Regis High School (New York City)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Regis High School
"Deo et Patriae" (For God and Country)
Established	1914
School type	Jesuit, Private, Catholic, Single-Sex
President	Fr. Phillip Judge, S.J.
Principal	Dr. Gary Tocchet
Location	New York, New York, USA
Students	approx. 520
Faculty	approx. 55
Website	www.regis-nyc.org

Regis High School is an all-scholarship, Jesuit, college preparatory school for young Catholic men. It is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and is one of the most selective high schools in New York. Annual class enrollment is limited to approximately 130 male students from the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut tri-state area. Application to the school is limited by stringent academic admission requirements, as well as a rigorous entrance examination and subsequent character interview. The school's motto, "Deo et Patriae," speaks to its intention to produce a man committed to devoting the advantages of his education to the service of society and the underprivleged.

Contents 1 History 2 Admissions 3 Education 4 Athletics 5 Extracurricular activities 6 Film Spots at Regis 7 Alumni 8 External links

[edit] History

Regis High School was founded in 1914 through the financial bequest of a single anonymous benefactress, who stipulated that her gift be used to build a Jesuit high school providing a free education for Catholic boys, with special consideration given to those who could not otherwise afford a Catholic education.

[edit] Admissions

Only eighth-grade Catholic boys with an "A" average in grammar/elementary/middle school are allowed to apply. Eligible candidates must fill out and return an admission form including several essays, teacher recommendations and a transcript. Regis has its own admission exam which is separate from the cooperative admission exam used for other New York area Catholic high schools, as the school requires finer distinctions among applicants who are already at the top of their classes.

Based upon the written application and the results of the Regis Scholarship Exam, approximately 250 students are selected as semi-finalists; these students are notified in December. Semi-finalists must attend the interview session in early January where they are interviewed by current Regis faculty and possibly an alumnus. Finally, approximately 150 students are selected as finalists and are offered admission at the end of January. About 135-140 of the finalists accept a scholarship at Regis, giving the school a remarkably high yield.

[edit] Education

Students must complete a rigorous curriculum in subjects such as science (requiring study in biology, chemistry, and physics), mathematics (algebra II, geometry, and pre-calculus, and either calculus, linear algebra, or statistics), English language arts (American literature, Poetry, British literature, and two electives such as science fiction or Russian literature), social studies (Western civilization, American history, and European history, and optionally Middle Eastern history, Latin American history, Chinese/Japanese history, or African history), theology (Church history, Scripture, and Moral Theology), foreign language (one of Latin, French, German, Spanish or Chinese, for three years, an optional fourth year, and an optional two year course in an additional language above or in Attic Greek, Hebrew or Italian), fine arts (studio art, film, art history and music history, and optionally architecture, with jazz band offered as an extracurricular activity for credit), two years of computer technology, and four years of physical education. The curriculum is challenging because of the advanced level at which subjects are presented to students, using college-level books and, in many classes, exceeding the requirements of the Advanced Placement curriculum.

Regis has recently expanded its educational breadth to include at-risk middle school children who are excelling in otherwise dilapidated schools. The REACH program (Recruiting Excellence in Academics for Catholic High Schools) offers supplementary education to these young men in order to level the playing field between the preparation their schools provide and that which can be provided by the wealthier Catholic schools that provide most of Regis' population. The program's success is promising thus far, with twelve of thirty REACH alumni gaining acceptance to Regis, and more than $2,000,000 in scholarships awarded to the REACH class of 2005.

[edit] Athletics

Sports currently available to Regis students include baseball (on the junior varsity and varsity levels), basketball (on the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity levels), cross country, golf, soccer (on the junior varsity and varsity levels), tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball. The school is a member of the Catholic High School Athletic Association. Regis's athletic teams have seen success in recent years, including several City Championships in their division at the junior varsity and varsity levels. In 2005, the year after winning the city championship, the Varsity basketball team won the B division State Federation Championship in Glens Falls, NY, beating the best of the private and public schools of New York.

Regis utilizes several athletic fields and complexes, including Central Park, Randall's Island and the Armory on West 168th Street.

[edit] Extracurricular activities

Students who attend Regis have many extracurricular activities to select from, in addition to athletics. The most popular activity is the Hearn, the speech and debate club. Each year, about 200 people (out of the school's approximately 520 students) are members of the club. The Hearn competes on state and national levels, in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum, Student Congress, Extemp, Declamation, Duo Interp, and others. There are also various publications that students can work on, such as the newspaper and yearbook. Regis Repertory, the performing arts society, stages a musical in the fall and a play in the spring, relying on the efforts of over 90 students in the casts, stage crew, business staff, and band. Recreational clubs include the Flag Football club, the Games club, the Anti-Gravity juggling club, and various cultural and special interests/political clubs, and more. Regis's Amnesty International chapter has organized letter-writing campaigns, bake sales, and gone to rallies; its most recent focus has been on the genocide in Darfur. An exclusive interview with alumnus Patrick Fitzgerald conducted by The Owl, the school's student newspaper, was linked on the Drudge Report.

