DePaul College Prep

DePaul College Prep
Address
3633 North California Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60618-4602
USA
Coordinates 41°56′52″N 87°41′51″W / 41.9479°N 87.6974°W / 41.9479; -87.6974
Information
Type Private, Coeducational, secondary, parochial
Motto Ad Societatem Resurgendum
((For the Resurrection of Society))
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Authority Archdiocese of Chicago
Principal Dr. James Quaid
President Mary Dempsey
Teaching staff 40
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 500 (2016)
Average class size 20-1
Campus type urban
Color(s)      orange
     blue
    white
Fight song GT fight song
Athletics conference Chicago Catholic League (m)
Girls Catholic Athletic Conference (f)
Team name Rams
Accreditation North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
Tuition US$11,000[2]
Affiliation Congregation of the Resurrection
Website http://www.depaulprep.org

DePaul College Prep, formerly known as Gordon Technical High School, is a Roman Catholic high school located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located on the north side of Chicago on Addison Street and California Avenue. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. The school was originally named in honor of the Very Reverend Francis Gordon, an influential and high-ranking member of the Congregation of the Resurrection. The school was renamed DePaul College Prep in the summer of 2014.[3]

School history

Gordon Technical High School opened in 1952 as an all-male school at the corner of Division Street and Greenview Avenue on Chicago's Northwest Side. The school was built in the wake of the relocation of another high school run by the Congregation of the Resurrection, Archbishop Weber High School, which closed in 1999.[4] The school was founded at the request of Cardinal Samuel Stritch, who envisioned a new type of Catholic high school, one that had both a college preparatory curriculum, and a technical curriculum. The school moved to its current campus in 1961. Its first website was launched in January 1998, at www.gordontech.org. The school formally shortened its name to Gordon Tech in 1999. In 2001, the new school motto was adopted, replacing the old motto Ad Viros Faciendos (For the Making of Men). The school was all–male until declining enrollments and regional gentrification during the 1990s (including the closure of all-female Madonna High School in June 2001[5]) prompted the school to begin admitting girls in August 2002.[6][7]

The board of directors announced on March 12, 2014 that the names of the high school and its campus would be changed to DePaul College Prep and the Father Gordon Campus, respectively, as early as summer of that year. New namesake DePaul University has been an academic partner since 2012. The athletic mascot (Rams) and school colors (orange) have been retained.[3] The school changed the URL of its website to the present www.depaulprep.org beginning with the 2014-15 school year.

Academics

DePaul College Prep is a college preparatory high school. While English and math classes are taught on everyday for the entire year, other courses are taught on a semester basis.[8]

Students are required to take four years of religious studies. The school offers a course on world religions which non–Catholics may take to replace any of the four required courses. Any student may choose to take it as an elective.

The school offers what it calls The Fr. Francis Gordon Academy (also called the A.P. Academy). The program is designed for advanced students, based upon entrance exam scores, a personal essay, and middle school grades. Students take honors classes for their first two years, and then take a combination of honors and AP courses their last two years. In addition, students must publicly present a multi-disciplinary thematic project during the spring semester of their sophomore year, and a similar final project during the spring semester of their senior year.

The Advanced Placement courses offered are: English Language, English Literature, Calculus (BC), Biology, Chemistry, U.S. History, and European History.[9]

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

The DePaul College Prep Rams compete in two conferences. The men's teams compete in the Chicago Catholic League (CCL) while the women compete in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference (GCAC). The school competes in state championship series sponsored by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The current school colors are orange and blue, though they were originally orange and blue and formerly orange and gray.

The school sponsors interscholastic team for men and women in basketball, bowling, cross country, soccer, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Men also compete in baseball, football, and wrestling, while women also compete in softball. The school also sponsors a non-competitive cheerleading squad.[10]

The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective state tournaments sponsored by the IHSA:[11]

The school also claims two Chicago Prep Bowl championships in football (1982, 1987).

The school used to support an interscholastic fencing team, and competed as a founding member of the Great Lakes High School Fencing Conference (which represents teams from Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana). The team won the Midwest Boys' Title in 1981, 1984, 1985 and 1988. The boys' fencing team won the Illinois state championship (IHSA) in 1977 and 1980.[12]

Notable alumni

Archbishop Weber High School

Like Gordon Tech, Archbishop Weber High School was administered by the Congregation of the Resurrection. It served Chicago's Catholic community for 109 years, but closed in 1999 due to low enrollment.[4] The heritage of Weber is kept alive through the Weber High School Alumni Association. Alumni records are held in the DePaul College Prep's Records Office.

References

  1. ↑ NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  2. ↑ 2015–16 Tuition
  3. 1 2 Sfondeles, Tina. "It's official: Gordon Tech to become DePaul College Prep," Chicago Sun-Times, Wednesday, March 12, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Quintanilla, Ray & Kloehn, Steve "Weber High To Close After 109 Years", "Chicago Tribune", 01 April 1999. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Vogell, Heather & McSherry Breslin, Meg "Madonna High Succumbs To Financial Woes", "Chicago Tribune", 18 January 2001. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  6. ↑ Lieblich, Julia & Donato, Marlo "Gordon Tech will admit girls in 2002", "Chicago Tribune", 23 May 2001. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Bosch, H. Jose "Switching from single-sex to coed school has proponents, opponents", "Medill Reports Chicago", 19 February 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  8. ↑ DePaul College Prep Academic Options
  9. ↑ DePaul College Prep Course Offerings
  10. ↑ DePaul College Prep Athletics Department
  11. ↑ IHSA record page for Gordon Tech HS. Ihsa.org. Retrieved on 2011-10-30.
  12. ↑ http://www.ihsa.org/default.aspx
  13. ↑ "Chris Bourjos Bio".
  14. ↑ Jason Gedrick bio @tv.com. Tv.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-30.
  15. ↑ Smith, Harold. "Tom Kleinschmidt Hired As New GT Basketball Coach".
  16. ↑ IHSA individual all-time boys soccer records. Ihsa.org. Retrieved on 2011-10-30.
  17. ↑ Jitim Young bio @nba.com (dleague). Nba.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-30.
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