| St. Thomas Aquinas High School | |
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Vita ∙ Deo ∙ Veritas
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| Address | |
| 2801 SW 12th Street Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33312-2953 United States |
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| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1936 |
| Oversight | Archdiocese of Miami |
| Dean | Robert Biasotti |
| Principal | Tina Jones |
| Supervising Principal | Monsignor Vincent T. Kelly |
| Faculty | 123 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Enrollment | 2,191 (2010) |
| Student to teacher ratio | 18:1 |
| Campus size | 25 acres |
| Campus type | Urban |
| Color(s) | Blue and Gold |
| Nickname | Raiders |
| Accreditation(s) | Southern Association of Colleges and Schools [1] |
| Average SAT scores | 574 Critical Reading 570 Mathematics 581 Writing |
| Average ACT scores | 24.1 (mean composite score) |
| Publication | Spectrum (Literary Magazine) |
| Newspaper | 'Raider Review' |
| Yearbook | 'Veritas' |
| Tuition | $9,500 $7,600 for students and families participating and contributing in a Catholic Parish |
| Website | www.aquinas-sta.org |
St. Thomas Aquinas High School (also known as STA) is a private, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory high school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, that educates young men and women in the Catholic tradition of youth formation. The school was founded in 1936 as part of St. Anthony School. In 1952, the high school separated and moved to its current location under the name Central Catholic High School. Finally, in 1961, the school was named in honor of Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of Catholic education. Sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the school currently enrolls 2,191 students on its 25-acre (100,000 m2) campus in southwest Fort Lauderdale.
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On May 29, 1996, President Bill Clinton presented St. Thomas Aquinas High School with the Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award for excellence in education. The Blue Ribbon Award, the Department of Education's most prestigious honor, recognizes schools for excellence in leadership, vision, teaching curriculum, student achievement, parental involvement and community support.[2]
It was the second time in two decades that St. Thomas Aquinas had received recognition by the U.S. Department of Education. The school was first recognized as a "School of Excellence" during the 1984-1985 school year.
St. Thomas Aquinas High School has been named to the Catholic High School Honor Roll five times (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010). It is the only Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Miami to have been listed as one of the Top 50 Catholic high schools in the United States for five years.
St. Thomas Aquinas accepts students from 102 feeder schools, 59 Catholic parishes, and three counties.[3] An Entrance Exam is required for all incoming Freshmen. Prospective students must also submit their first semester 8th grade report card and two letters of recommendation from their current school. Final acceptance and enrollment is contingent upon successful completion of 8th grade.[4] Prospective transfer students must submit an application along with a copy of their current high school transcript. Two academic letters of recommendation from current school officials must also be submitted to complete the application requirements.[5]
The St. Thomas Aquinas faculty consists of three religious and 120 laypersons, with 71 teachers holding advanced degrees. The ratio of students to teaching faculty stands at 18 to 1. The faculty averages 19 years of teaching experience and 12 years of experience at the school.[3]
| Class Year | Finalists | Commended | National Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 54 | 17 | |
| 2010 | 23 | 25 | |
| 2009 | 16 | 32 | |
| 2008 | 33 | 30 | |
| 2007 | 22 | 34 | |
| 2005 | 16 | 23 | |
| 2004 | 27 | 29 | |
| 2003 | 36 | 13th | |
| 2002 | 21 | 35 | |
| 2001 | 25 | ||
| 2000 | 16 | ||
| 1999 | 21 |
The Forensics Speech & Debate Team Duo of Kevin Allocca and William Monzon became Florida Forensic League State Champions in 2002.
The Forensics Speech & Debate Team Duo of William Monzon and Ines Del Toro became the first, Harvard National Champions in 2003.
The Forensics Speech & Debate Member Michael Manzella became Florida Forensic League Disctrict 5 Champion in 2002.
The St. Thomas Aquinas Choir traveled to Rome, Italy in the spring of 2007 to sing for Pope Benedict XVI.
St. Thomas's drama students performed George Orwell's Animal Farm in March 2009. Two students received Cappie Awards for their achievements in the play.
Several band and orchestra players have become members of the Florida Youth Orchestra,nd one student was accepted by the All-State orchestra for the 2008-2009 school year.
In 2005, St. Thomas Aquinas was recognized by Sports Illustrated as the third best high school athletic program in the nation.[6] Of the more than 38,000 high schools in the U.S., fewer than one in a thousand made Sports Illustrated's list honoring schools with the nation's top athletic programs. The criteria emphasized all-around excellence during the last 10 years and included state championships won and the number of college athletes produced.
In 2011, St. Thomas Aquinas was named the nation's top athletic program by Maxpreps.[7]That year the hockey team won the SAHOF State Championship and came in second in the nation at the USA Hockey National Championships in Chicago. Thomas Aquinas named nation's top athletic program
The Raiders have won 82 FHSAA state championships and have produced such athletes as tennis great Chris Evert, NFL star Michael Irvin and U.S. Olympian Sanya Richards. The school has been awarded the Broward County all-sports trophy by the Sun-Sentinel for 30 consecutive years. The athletic department has also won the FHSAA's Dodge Sunshine Cup every year since the awards inception in 1995.
In 2006, a summer forensics class was on a field trip where they discovered what they assumed was a fake body planted by their instructor testing their analytic ability. It turned out to be a real one, thereby making international news.[8]