[edit] Film Spots at Regis

Regis High School has been used in several television and movie filmings, which include:

• Law & Order: Criminal Intent -- Season Six, Episode Two, "Tru Love," features Regis High School.
• Rock group Of a Revolution (O.A.R.) filmed the music video for their song "Lay Down," which is featured on their 2005 album Stories of a Stranger, at Regis High School.
• The film Finding Forrester (2000) features Regis High School standing in for the Mailor Academy.
• Classroom scene in Prince of the City

[edit] Alumni

Notable alumni include:

• Vito Acconci, Performance Artist and Architect
• Most Reverend Frank Caggiano, Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn
• Bill Condon, director and Academy Award-winning screenwriter
• Edward Conlon, NYPD police officer and bestselling author
• John M. Corridan, Jesuit priest and organized crime fighter on the New York City waterfront in the 1950's, inspiration for Fr. Barry in On the Waterfront
• John D'Emilio, historian of American sexuality & gay rights, political activist
• John Donvan, ABC News Nightline correspondent
• Anthony Fauci, noted AIDS researcher
• Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney and CIA Leak Investigation Special Prosecutor
• Greg Giraldo, comedian and television personality
• Robert Giroux, publisher with Farrar, Straus and Giroux and editor of John Berryman, Flannery O'Connor, and others (did not graduate, but was made an honorary graduate years later)
• Pete Hamill, writer and columnist (did not graduate; attended until age 16)
• Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., president of St. John's University and former president of Niagara University
• Rev. Timothy Healy, S.J., former president of Georgetown University and the New York Public Library
• John F. Keenan, US District Court Judge (SDNY)
• Jim Kelly, former Managing Editor of Time Magazine, now Managing Editor of Time, Inc.
• Most Rev. Thomas C. Kelly, O.P., archbishop of Louisville
• John Koeltl, US District Court Judge (SDNY) Ruled on Lynne Stewart case
• Gerard Lynch, US District Court Judge (SDNY)
• Benedict A Mastrototaro, Associate Commissioner, NYS Department of Social Services
• Mark Mazzetti, New York Times correspondent
• Ken McCarthy, Internet commercialization pioneer
• Pete McEntegart, web-reporter for Sports Illustrated (www.si.com); Juror on Tyco International trial
• Most Rev. John McGuire, late coadjutor archbishop of New York
• Lawrence McKenna, US District Court Judge (SDNY)
• Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University
• Rev. Joseph A. O'Hare, S.J., former president of Fordham University and chairman of New York City's Charter Revision Commission and Campaign Finance Board
• Daniel O'Hearn, Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court (retired)
• Gene Orza, Chief Operating Officer of the Major League Baseball Players' Association
• Richard Ouzounian, Canadian theater director, journalist, & drama critic for the Toronto Star
• Ken Rosato, WABC-TV television news reporter
• Luc Sante, author of Low Life, Evidence, and The Factory of Facts
• Jim Sciutto, ABC News senior foreign correspondent

[edit] External links

• Regis High School Home Page

Jesuit Secondary Education Association v • d • e

Institutional Constituent Members Arrupe Jesuit High School (CO) • Bellarmine College Preparatory (CA) • Bellarmine Preparatory School (WA) • Boston College High School (MA) • Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School (IN) • Brophy College Preparatory (AZ) • Canisius High School (NY) • Cheverus High School (ME) • Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola (PR) • Creighton Preparatory School (NE) • Cristo Rey Jesuit High School (IL) • De Smet Jesuit High School (MO) • Fairfield College Preparatory School (CT) • Fordham Preparatory School (NY) • Georgetown Preparatory School (MD) • Gonzaga College High School (DC) • Gonzaga Preparatory High School (Spokane) (WA) • Jesuit College Preparatory School (Dallas) (TX) • Jesuit High School (New Orleans) (LA) • Jesuit High School (Portland) (OR) • Jesuit High School (Sacramento) (CA) • Jesuit High School of Tampa (FL) • Loyola Academy (IL) • Loyola Blakefield (MD) • Loyola High School (MI) • Loyola High School of Los Angeles (CA) • Loyola School (NY) • Marquette University High School (WI) • McQuaid Jesuit High School (NY) • Red Cloud Indian School (SD) • Regis High School (New York) (NY) • Regis Jesuit High School (CO) • Rockhurst High School (MO) • St. Ignatius College Prep (IL) • St. Ignatius College Preparatory (CA) • St. Ignatius High School (OH) • St. John's Jesuit High School and Academy (OH) • St. Joseph's Preparatory School (PA) • St. Louis University High (MO) • St. Peter's Preparatory School (NJ) • St. Xavier High School (Cincinnati) (OH) • Scranton Preparatory School (PA) • Seattle Preparatory School (WA) • Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (TX) • University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy (MI) • Verbum Dei High School (CA) • Walsh Jesuit High School (OH) • Xavier High School (NY) Institutional Associate Members Belen Jesuit Preparatory School • Loyola High School (Montreal) • St. Bonaventure's (St. John's, Newfoundland) • St. John's College (Belize) • St. Paul's High School (Winnipeg) • St. Ignatius High School (Haiti) • Xavier High School (Micronesia)