Malden Catholic High School

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Malden Catholic High School
Motto Plus Ultra
(More Beyond)
Established 1932
Type Private boys secondary
Principal Brother Thomas Puccio, C.F.X.
Headmaster Thomas Arria, Jr.
Faculty 53
Students 715
Grades 9–12
Location 99 Crystal St.
Malden, Massachusetts USA
Campus Urban
Colors Blue, Gold
Mascot Lancer
Yearbook The Lance
Newspaper Crystal 99
Website Malden Catholic High School Web Site

Malden Catholic High School, founded in 1932, is a private, Catholic secondary school for young men located in Malden, Massachusetts. The school was founded by the Congregation of the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier (the Xaverian Brothers), an international congregation of religious brothers. It is a member of the Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools[1] and the National Catholic Educational Association.[2] According to the school's Web site, its mission is "to create a community of faith that promotes the dignity of all through Gospel values and an environment that fosters the love of God, of self, and of others."[3]

Contents

[edit] History

Malden Catholic High School has a long history. It has gone through several incarnations and has seen many improvements, particularly in recent years.

[edit] Highland Ave. (1932–1968)

In 1932, work began on a new school, officially called Boys' Catholic High School, located on Highland Avenue in Malden, near the Immaculate Conception School. The project was established by the Right Reverend Richard Neagle, then pastor of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Malden, Massachusetts.

Reverend Neagle turned to the Xaverian Brothers to lead the new school. In 1936, Boys' Catholic officially opened. The school's first headmaster was Brother Gilbert. Boys' Catholic, colloquially referred to as "Malden Catholic", was a highly successful school, and for several decades it served as a major academic institution in Malden. Boys' Catholic went through seven headmasters before it closed in 1968.[4]

After 1968, the building became a junior high school for the Immaculate Conception School. The lab classrooms were used by Girls Catholic High School, (the sister school to Boy's Catholic) until 1991, when that school closed. While both schools were opened, because of their close proximity, and conservative administration, the boys were released from school earlier than the girls so they would not converge in the neighborhood at the same time. Immaculate Conception School closed its doors in 2006 after 125 years of service.

[edit] Crystal St. (1968–present)

After the school closed, Richard Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, requested that it be re-established. The Xaverian Brothers created a much larger, more regional high school on Crystal Street. The new building contained two floors and thirty classrooms, along with an auditorium and gymnasium, among other things.[4] The loan given to Malden Catholic by the Archdoicese to build the new complex was later forgiven by Cardinal Cushing.

Malden Catholic gained fame in January 1999 when U.S. News & World Report profiled it in its examination of 96 "Outstanding American High Schools".[5] The school's first lay headmaster, Mr. Thomas Arria, Jr., took over in 2005.

In recent years, the Crystal Street complex has started to go under renovation. The one-million dollar sports field has recently been completed as well as a new cafeteria.

[edit] Religious affiliation

Malden Catholic High School is sponsored by the Congregation of St. Francis Xavier, known more commonly as the Xaverian Brothers, and for many years the Brothers formed a large part of its faculty. In recent years, its faculty has been made up primarily of lay people, but the school still has the highest number of Xaverian Brothers of any school on the East Coast.

The school wears its Catholic affiliation proudly. Students take four full years of Catholic Theology courses and take part in many forms of charity drive and Christian service.

[edit] Christian service

The school places a strong emphasis on "Christian service", volunteer community service inspired by the teachings of Christ. Such service can take place in many forms. Students are required to perform a minimum number of hours of service each year. Freshmen are to perform at least 5 hours, sophomores are to perform at least 10, and juniors are to perform at least 15.

Seniors take part in a unique Christian service program at the end of the year. Senior classes end in mid-April, and for two weeks after this point, seniors are required to visit a designated service site to do volunteer work for about seven hours per day, for a total of 70 hours of Christian service. (Students with Advanced Placement classes continue taking these classes through this interval, and are given a reduced number of hours to complete.) The goal of this project is to give students a sizable amount of experience and practice using Christian principles of mutual service outside of school.

[edit] Athletics

Malden Catholic is a Division 1 member of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). It is a member of the highly competitive Catholic Conference, a five-school athletics league, alongside competitors St. John's Preparatory School, Boston College High School, Xaverian Brothers High School, and Catholic Memorial School. The school colors are blue and gold, and the team mascot is the Lancer.

Malden Catholic students have a long-standing "rivalry" with St. John's Prep and a rivarly against Xaverian is increasing. This is additionally evident in that every game day against St. John's Prep, the school disciplinarian Mr. Macaneiney says "Beat the Prep" at the end of the day over the PA during final announcements.

[edit] Stadium

Malden Catholic's main athletic facility was opened in 1988 as Brother Gilbert Stadium and was set with natural grass. The stadium was constructed so that Malden Catholic teams would no longer have to use the public Roosevelt Park, down the street off campus. Throughout the next few years, it was found that the stadium could not grow the grass well, and after a decade or so, it was in a large need of repair. Following the 2002 football season, the school received a donation of $1,000,000 to completely renovate the stadium from James Donovan, a Natick resident. Four other alumni together donated an additional $800,000 toward the project, and reconstruction began.

