Although admissions decisions are made without regard to ethnicity, race, or economic background, applicants should note that it is difficult to gain admission to Salpointe if one has a history of disciplinary problems at past schools. In addition, while Salpointe works to make provision for those students who have additional learning needs, Salpointe caters to students from "average" to "exceptional" ability, and often will not accept students with "very low" academic capability.
Admissions decisions are made on the basis of information provided on several application forms, recommendations, transcripts, and an optional personal interview.
The admissions process starts quite early in the semester BEFORE a student intends to enroll at Salpointe. During the Christmas vacation, several important admissions-related events are held at Salpointe.
[edit] Administrative Structure
[edit] New "Leadership Team" Model
Following a 5-year experiment with a "president-principal" model of school administration, the Salpointe board opted to implement a more hierarchical administrative structure on an experimental basis. The school President was elevated to the position of "Head of School," whereby he or she would be explicitly and directly involved with the day-to-day operations of the school.
Salpointe's administrative structure today is somewhat unique, sharing structural elements with several other Carmelite-run high schools, but differing vastly from its public school brethren. Although the current experiment in school administration seems in theory quite similar to public school administrative arrangements, the school's religious mission imbues the Salpointe experience with a markedly spiritual set of values. While the school remains open to those who would not describe their religious beliefs as "Roman Catholic," the Salpointe mission and academic environment place gospel values at the forefront of Salpointe's pedagogical endeavors.
The current administrative structure is comprised of a "leadership team." The power held by members of this team falls into two classes. The first class, occupied by the Chief Executive Officer and Head of School, Fr. Frederick Tillotson, O.Carm. retains supervening authority over all matters of the school administration. The second administrative class is occupied by 7 "leadership team members", heading departments of the school, and reporting directly to the Head of School.
[edit] Current Leadership Team Members
Mr. Jeff Mounts
- Associate Head of School for Academics
Mr. Mike Urbanski
- Associate Head of School for Student Services
Ms. Kathy Rother
- Associate Head of School for Faculty and Professional Development
Ms. Kay Sullivan
- Director of Development
Mr. Greg Aiken
- Director of Operations
Mr. Phil Gruensfelder
- Director of Athletics
Mr. Michael Glynn
- Director of Salpointe Institute
[edit] The Board of Directors
Salpointe's ultimate governance falls to its Board of Directors, which constitute the leadership of the Salpointe Catholic High School corporation. The Head of School is responsible to this group. The Board of Directors crafts long-term strategy for the School, and - along with the Carmelites - retains ultimate authority over its direction. Members of the Board are selected from the Salpointe community.
[edit] Academics
[edit] Overview
Salpointe has maintained robust academic standards throughout its history, particularly given its mission to serve the entire Tucson community. Despite the lure of specializing as a purely college preparatory institution, Salpointe has also worked hard to offer a meaningful educational experience to those students who require assistance with learning difficulties. Also, consistent with Salpointe's Carmelite identity, Salpointe seeks to attract students of all economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds.
[edit] "College Preparatory" education
In 1987, Salpointe became the first school in southern Arizona and the third school in the state to be accredited "college preparatory" by the North Central Association. Although Salpointe was a relative latecomer to the effort to create Advanced Placement classes (there was only one course that was designated AP on the Salpointe campus in the year 2000), its students have benefited from historical relationships with nearby community colleges and universities. Salpointe's early development was guided by the principle that vocational development was crucial, which caused difficulties in the 1970-80s as the vestiges of vocational training restrained the school's development into a college preparatory institution. Today, due to reform efforts in the late 1980s, as well as the efforts of Ruth Jenson and Jeff Mounts, the failure to implement AP courses has been rectified, and Salpointe boasts a high-school-to-college conversion rate of 98%. Many instructors hold advanced degrees, and a recent push to develop infrastructure in the sciences has greatly enriched the college preparatory curriculum.
[edit] Academic Departments
- English Department
- Applied Sciences Department
- Fine Arts Department
- Humanities Department
- Mathematics Department
- Modern Language Department
- Science Department
- Social Studies Department
- Theology Department
[edit] The Humanities Program
Salpointe also boasts a unique educational opportunity with its Humanities program. During the first two years at Salpointe, the academic options that are available to students roughly mirror those available at public schools (with the notable exception of the religion curriculum). Freshmen and Sophomores are able to take "regular" or "honors" versions of the standard courses in world history, English, mathematics, the arts, et cetera. However, in their junior year, students may opt to avail themselves of the "humanities experience," which collapses traditional disciplinary distinctions between departments to form a set of very intensive courses in the humanities. Many of the school's most effective students and teachers are brought together in an integrated, fast-paced, and rewarding educational environment that cross-culturally examines the human experience from literary, religious, artistic, and historical perspectives. The intensity and community spirit of the Humanities program allows students to develop rewarding intellectual bonds with their peers, and creates an extremely productive learning environment. In recent years, the Humanities program has adapted its courses so that students studying at the highest level will also be prepared for Advanced Placement tests in American History, History of Art, World Literature, and Literature.
[edit] The Summer Institute
The Salpointe Summer Institute is a recent development at Salpointe. The institute operates separately from the regular Salpointe curriculum, and the institute's head reports directly to the Head of School. The institute offers educational experiences that transcend what one might consider the typical high school experience, particularly since it reaches out to adult learners and those who might be interested summer school or SAT preparation in the Tucson community. It is, as of yet, unclear how the Institute fits in to the rest of the Salpointe system, and it is unclear whether this new initiative will meet with success.
[edit] Athletics
Salpointe offers an extensive set of extracurricular opportunities to its students, not the least of which is its athletic program. The program is held in high esteem, and its teams are decorated with several State championship victories and AIA scholar-athlete awards. The Lancers' primary in-town rivals are the Dorados from Canyon del Oro High School, a secondary school in the Amphitheater School District. Salpointe's golf, soccer, football, basketball, tennis, and swimming teams are perennially strong in their region. And indeed, it is normal in a given year for nearly all of the Salpointe teams to perform at the top of their region. Salpointe athletes are frequently recruited to play NCAA athletics.
[edit] The Lancer Fight Song
We're going to tell you something tonight,
About the team that you're going to fight,
We're the Lancers, Salpointe High,
If we don't win we're willing to try!
Out on the field we're ready to fight, (FIGHT!)
We're going to fight with full force and might, (MIGHT!)
Win or lose we'll stick together,
Onward to victory!
Lancers, Lancers, Let's take State!
[edit] Notable alumni
Notable alumni of Salpointe Catholic High School include:
- H Darr Beiser, award winning professional photographer, USA Today
- Antonio Nagore, international operatic tenor and recitalist
- Oscar Salvatierra, transplant surgeon, Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Renal Transplantation, Stanford University Medical Center
- Patricia Preciado Martin, award winning writer on Mexican-American culture
- Edward F. Joganic, plastic surgeon, founder of Southwest Craniofacial Center
- Jay John, Men's Basketball Coach, Oregon State University
- Dan Esparza, non-award winning (but still notable) photographer
- Robert Roberts, professional dog sledder; 1st to visit both north and south pole
- Fernando Aguilar, master alchemist/herbalist, and recently achieved Knight status with the Alliance
- Marco Enriquez, founder of the Southern Arizona Society
- John Huppenthal Arizona State Senator
[edit] See also
Tairia Mims, Softball Olympic Gold Medalist and NCAA Softball Champion at UCLA
