St. Joseph High School (Kenosha)

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St. Joseph High School

Motto	"The wisdom of tradition the vitality of today with faith for tomorrow"
Established	1957
Type	private, grades 9-12
Head	Robert Freund
Location	Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Campus	single, urban
Enrollment	300
Faculty	30
Colors	Blue and Yellow
Mascot	Lancers
Homepage	Homepage

St. Joseph High School is a Catholic High School located in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

1 Founding
2 Notable people
3 Staff
4 Current and Future Plans
5 External links

[edit] Founding

Founded in 1957, St. Joseph High School was owned and operated by the School Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis in Milwaukee until 1991 when ownership was transferred to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Catholic parishes in Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie sponsor the school.

[edit] Notable people

Just some of the graduates of St. Joseph who have gone on to fame in the Arts include Jim Rygiel - an Academy Award winner for his work on "Lord of the Rings", Dominic J. Cibrario, author of "The Pomelo Tree" and numerous books, Michael Schumacher, author of "Mighty Fitz" and numerous books. Many St. Joseph's graduates have gone on to fame in the Arts including numerous artists, musicians, and performers.
Former St. Joseph athletes include: John Lattner, Heisman Trophy winner - University of Notre Dame, NFL Hall of Fame, Nick Van Exel - NBA All-Star, University of Cincinnati, Jarvis Brown - Outfielder, 1991 Minnesota Twins World Series Champions, Dick Versace - head coach in NCAA college basketball, NBA head coach, NBA televison broadcaster. Many St. Joseph graduates have gone on to college or professional athletic fame.

[edit] Staff

One staff member was at St. Joseph when the doors opened in 1959. Frank Matrise was there the morning in September 1959 when St. Joseph High School in Kenosha threw open its doors for the first time. He was part of the faculty, which at the time included 55 nuns and five lay teachers. After giving the Lancers 48 of the best years of his life, as the school's athletic director, guidance counselor, social studies teacher, wrestling coach, assistant football coach and even golf coach, Frank Matrise retired from the school on July 1, 2006 a month short of his 69th birthday.

Matrise, a Kenosha native who earned a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin during his summer vacations, was the state athletic director of the year in 1988 and the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association man of the year in 1996. Matrise said he thought he was the only athletic director in the state who has had schools in the old Wisconsin Catholic organization, the WISAA and the WIAA.

Matrise focused on hiring the best coaches he could find to run the school's various athletic programs and he found some great ones like basketball coaches Dan Chubrilo (won state championships in Illinois and Wisconsin), Dick Versace (who later coached in the NBA), Dr. Ray Knight (coached and developed over 50 Division One college players in 15 year career) , and football coach Bob Freund (won state championship, developed over 100 players who went on to play collegiate football in 10 year career). As a fitting tribute to Mr. Matrise the St. Joseph baseball team won back to back state baseball championships in 2005 and 2006.

[edit] Current and Future Plans

Current enrollment stands at just over 300 students, with anticipated population growth St. Joseph could grow to enrollments of 1000 or more that St. Joseph had in the 1960's. Current plans keep St. Joseph students on a 10-1 student to teacher ratio. St. Joseph is one of the few Catholic schools in the area to offer a limited program for students with special needs. About 25 students with mild learning disabilities have access to a resource center and two special-ed staffers, who provide assistance in test and note taking, reading and for other needs. St. Joseph continues to maintain a graduation rate of over 95% for each class with 85% or more of graduates continuing on and receiving college degrees. St. Joseph students annually score higher than the national average in SAT, ACT and other college placement tests.

As the world around changes St. Joseph still remains unchanged in its beliefs of the wisdom of tradition, the vitality of today with faith for tomorrow that the School Sisters of St Francis taught.