| Saint Mary's Catholic High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 2525 North Third Street Phoenix, Arizona, Maricopa County, 85004 United States |
|
| Information | |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1917 |
| Oversight | Diocese of Phoenix |
| Dean | Jay Twitchell |
| Principal | Suzanne Fessler |
| Asst. Principal | Rob Rogers |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 778 (2007-2008) |
| Grade 9 | 191 |
| Grade 10 | 206 |
| Grade 11 | 197 |
| Grade 12 | 184 |
| Average class size | 22-25 |
| Color(s) | Green and White |
| Slogan | "Once a Knight, Always a Knight" |
| Athletics | 5A-1 |
| Mascot | Knight |
| Team name | Knights |
| Accreditation(s) | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [1] |
| Publication | Knightline |
| Newspaper | 'Round Table' |
| Endowment | $1,000,000+ |
| Tuition | Full $5,000/year; Participating Catholic $7,995/year for 2009-2010[2] |
| Website | www.smknights.org |
St. Mary's Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Phoenix, Arizona. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.
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Saint Mary’s High School is the oldest Catholic high school in Arizona and has been a part of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area since 1917.[3] Saint Mary’s is Arizona’s first Catholic high school, founded by the Sisters of the Precious Blood. The founders were able to set aside classroom space for four boys and ten girls in Saint Anthony’s Elementary school. This was the beginning of the Saint Mary’s community.
In 1920, Saint Mary’s moved into its very first, one-story home located on East Monroe Street. In 1928, all male students were transferred to Brophy College Preparatory School on North Central Avenue, leaving the Saint Mary’s school an all-girls facility. The Great Depression caused a great deal of financial problems, leading to the closure of Brophy in 1936. The boys were temporarily without a Catholic high school. Male students moved back to Saint Mary's, but this time, into a new building.
During the 1930s, one city block, bordered from Polk to Taylor and Second to Third Streets, had been purchased for $24,000. With this new land, a second Saint Mary’s was built by the Franciscans whose goal was to educate those boys displaced by the closure of Brophy High School. The separation of both boys’ and girls’ schools lasted until 1958. By the end of the year, the girls’ school was condemned to make way for the Civic Plaza. Both schools were combined, making it mixed once again. As a result of boys and girls attending the same facility, it became necessary to add classrooms. On March 20, 1961, Reverend Francis J. Green, O.D., Bishop of Tucson, performed the dedication ceremony for the new seven-room addition to the school. Included with this addition were a ramada and a much needed library.
The Polk Street campus, built on 2 acres (8,100 m2), had a total of twenty-four classrooms and a gymnasium. There was a maximum of six hundred students from very diverse backgrounds. The student body was approximately 45% Hispanic, 45% Anglo and 10% African American. The ravages of time and the rapid development of downtown Phoenix caused Saint Mary’s to halt its growth on their inner-city campus.
In 1988, Saint Mary’s was razed to make room for the Arizona Center. The school moved to its present location at Third Street and Sheridan, renovated existing buildings, and constructed a multi-purpose building to house administration, classrooms, and a cafeteria. For the 2008/2009 school year Saint Mary’s had an enrollment of 778 students from many different backgrounds. That student body consisted of 1.9% Native Americans, 9.8% African Americans, 3.0% Asian/Pacific Islander, 49.8% Hispanic, 24.3% White, and 11.3% Multi-Racial.[4]
Money constraints prevented the school from building a gym at the Third Street and Sheridan campus; a new facility was estimated to cost the school $1.2 million. With help from the community the construction of the Saint Mary’s gym began. A nearby Catholic high school that had been closed, Gerard Catholic High School, left behind a prefabricated metal building that had housed a gymnasium. A former graduate of Saint Mary’s was able to contact a contractor who agreed to relocate the steel superstructure. After this first step was completed, volunteers pulled together and began creating a gym from parts of other buildings all over the city. The project cost approximately $400,000. After a generous gift of $100,000 from a charitable trust was matched, St. Mary’s borrowed the remaining $200,000 from the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.
The flooding of Camelback High School’s gymnasium was another advantage. The school’s athletic program could not afford the time and risk of trying to dry out the maple floor. With the insurance company’s permission, Saint Mary’s took the donated wet wood to dry out in a warehouse. For the lights, scoreboards, and backboards another Phoenix school was soon-to-be demolished and was also a source. The source of 36,000 pounds of tile for the locker rooms and showers was the donation of another destroyed building. The two-story gym was also fortunate to boast an elevator donated by a former graduate. Altogether, the Saint Mary’s family was able to reuse materials to put into the gym, making it recycled. A gymnasium valued at $1.4 million was constructed for approximately $500,000.
The mission of Saint Mary's Catholic High School is to provide a quality Catholic education by developing and sustaining a rich tradition grounded in Gospel and family values, discipline, and respect.
Saint Mary's High School is a Roman Catholic, Diocesan, co-educational high school serving the greater Phoenix area. It is a multicultural, centrally-located school that offers a traditional setting with a primary emphasis on the spiritual, academic, social, and personal growth of each Knight/Lady Knight. Special attention is given to all types of learners with an emphasis placed on students preparing for a college/university post-secondary experience.[5]
Saint Mary’s places Jesus Christ at the center of the educational process and acknowledges responsibility to help prepare students of varying levels to meet the spiritual, intellectual, and social challenges of life. Saint Mary’s believes that students should become contributing members of a faith community and live out their faith by promoting moral values, fostering lifelong service, and instilling knowledge of the truths of the Catholic faith while integrating their faith with all that is taught and experienced at Saint Mary's. Each Saint Mary's student should strive to be a model of Christian love and service and should focus on strengthening his/her values of honesty, decency, and integrity.
Because each student must be able to make informed decisions and to live according to Catholic principles, Saint Mary’s encourages self-discipline, self-respect, respect for others, and growth in learning so that Knights/Lady Knights will be able to deal with everyday issues.
Saint Mary’s High School, as an academic community, has a responsibility to facilitate learning for all students. Because each Knight/Lady Knight needs to acquire knowledge and skills for today while preparing for tomorrow, the staff will strive to provide opportunities and high expectations for learning. The staff believes that graduates of Saint Mary's High School must be prepared for continuing education with a high level of thinking skills.