The natural grass in the field was replaced with FieldTurf, and a new track and lighting system was added. In 2004, the field was reopened as Donovan Field at Brother Gilbert Stadium. The field was named in memory of Donovan's father, James R. Donovan, a Malden Catholic alumnus who later worked as a custodian at the school.[6]

[edit] Recent championships

Malden Catholic's lacrosse team has been coached by Mr. Rick Mazzei to 6 straight Catholic Conference championships. The baseball team won the 2003 Massachusetts division 1 state championship. The inaugural rugby team took third in the NERFU division 3 tournament. MC was known as a very good hockey school, garnering many state championships in the mid 20th century.

[edit] Extracurricular activities

Malden Catholic High School maintains many clubs and extracurricular activities. Each is moderated by a member of the faculty. Extracurricular activities are considered a crucial element of social and academic development, and students are consistently encouraged to join.

[edit] Student government

Malden Catholic has a Student Council which organizes many of the school's events and charity drives. The council consists of an executive board of six officers, as well as seven committee chairs and fifty homeroom representatives.[7]

[edit] Student newspaper

Main article: Crystal 99

The Crystal 99, Malden Catholic's official newspaper, is a student-written and student-run publication that has been the recipient of many regional awards, including eleven straight all-New England awards from the New England Scholastic Press Association[8]. Founded in 1943, the paper has a long history, and has helped the school establish a strong sense of identity, bringing together its many different social groups and events.

[edit] Lancers Drama

Lancers Drama, the school's theater group, performs several plays per year. Productions are selected from a wide variety of genres by the troupe's director, theology teacher and Malden Catholic graduate Éamonn Casey.

The group most often performs contemporary comedies and Shakespearean plays. Performances in recent years have included William Shakespeare's Macbeth, the 1945 comedy Harvey, and a stage adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Guards! Guards!.

The troupe is notable for performing student-written plays on more than one occasion. In 2005, Lancers Drama performed the one-act comedy Fantasyland, co-written by Casey and then-junior John Ungaro. In 2006, the troupe performed the school's first student-directed play, Ungaro's Ollie's Inferno.

[edit] National Honor Society

Malden Catholic maintains a chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS), a national organization designed to recognize students' academic achievements. Malden Catholic's chapter, known as the Brother Gilbert Chapter, currently holds 52 tenth grade sophomores, 43 juniors and 41 seniors. The chapter is open to all juniors and seniors who either have a percentage grade of 88 or higher, or who are in the top 15 percent of their class, gradewise.

The club meets six to eight times a year. Members are required to take part in eight hours of Christian service (see Christian service above) per academic quarter. Members also take part in various charity fundraisers.

[edit] Math Team

The Math Team meets six times each year to compete in the New England Mathematics League (NEML), the New England division of the Math League. Math League contests consist of six challenging mathematics problems. Students are given a grade from 0 to 6. The top five scores from each school are submitted to the Math League, with a maximum of 30 points per contest. There are six contests a year, with a maximum school score of 180.[9]

In addition to the NEML contests, students also take part in a parallel intramural tournament, the Lancers Intramural Mathematics Organization (LIMO). These contests are similar to NEML's, and take place in between the national contests. LIMO contests consist of an Individual Round, in which students score between 0 and 6, and a Team Round, in which students split into groups to work on problems together, with a maximum score of 3.

[edit] Robotics Club

The Robotics Club was founded by Patrick Napier, along with the help of Patrick Devito, both of the graduating class of 2006. In the contest, students build a team of robots that enter the international BotBall competition. Last year, students won first place for the Documentation part of the judging for the New England Division.

[edit] Other activities

Malden Catholic's other popular activities[10] include:

  • Asian Cultures Club
  • Best Buddies
  • Chess Club
  • Computer Club
  • Diversity Club
  • French Club
  • French Honor Society
  • Jazz Ensemble
  • Mock Trial
  • Model Congress
  • Model UN
  • Peer Leaders
  • Photography Club
  • Quiz Bowl
  • Robotics Club
  • Classic Rock Appreciation Club
  • Science Club
  • Spanish Club
  • St. Paul's Supper Club
  • Video game Club
  • Writers Club
  • Yearbook

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Schools." Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools. Retrieved September 30, 2006.
  2. ^ "Malden Catholic High School." Private School Review. Retrieved September 30, 2006.
  3. ^ "Home Page." Malden Catholic High School. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  4. ^ a b "History." Malden Catholic High School. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  5. ^ Oliviera, Ric (January 8, 1999). "Durfee named as outstanding high school." SouthCoastToday.com. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  6. ^ Tracy, Donis (March 3, 2006). "Natick man honored for support of Catholic schools." The Pilot. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  7. ^ "Student Council." Malden Catholic High School. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  8. ^ "Student Newspaper Receives Accolades." Malden Catholic High School. Press release (March 18, 2005). Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  9. ^ "Contests." New England Mathematics League. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  10. ^ "Extra-Curriculars." Malden Catholic High School. Retrieved February 26, 2006.

[edit] External link

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