St. Joseph High School (Kenosha)
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| St. Joseph High School | |
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| Motto | "The wisdom of tradition, the vitality of today, with faith for tomorrow" |
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| Established | 1957 |
| Type | private, grades 9-12 |
| Head | Robert Freund |
| Location | Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA |
| Campus | single, urban |
| Enrollment | 300 |
| Faculty | 30 |
| Colors | Blue and Yellow |
| Mascot | Lancers |
| Homepage | Homepage |
St. Joseph High School is a Catholic High School located in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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[edit] Founding
Founded in 1957, St. Joseph High School opened its doors in September 1958 to 460 freshmen and sophomores. In 1959 the school opened to all other students. St. Joseph was owned and operated by the School Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis in Milwaukee until 1991, when ownership was transferred to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Catholic parishes in Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie sponsor the school.
[edit] Notable people
Many St. Joseph's graduates have gone on to fame including numerous artists, musicians, athletes and performers. Some of the graduates of St. Joseph include Jim Rygiel, an Academy Award winner for his work on Lord of the Rings; Dominic J. Cibrario, author of The Pomelo Tree and numerous books; Michael Schumacher, author of Mighty Fitz and numerous books.
Former St. Joseph athletes include Tom Regner, University of Notre Dame All American and member of 1967 National Championship Team; NFL Houston Oiler, Nick Van Exel - NBA All-Star, University of Cincinnati; Jarvis Brown, Triton College, member of 1991 Minnesota Twins World Series Champion, current Head Baseball coach - University of Wisconsin-Parkside; and Dick Versace, Head Coach of several NCAA college basketball teams, NBA head coach, NBA television broadcaster.
[edit] Staff
Longtime Athletic Director, Frank Matrise, began his career at St. Joseph in 1959. He was part of the faculty, which at the time included 55 nuns and five lay teachers. After giving the Lancers 48 of the best years of his life, as the school's athletic director, guidance counselor, social studies teacher, wrestling coach, assistant football coach and even golf coach, Frank Matrise retired from the school on July 1, 2006, a month short of his 69th birthday.
Matrise, a Kenosha native who earned a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison during his summer vacations, was the state athletic director of the year in 1988 and the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association man of the year in 1996. Matrise said he thought he was the only athletic director in the state who has had schools in the old Wisconsin Catholic organization, the WISAA and the WIAA.
Matrise focused on hiring the best coaches he could find to run the school's various athletic programs, and he found some great ones, including basketball coaches Dan Chubrilo (won state championships in Illinois and Wisconsin); Dick Versace (who later coached in the NBA); Dr. Ray Knight (coached and developed over 50 college basketball players in 15 year career); and football coach Bob Freund (won state championship, developed over 100 players who went on to play collegiate football in 10 year career); and John Lattner, Heisman Trophy winner - University of Notre Dame, member NFL Hall of Fame, a St. Joseph football coach for several years in the 1960s. As a fitting tribute to Mr. Matrise, the St. Joseph varsity baseball team won back-to-back state baseball championships in 2005 and 2006.
Another staff member, Sister Virginia Handrup, SSSF, known as Sister Theodore Marie before Vatican II, retired in June 2007 after 50 years as an educator. In her tenure Sister Virginia was twice voted teacher of the year in Wisconsin and received many national and local awards. Sister taught many subjects, but her most endearing subject was English. Many students learned proper English from Sister Virginia, including how to write coherent, sensible sentences and speak in a clear and concise manner. Sister did not allow "slang" or "street talk" in her classes.
Former students would return each year bragging how Sister Virginia made college English seem like child's play. Sister Virginia was also very active in the preparation of students for ACT and/or SAT testing. St Joseph students consistently scored well above the national average in English and like subjects.
[edit] Academics
Academic Achievement Recognition The administration and staff of St. Joseph High School strive for academic excellence and encourage students to participate in that effort. The Honor Roll and Academic Achievement Letters are special recognition programs for students who earn and maintain high levels of achievement.
Honor Roll The Honor Roll is based on the term grading period GPA as follows:
1st Honors: 3.50 and up 2nd Honors: 3.00 – 3.49 Valedictorian/Salutatorian Criteria The criteria for this honor is the cumulative GPA at the conclusion of the winter term of their senior year (11 terms). Students must be in attendance for eight consecutive terms in order to be considered for these awards. There is a possibility that these honors may be shared.
Students must successfully complete a minimum of twelve honors courses/advanced placement courses to qualify for Valedictorian/Salutatorian. If there are two or more students with identical GPA’s, the first tie-breaker to determine the recipient of the Wisconsin Academic Excellence Scholarship would be the total number of honors level/advanced placement courses successfully completed. If there are two or more students still tied after the first tie-breaker, the second tie-breaker utilized will be the student's highest recorded ACT test score. Academic Excellence Scholarship Wisconsin’s top high school seniors are awarded the AES. They must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States and residents of Wisconsin.
St. Joseph High School must choose the senior with the highest cumulative grade point average at the conclusion of the winter term. The AES provides $2,250 per year for tuition at a Wisconsin college or university for up to four years. Academic Evaluation Each student’s grade point average (GPA) is calculated each grading period. The GPA is the average number of grade points per credit. The student’s cumulative GPA is calculated at the end of each term using term grades for each course taken on the high school level. The GPA is obtained by adding the quality points assigned to each letter grade and dividing this sum by the number of credits attempted. It is the term grade that determines if a student has successfully completed the course.
[edit] Current and Future Plans
Current enrollment stands at just over 290 students, but with anticipated population growth St. Joseph, could grow to enrollments of 1000 or more like St. Joseph had in the 1960s.
Current plans keep St. Joseph students on a 10-1 student to teacher ratio.
St. Joseph is one of the few Catholic schools in the area to offer a limited program for students with special needs. About 20 students with mild learning disabilities have access to a resource center and two special-ed staffers, who provide assistance in test and note taking, reading and other needs. As the world around changes St. Joseph still remains unchanged in its beliefs of the wisdom of tradition, the vitality of today with faith for tomorrow that the School Sisters of St. Francis taught.
