Bishop Stang High School

Bishop Stang High School is a private Catholic high school located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in the New England region of the United States. It was the first diocesan secondary school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River, which includes most of southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. It is named after William Stang, the first bishop of the Diocese of Fall River, and has been coeducational since its founding.

Location

It is located in the suburban town of North Dartmouth, on the south coast of Massachusetts. Stang's 8-acre (32,000 m²) campus is 25 minutes west of the Cape Cod Canal and 20 minutes east of the Rhode Island border. Its 800-plus student body draws from more than 50 cities and towns in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Catholic secondary education in southeastern Massachusetts began in the early 20th century with local parochial schools affiliated with various Catholic parishes. Some of these, such as the now-closed Holy Family High School, located near St. Lawrence Church in New Bedford, had strong academic reputations and produced generations of prominent Catholic alumni in the region. While Stang was not the first Catholic secondary school in southeastern Massachusetts, it was the first regional, diocesan, coeducational institution. Founded in 1959, Stang's original faculty included Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in full religious habit. The new 8-acre (32,000 m²) campus across from the Country Club of New Bedford in then-pastoral Dartmouth drew students from cities and towns in a 60-mile (97 km) radius from Rhode Island to Cape Cod. In the years following the Second Vatican Council, the number of Sisters of Notre Dame decreased. By the 1970s the vast majority of faculty and administrators were lay men and women, and the remaining sisters dressed conservatively, but in lay clothing. Since its inception, Stang has had a large number of alumni return as teachers and administrators.

Academics

Stang is a United States Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, a designation awarded by the United States Department of Education and conferred by the President of the United States.

96% of Stang graduates continue their education, with over 91% going on to four-year colleges and universities.

Courses are diverse and offered at four levels. Students are placed in levels according to their individual strengths and weaknesses.

• Advanced Placement courses

Advanced placement courses are highly accelerated courses. They provide students the opportunity to pursue college level studies while in secondary school. AP courses are offered in Biology, Chemistry, Physics 1 and 2, Calculus A/B, English Language, English Literature, Psychology, United States History, and Modern European History. These mainly apply to Juniors and Seniors. Freshman and Sophomores are eligible for Advanced Math placement - i.e. "skipping" a level of math according to their performance - in the course typically taken by the grade above them.

• Honors level courses

Honors level courses are characterized by content which is more extensive and detailed than standard level and college preparatory level courses. They have greater depth requiring application, analysis, and evaluation of the material, the understanding and use of concepts as well as facts. Independent research, extensive use of resources and outside reading is also expected.

• College Preparatory level courses

The majority of Stang students are in college preparatory courses. These courses are characterized by detailed content requiring application, analysis, and evaluation of the material presented. As of the 2011-2012 school year, CP classes have been re branded College Preparatory A or CPA classes.

• Standard level courses

These courses are characterized by basic learning skills such as reading, note-taking, study skills, reinforcement of memory skills, organization and management of a student's time. Because of these built-in supports, more time is spent on developing these learning skills in specific content areas. As of the 2011-2012 school year, standard classes have been re branded College Preparatory B, or CPB classes.

Athletics and activities

Bishop Stang offers over 11 varsity, junior varsity, and freshman interscholastic sports teams and more than 20 co-curricular activities. Stang athletic teams have historically been a success in both men's and women's sports, including a 2005 championship football team that made it to the Massachusetts high school "Super Bowl". Earlier in 2005, the Spartan hockey team won the Southeastern Mass Championship. The hockey team has made consecutive playoff runs, making it to semifinals against post season rival Hanover in 2014 and 2015. In 2008, 2010, and 2012 the men's swimming and diving team won the Southern Conference Championship. Boys lacrosse won their conference title in 2014 against rival Feehan.

Each school year more than 80% of the student body participates in one or more co-curricular activities. These include Photography Club, an award winning student council, mock trial, DECA Business Challenge, Campus Ministry, separate men's and women's faith groups - the Fellowship and Soul Sisters, jazz band, marching/stand band, concert band, guitar band, chorus, Pro-Life Club, and Student Ambassadors. Stang also has a few activities that have not become official such as an Improvisation Group.

The Bishop Stang Forensics and Debate team is known for its excellence, having brought in numerous top honors during the 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 seasons. This culminated in a trip to the final round in 2015.

The Roseanne Barker Library and Media Center was headed up by Jennifer Thomas who, in 2012, was awarded the Web Seal of Excellence from the Massachusetts School Library Association. The award recognizes excellence in a school library's use of web tools in areas such as web-pages, ning (an online platform for people to create their own social networks,) and blogs. Thomas also taught information and digital literacy, a course taught to all freshmen students in cooperation with the English department. Thomas left in 2013.

In 2013, the school completed a multi million dollar renovation of the school's old convent into a new Academic Resource Center. The ARC, as it is called by members of the Stang community, is home to the guidance department, admissions and advancement offices, a new library and research commons, two new English classrooms, and art space to be opened in the near future.

References

External links

• Official website
• Entry at PrivateSchoolReview.com

Diocese of Fall River Ordinaries Bishops William Stang Daniel Francis Feehan James Edwin Cassidy James Louis Connolly Daniel Anthony Cronin Seán Patrick O'Malley George William Coleman Edgar Moreira da Cunha Churches Cathedral St. Mary's Cathedral Parishes St. Anthony of Padua, New Bedford St. Anne's, Fall River Education High Schools Bishop Connolly High School Bishop Stang High School Bishop Feehan High School Coyle and Cassidy High School Saint John Paul II High School Catholicism Portal