Central Catholic High School (Portland, Oregon)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Central Catholic High School
Established	1939
Type	Private Coeducational Secondary
Affiliations	Catholic
Principal	Ron Edwards, Principal since 1995
Faculty	61
Students	840
Grades	9–12
Location	Portland, Oregon, United States
Colors	Cardinal & Gold
Mascot	Rams
Coordinates	45°31′12″N 122°38′27″W / 45.52, -122.64083Coordinates: 45°31′12″N 122°38′27″W / 45.52, -122.64083
Website	http://www.centralcatholichigh.org/

Central Catholic High School is co-educational, college-preparatory school for grades 9-12 located in inner southeast Portland, Oregon.

Students come from 65 middle schools in and around Portland, 29 of which are Catholic Grade Schools.

Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, the school is accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, the Western Catholic Education Association, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

1 History
2 Athletics
3 Notable Alumni
4 External links

[edit] History

Founded in 1939 by Archbishop Edward Howard, Central Catholic serves students of all religious faiths and is the only Archdiocesan high school in the Portland-Metropolitan area. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.

One dream Archbishop Edward Howard had from the first day of his tenure as Archbishop of Portland was to establish a diocesan high school for boys. Girls, he felt, were adequately provided for in high schools run by sisters, but he wanted a high school in which diocesan priests would teach, be role models, and which would be a source of vocations for the diocesan priesthood.

The Great Depression made fund raising difficult, although the Sentinel kept its readers aware of the need and the Knights of Columbus staged fund-raising affairs, including big bazaars with names like "Ahbooyah," presumably to give it a Mid-Eastern flavor, and "Ca-Ce-Hi" for Catholic Central High.

A bequest finally made it possible for Archbishop Howard to build the first unit of his high school, and it was dedicated on May 9, 1939, upstaging the observance of the centennial of the first Mass celebrated in Oregon. It opened with about 125 freshmen and sophomores, with Father Francis Schaefers as principal and with no debt.

Vigorous fund-raising and wide-spread support among lower and middle class Catholics made this possible. In spite of the fact that construction continued, it operated on a pay-as-you-go basis, meeting its expenses with its tuition, which was $50 a year. Overhead was low because many of the diocesan priests who taught there did not take salaries, instead supporting themselves as chaplains or "in residence" at parishes. The sisters who taught there were recruited from a number of different congregations, something unusual at the time, and were paid $50 a month. The only paid employee was a janitor who lived on the premises; the secretary-bookkeeper was a volunteer.

A dress code was enforced, punctuality was required, and what is most unbelievable, absolute silence prevailed in the lunchroom until after grace was said.

There was one problem. The school was built on the grounds of what had been St. Mary's Cemetery. Most of the bodies had been moved to Mount Calvary Cemetery, but a number of unmarked graves remained. As construction continued on the school, periodically an enterprising student would rush into the principal's office shouting, "Look what I found, Father!" and waving a bone or skull, embarrassing to officials struggling to placate relatives of those whose graves had not been found.

Archbishop Howard supplied teachers for the school from his meager supply of priests, and insisted that they continue their education. He wanted them to have training beyond what a teaching credential in Oregon required, so they spent their summers at The University of Notre Dame, University of Oregon for education courses, Catholic University, Dominican College of San Rafael, and the University of Chicago. Since there was never enough money for their maintenance, he would arrange for them to help out at nearby parishes in return for room and board.

Central Catholic High School was Archbishop Howard's favorite project for the rest of his long life. He encouraged its students to visit him, kept in touch with what was happening there, and attended as many of its events as he could.

In the 1980's, Central Catholic became a co-ed high school.

[edit] Athletics

Central Catholic High School has a rich athletic tradition having won 23 State Championships and 18 state 2nd place titles since 1945. Athletes from the school currently compete in eleven sports within the Mt. Hood Conference.^{[citation needed]}

Central Catholic has won the state cross country meets in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007. The 2005 meet saw the lowest score in the history of the event.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, the Central Catholic Boy's Soccer team defeated Grant High School to become the Class 6A State Champions. The goal came after Troy Bratten beat a defender and crossed the ball to his teammate Steven Evans for the goal. This marks their first ever State Soccer Championship victory.^{[citation needed]}

Central Catholic also won 2nd place in Softball in 2007, 2nd place in girls Soccer in 2007, 3rd place in girls Basketball, and 7th place in Boys Basketball in 2008.