Nazareth Academy (La Grange Park, Illinois)

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Nazareth Academy
Image:Nazareth1.jpg
Motto	Scholarship, Service, Spirit, Unity
Established	1900
Type	Private
President	Mr. Dennis Moran
Principal	Ms. Deborah Vondrasek
Location	LaGrange Park, Illinois, USA
Colors	Columbia Blue, White, Navy Blue
Nickname	Roadrunners
Mascot	Rocky Roadrunner
Website	Nazareth Academy Online

Founded in 1900 by the Sisters of St. Joseph, Nazareth Academy is a Catholic college preparatory high school located in LaGrange Park, Illinois, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.

Contents 1 The Sisters of Saint Joseph 2 The History of Nazareth Academy 3 Academics 4 Athletics 5 Extracurricular Activities 6 Campus Ministry 7 References 8 External links

[edit] The Sisters of Saint Joseph

The Sisters of Saint Joseph are a group of nuns that trace their history back to 17th century France. After the French Revolution (1789), in which some Sisters were actually guillotined, they began to move west. A group arrived in New Orleans in 1836 and then traveled north to St. Louis and Kansas. Soon after, they once again relocated to Chicago, Illinois.

[edit] The History of Nazareth Academy

After relocating to Chicago, the Sisters of St. Joseph were encouraged to settle in LaGrange Park and open a school. In 1900, they founded Nazareth Academy in a house located at 120 N. Spring. There were 14 students, all girls, ranging from the ages of 5 to 14. Some students boarded at the school while others were only day students. On July 14, 1901, construction was begun on a new four-story building that would house the growing school. In 1903, the first two students of Nazareth graduated and enrollment was now up to 48 girls. At the same time, a boy’s only school was opened across the street from Nazareth. Despite the lack of funds, Nazareth continued to grow. In 1926, the Sisters declared that Nazareth would now only be admitting high school students. In 1936, Nazareth’s curriculum was approved by the North Central Association and was also accredited. In 1950 there were 500 students and in an effort to house all the students, a new building was constructed and by 1958, there were 1,319 students. In 1963, the boarding school was forced to close in an effort to make room for more classrooms to accommodate the growing number of students. Soon after, in 1974, enrollment had decreased so greatly that the Sisters were forced to sell their building to the town and once again relocated to its current residence on Ogden Avenue. In 1977, only 498 students were enrolled at Nazareth, causing the Sisters to change from an all-girls high school to a co-educational high school. Since then, many buildings and facilities have been added to the campus, including a gym and a football and soccer field. Today admissions tend to fall around 775 students.

Recently, Nazareth has been working on adding many additions to the school in an effort to keep up with the growing number of students. Among the additions are a baseball field, a new entrance hall, a legacy garden, and last fall the new dining hall was opened. Work is now being done to construct an auditorium for drama productions and school functions.

[edit] Academics

As a college preparatory high school, Nazareth offers 3 types of classes: college preparatory, honors, and advanced placement. Advanced placement testing for college credit is available in 13 areas. Nazareth was one of the first high schools to require its students to take physics before biology. Below is a chart of graduation requirements for Nazareth students:

Subjects	Credits
Religion	3	4 years
English	4
Foreign Language	2	In the same language
Science	3
Math	3	Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2
Social Studies	3	Including US History with constitution
Fine Arts	1
Physical Education	1	2 semesters
Electives	1

Because of its college preparatory status, Nazareth also uses an adjusted grading scale instead of the 90-100 scale traditionally used. (see table below)

Percent	Letter Grade	GPA points (regular classes)	GPA points (Honors/AP classes)
93-100	A	4	5
85-92	B	3	4
77-84	C	2	3
70-75	D	1	2
0-69	F	0	0

[edit] Athletics

Nazareth Academy athletes compete in the East Suburban Catholic Conference in all sports. This puts them against schools that are much larger than them such as Carmel High School and Joliet Catholic High School. Students are offered 24 different sports, including club sports. The most recent addition to the athletic department was a girl’s lacrosse team in the spring of 2007. Sports teams go by the nickname Roadrunners, and the team colors are Columbia Blue, Navy,and White.

Sport	Season
Boy’s Basketball	Winter
Girl’s Basketball	Winter
Baseball	Spring
Softball	Spring
Football	Fall
Cheerleading	Fall
Pom & Dance	Fall
Boy’s Swimming	Winter
Girl’s Swimming	Fall
Boy’s Cross Country	Fall
Girl’s Cross Country	Fall
Boy’s Track	Spring
Girl’s Track	Spring
Hockey	Winter
Boy’s Soccer	Fall
Girl’s Soccer	Spring
Boy’s Golf	Fall
Girl’s Golf	Fall
Boy’s Tennis	Spring
Girl’s Tennis	Fall
Boy’s Volleyball	Spring
Girl’s Volleyball	Fall
Girl’s Lacrosse	Spring

[edit] Extracurricular Activities

Nazareth also offers students many extracurricular activities outside of sports. There are various clubs and publications students can become a part of during the activity period after school. Clubs often go on trips and some offer students awards for special achievements. Activities available to students include:

[edit] Campus Ministry

Service is an important part of Nazareth Academy’s motto and students can begin to participate in service opportunities through Campus Ministry. Service opportunities include:

• Peacebuilder’s Outreach: Peacebuilder’s Outreach is a program that offers students the opportunity to go to communities in need and help with projects to improve the quality of life. Past projects include cleaning up a forest preserve and building homes for needy families.

• Adopt-a-Grandparent: Adopt-a-Grandparent is a program that works with the senior community present on the Nazareth campus. Students visit with the seniors and will sometimes host fashion shows before dances for students to show off their evening wear for the community.

• Hodgkins Tutoring: Hodgkins Tutoring is a program that was started 15 years ago that pairs Nazareth students with a student from Hodgkins school. The Nazareth students help the Hodgkins students with their homework and reading comprehension since most are struggling to learn English.

• F.I.S.H: Friends in Service and Hospitality is one of the newer additions to campus ministry. F.I.S.H takes place at the Hanson Center, which is a community for adults with disabilities. Students group with these adults to decorate wreaths, backpacks, and other items that are then passed on to others in need.

• Liturgy Planning: Throughout the school year, there are nine liturgies that take place in the Nazareth chapel. The liturgy planning group works hard to plan the readings, reactions, and songs present in the liturgies.

• Retreat Planning: Each year, students take place in a retreat. Freshman and sophomores have a day of retreat on campus, juniors take a 2 day retreat at another location, and seniors are offered the opportunity to go on Kairos, which is a 3 day retreat off campus. The retreat planning group works to organize these events and plan what the students will do while they are on retreat.

[edit] References

• Nazareth Academy's Website

[edit] External links

• Nazareth Athletics Website
• Nazareth Alumni Website