Rockhurst High School

Rockhurst High School

For the Greater Glory of God
Address
9301 State Line Road
Kansas City, Missouri, (Jackson County), 64114
United States
Coordinates 38°57′37″N 94°36′21″W / 38.960389°N 94.605969°W / 38.960389; -94.605969Coordinates: 38°57′37″N 94°36′21″W / 38.960389°N 94.605969°W / 38.960389; -94.605969
Information
Type Private, all-male
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic,
Jesuit
Denomination Catholic
Established 1910 (1910)
CEEB Code 261685
President Fr. Terrence Baum, SJ
Principal Greg Harkness
Asst. Principal Scott Duschen
Faculty 85 total
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 1,013 (2015-2016)
Average class size ~240
Student to teacher ratio 12:1
Campus Suburban
Color(s) Blue and white         
Fight song Hail Blue and White
Team name Hawklets
Accreditation North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [1]
Average SAT scores Critical Reading: 620
Math: 620
Writing: 613
Average ACT scores 27
Publication The Rock Collection (literary magazine)
Newspaper The Prep News
Yearbook The Quarry
Endowment $4.5 million
Tuition ~$12,050
Dean of Students Matt Darby
Website rockhursths.edu

Rockhurst High School (typically referred to as Rockhurst) is a private, Roman Catholic, Jesuit, preparatory school for boys located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, on the Missouri-Kansas border along State Line Road.

Rockhurst is accredited by the North Central Education Association and is a member of the North Central Education Association of Independent College Preparatory Schools, the Jesuit Secondary Education Association, and the National Association for College Admission Counseling (and its regional affiliates).

Early years

In 1908, Rev. Michael P. Dowling, SJ, selected a site at 52nd and Troost St. for a Jesuit school that was to be built in Kansas City. The name "Rockhurst" was chosen because large rocks found on the school new grounds resembled those at Stonyhurst, a Jesuit-owned plot of land in Lancashire, England. Rockhurst was established by the Society of Jesus and chartered by the State of Missouri as part of Rockhurst College in August 1910. Classes began in the fall of 1914. In 1917, Luke J. Bryne Jr became the first graduate of the school. It changed its name to "Rockhurst High School" in 1923. The high school shared a campus and corporate umbrella with the college until 1962, when it moved to the Greenlease Campus—named for its principal benefactor, Robert C. Greenlease.[2]

Athletics

Rockhurst is a Class 6A school by the Missouri State High School Activities Association, meaning that it competes against the largest high schools in Missouri during state competition. MSHSAA's classification nomenclature has changed over time and often has varied by sport, so many of the titles listed below were won in divisions known by different names, i.e. Class 3, Class 5A, etc.; however, each title falls under the Class 6A designation either by name or by the criteria outlined by MSHSAA at the time the title was won.

Sport[3] First Place Second Place Third Place Total Placings at State
Baseball 2004, 2005 2010 3
Basketball 2013, 1989, 1987, 1932 2007, 1986, 1970, 1949 2005, 2000, 1971 11
Cross Country 2015, 2011 2
Football 2010, 2007, 2002, 2000, 1987, 1986, 1983, 1981, 1971 2014, 1999, 1989, 1982, 1973, 1969 N/A[note 1] 15
Golf 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1991, 1984, 1976, 1974 2015, 2013, 2004, 1997, 1996, 1978 2014, 2007, 2003, 2002, 1979, 1977 25
Hockey (MAHSHL)[note 2] 2013, 2009 2011, 2008, 2007 5
Lacrosse (MSLA, LAKC) 2014, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2003 2009, 2007, 2001 9
Soccer 2013, 2010, 2008, 2007, 1999, 1998[4] 2004, 1989, 1988 2015, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2001, 1994, 1991, 1987 17
Swim/Dive 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2006,[note 3] 2005 11
Tennis 2015, 2014, 2013, 2009, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1983, 1976, 1975 2012, 2010, 2008, 1986 2011, 1995, 1989, 1982 26
Track and Field 1976, 1975 2
TOTAL 71 33 22 126

Rockhurst won 35 state championships in the decade beginning in 2005, and six state championships in 2008-2009 alone. Its record for placings in a single year is 2007, with seven. Also, in 1987 Rockhurst became the only institution in the history of Missouri high school athletics to win football and basketball state championship in the same year. In recent years, Rockhurst's athletics department has repeatedly been named by Sports Illustrated as being in the top-ten nationally.

