Pius XI High School

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Pius XI High School
Motto	We really care
Established	1929
Type	Private co-educational secondary
Affiliation	Catholic
Principal	Dr. Melinda Skrade
Students	1,300 (approx)
Grades	9–12
Location	Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA
Oversight	Archdiocese of Milwaukee
Accreditation	North Central Association
Colors	Gold and white (also navy blue)
Mascot	Popes
Newspaper	Scope
Website	www.piusxi.org
Pius XI High School in 2002

Pius XI High School is a private, Catholic high school located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, enrolling approximately 1,275 students.

Contents 1 History 2 Academics 3 Schedules 4 Athletics

[edit] History

Pius XI High School—named in honor of Pope Pius XI—was founded in 1929; however, it did not graduate a senior class until 1937. Prior to 1937, only the first three years of High School were offered. Enrollment grew from a class of eight in 1937 to over 2,000 students throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Currently enrollment is approximately thirteen hundred students, making it the largest private school in Wisconsin.

The original four-story school building was constructed in 1930, with a two-story addition for 6 stories total completed in 1957. Additional classroom space, library space, science laboratories and general renovations were completed in 1998, and a Field House was annexed in 2004. Currently the original gymnasium is being remodeled into an auditorium to be completed in 2008.

[edit] Academics

In recent years, Pius XI High School has twice earned the distinction of being a National Blue Ribbon School. Pius is known for its challenging and engaging academics, as evidenced by exceptional student test scores in Advanced Placement Calculus, a nationally recognized journalism program, a World Languages Program whose students regularly receive college credit for their high school course work, a state-of-the-art Fitness and Wellness Program, and a stellar Fine Arts Department, whose students regularly receive national awards. In 2004, several Fine Arts and English students were awarded nine Gold and four Silver Key awards from the National Scholastic Art & Writing Competition. In addition, several students have recently won awards and scholarships from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and the Wisconsin Regional ARTS Competition. The Theater and English departments also host the Metro Milwaukee Young Playwrights Competition. The Social Sciences Department's Mock Trial team has fared well in recent years, earning second place in the Milwaukee County Courthouse Competition^{[citation needed]} and has recently begun hosting annual workshops for other schools with students interested in learning about the activity. Pius offers almost two hundred courses, more than any other school in the state of Wisconsin, including almost twenty Advanced Placement, Honors and Accelerated courses. The newest academic department is Engineering, which offers a program called Project Lead the Way that prepares students for college engineering programs and allows them to earn college credit while in high school. Graduates of Pius have been admitted to many prestigious post-secondary schools, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Georgetown and Northwestern. Pius has more National Board Certified teachers than any other private school in Wisconsin.

[edit] Schedules

Pius has a unique scheduling system called the Modular system. Modular scheduling is used at many high schools throughout the country, but each with its own variations.^{[citation needed]} Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, Pius has begun using a six day schedule adding an F-day to the cycle. Instead of referring to weeks, Pius courses are scheduled around cycles, as the A through F days are on various days of the week depending on the previous cycle's day. Each day contains 14 "mods" plus a 15th period, at the beginning of the day, reserved for innovative TAC (homeroom) activities and assemblies. A-days, however, have only ten mods, releasing students two hours earlier that the other days, so that teachers can spend time taking part in staff development. Each mod is 24 minutes with a four-minute pass period. Most classes are two mods long making them 52 minutes in length. Some classes (such as labs and some art classes) will meet for three mods once per cycle. In general many class also has an accompanying P-Mod. A P-Mod is a single 24 minute period in which the teacher can meet with a smaller section of the class. P-Mods are similar to college discussion sections. One benefit of modular scheduling is that there are no assigned study halls or lunch periods. Simply, whenever you don't have a class or a P-Mod, you are free to go to a resource room, to the Union on a limited basis(the schools cafeteria), the library, or a computer lab. Resource rooms take the place of study halls at Pius. They are rooms where varied activities take place--working in small groups, studying, working with a teacher. Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year Pius will go back to a 5 day schedule, getting rid of F days.

[edit] Athletics

"Milwaukee Pius," to which it is generally referred, is a member of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association and participates in the Classic 8 Athletic Conference. Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year Pius will consider moving to the Greater Metro Conference. Though nothing is for certain many believe that Pius would fit better in there original Conference. A move would mean reigniting the Popes vs. Hilltopers and Popes vs. Red Raiders rivalries. The male athletic teams play under the name "Popes," while the females are referred to as the "Lady Popes." Despite the papal mascot, no visual imagery that alludes to the Pope is used at sporting events. Before the "Popes," the teams were called the "Sugar Bears," and that is the unofficial mascot.