St. James Academy

St. James Academy
Address
24505 Prairie Star Parkway
Lenexa, Kansas, (Johnson County), 66227
 United States
Information
Motto Servare Fidem
(Keeping Faith)
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Established 2005
Oversight Archdiocese of Kansas City
School code 171720
CEEB Code 171720
President Andy Tylicki
Principal Karla Leibham
Chaplain Fr. Wallisch
Grades 912
Enrollment 685  (2010)
Grade 9 200
Grade 10 152
Grade 11 173
Grade 12 158
Color(s) Navy, Crimson and Silver               
Team name Thunder
Accreditation(s) North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [1]
Dean of Students John Muehlberger
College Counselor Matt Baysinger
Athletic Director Mark Huppe
Website

St. James Academy is the newest Catholic high school in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. Located in Lenexa, Kansas, it is the city's first and only Catholic high school. St. James Academy is currently in its fifth academic year of existence. It is located directly off Prairie Star Parkway and K7. The school was established in 2005 by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and was named after St. James the Greater. The campus was named after Archbishop Emeritus James Patrick Keleher. The school colors are navy, crimson, and silver. St. James Academy has an average annual enrollment of around 615 students.

St. James Academy is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 4A division and are known as the "Thunder". Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.

Contents

History

Pillars of the school

St. James upholds these pillars to be central to its mission: One - Holy - Catholic - Apostolic Each of these Pillars is looked for in eight students at the end of the year. The student body chooses a boy and a girl for an award relating to each Pillar.

2005 Awards

One-Jordan Bichelmeyer Holy- Abraham Khadivi/Greta McCall Catholic - Apostolic- Joe Getto/Anna Heimes

Academics

SIPS

For its first two years, St. James Academy used a teacher/parent/student homework online program called SIPS. This was one of the key tools for the laptop program. With the program, students were able to find what homework they needed to do, what homework they missed, important dates, be reminded of events and allowed for communication with teachers and coaches.

SIPS was replaced in the 07-08 school year by Pearson Education's newly acquired Powerschool system. The change was due to Pearson's focus on Powerschool as a replacement of the SiPS program.

Powerschool and StudyWiz

The school currently runs on a combination of two software components, Powerschool and StudyWiz. Powerschool is used as the school management program while StudyWiz is used as the online classroom component.

In Powerschool, students and parents are able to see grades and attendance in real time as taken by the teachers during school.

StudyWiz allows teachers to post assignments and have students submit their assignments to the teachers in a digital format. The system has 15 different ways to interact with students, including personal messaging and school-wide announcements. Additionally, the system allows parents to message students during the day, lessening the need to call in and have messages sent to class.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

The extracurricular activities offered at St. James Academy are relatively small, yet varied due to the school's moderate size. The Thunder compete independently and are classified as a 4A school, the third-largest classification in Kansas according to the Kansas State High School Activities Association. Throughout its history, St. James Academy has won 9 state championships in various sports.

State championships

[2]
Season Sport Number of Championships Year
Fall Soccer, Boys 1 2009
Volleyball 3 2008, 2009, 2010
Spring Soccer, Girls 3 2008, 2009, 2011
Baseball 1 2011
Total 8

Individual State Champions

Bree Honer- 4A Tennis Singles 2010, Ryne Cokely- 4A Wrestling (152lbs) 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, Heath Maginn- 1-5A Swimming 2011 (200 IM, 500 Free)


St. James Academy offers the following sports:

Fall

  • Football
  • Volleyball
  • Boys Cross-Country
  • Girls Cross-Country
  • Girls Golf
  • Boys Soccer
  • Girls Tennis
  • Cheerleading

Winter

  • Boys Basketball
  • Girls Basketball
  • Wrestling
  • Boys Bowling
  • Girls Bowling
  • Winter Cheerleading

Spring

  • Baseball
  • Boys Golf
  • Boys Tennis
  • Girls Soccer
  • Girls Swimming/Diving
  • Softball
  • Boys Track and Field
  • Girls Track and Field

Alma mater

By: Joe Getto

Oh Roaring Thunder
Crashing 'Round the Plains
Hear us now oh crimson silver
In our hearts to stay
One Holy Catholic Apostolic
Keeping faith you'll be
In our hearts forever strong
Saint James Academy

Fight song

By: Helen Tyler

When Saint James comes storming in hear us roar
Hear our spirit true
For we are the Thunder rolling over the plaines
Silver Crimson Blue
Go Thunder

Keeping Faith let battle commence
On to Victory
Fight Fight Fight till the end
St. James Academy

GO THUNDER GO THUNDER GO THUNDER
GOOOOOO THUNDER!

External links

Notes and references