Rockhurst is not affiliated with any local high school athletic conferences, and because it is not a public school its student make-up is not geographically restricted. Its biggest rivals in the Kansas City area are Blue Springs High School and Blue Springs South High School.

Program-specific accomplishments

Football

Rockhurst is the only school to win a championship in each major state championship venue: Busch Stadium, Arrowhead Stadium, the University of Missouri's Faurot Field, and the Edward Jones Dome. It also won a championship in a "non-championship" venue: its first championship, in 1971, at William Chrisman High School, against St. Louis (MO) Beaumont. Its nine football championships is ranked fourth in Missouri history, behind Jefferson City High School which has 10, Valle Catholic High School, and Webb City High School which both have 12. The team has been to more state championships (14) than any other school, and it is the all-time leader in state playoff appearances and state playoff wins. Five Rockhurst teams have won the state championship with perfect records: 1971, 2000, 2002, 2007, and 2010. The 2000, 2002, 2007, and 2010 teams finished the season nationally ranked 14th, 6th, 20th and 19th respectively (after finishing 14–0, 13–0, 13–0, and 14–0).[5][5][6] The back-to-back state championship teams of 1986 and 1987 also finished nationally ranked, 14th and 13th respectively (after finishing 11–1 and 12–1).[7]

Additionally, the last three head coaches of Rockhurst's football team, Al Davis, Jr., Jerry Culver, and Tony Severino, are all members of Missouri's High School Coaches Hall of Fame, and all won state championships. Davis was a two-time recipient of the Knute Rockne Award, and Severino was named USA Today's National Coach of the Year in 2000.

Tennis

Ron Geldhof coached the tennis team to ten consecutive state titles from 1996-2005. The Hawklets again won the state championship in 2007 and 2009.

Swimming

The Hawklets won the state swimming competition for ten consecutive seasons from 2005-2013, a state record for consecutive championships. In 2011, Rockhurst broke another record, placing four divers in the Top 8. In 2009, the swim/dive team broke the state record for total points, scoring 400.5 points and became the first team to send a full roster or "full house" (four swimmers in each individual event and all three relays) to the state meet. In 2006, Missouri Boys Swimming and Diving switched schedules from the winter and subsequently became a fall sport.

Chess

The Rockhurst chess team has been one of the school's most successful extracurricular programs in recent years. In 2004, after a nearly perfect season, the team went on to tie for first in the Under 1200 rating division of the High School Chess National Championships in Dallas, Texas. In 2006, after another nearly perfect season, the team won third place in the more competitive Under 1500 division, missing first place by only one win. More recently, the team placed third in the Under 1200 division at the 2009 Supernationals. The chess team has also had success at the state and local level, winning the 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2011 MO state championships as well as the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Kansas City Cups. By far the most significant accomplishment of the team is its 14th-place finish in the extremely competitive Open division of Nationals in 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. The open division is the highest division of the high school Nationals, which means that the 2010 Rockhurst chess team was the fourteenth best in the nation.

Varsity letters

The school awards varsity letters for both athletic and academic endeavors, including music, choir, band, theater, debate, and chess. The letter is a blue "R", with white trim. One letter is awarded per activity per individual, along with its corresponding pin and/or bar for years on varsity. State championship winners receive a special white "R" with blue trim. The symbol representing the activity in which the student earned the "white letter" is sewn onto the top portion of the "R" (i.e. a football for football, a winged shoe for track, etc.). Unlike the "blue letters", there is no limit to the number of "white letters" an individual may receive in a given activity.

Notable alumni

Arts/Entertainment/Media
Athletics
Education
Medicine
Politics/Law

Notes

  1. ↑ MSHSAA does not hold a third place game in football
  2. ↑ The MAHSHL replaced the KCMAHSHL beginning in 2009
  3. ↑ Swimming changed from a winter sport to a fall sport in 2006; thus, there were two championships in that calendar year.

References

External links

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