Central Catholic Marianist High School
| Central Catholic Marianist High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
| , | |
| Information | |
| Type | private all-male secondary |
| Motto | Pride, Excellence, Tradition |
| Established | 1852 |
| Founder | Society of Mary (Marianists) |
| President | Rev. Dr. Joseph Tarrillion, S.M. |
| Principal | Deacon W. Patrick Cunningham |
| Chaplain | Rev. Donald Cowie, S.M. |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Number of students | approx. 500 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Color(s) | Navy Blue and White |
| Mascot | Buttons |
| Accreditation | Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Texas Catholic Conference Education Department |
| Newspaper | The Pep |
| Yearbook | The Fang |
| Affiliations | Catholic Church and Society of Mary (Marianists) |
| Website | www.cchs-satx.org |
| File:CentralCatholicMarianistSA.JPG | |
Central Catholic Marianist High School, is a Catholic, all-male, non-boarding college preparatory school located in downtown San Antonio, Texas, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio
The school began as St. Mary's Institute on March 25,1852 in rented rooms above a livery stable on Military Plaza.[1] The original faculty consisted of Brother Anthony Edel (Founder, First Superior, and First Principal) from Ohio, three Marianist Brothers from Bordeaux, France (Nicholas Koenig, Jean-Baptiste Laignounse, and Xavier Mauclerc), and Timothy O'Neil, a layman from San Antonio.
The school moved to a new 2-story building at 112 College Street March 1, 1853. In 1891, the school was re-named St. Mary's College, reflecting its expansion to include boarders and primary and middle school grades. In 1923, the school added boarding students from St. Louis College and was re-named St. Mary's Academy.[2] Now a hotel entryway, Texas Historical Marker #3819 recognizes the site as the location of Old St. Mary's College.
In 1932, the school relocated to a new 3-story brick building on 2.2 acres at 1403 N. St. Mary's Street and was re-named once more to Central Catholic High School. The third floor was not occupied until 1953. Grade school classes were dropped in 1955. On December 6, 1982, the school was incorporated in the State of Texas as Central Catholic Marianist High School.
Central Catholic is one of the oldest high schools in San Antonio, and it counts many prominent business and political leaders among its alumni. It was the first all boy's school in San Antonio and remains one of the largest all male schools in Texas. Texas Historical Marker #788on the school's front lawn describes the school's history and denotes it as a Texas landmark.
Mascot
Central Catholic "Buttons", named for the rattle segments of a rattlesnake. A rattlesnake ("The Rattlers") is the mascot of St. Mary's University in San Antonio, also a Marianist institution.
Athletics
The school boasts a storied athletic tradition and is home to an active student body. At all games the students of Central Catholic stand and cheer together in "Section R" or "Section Rowdy". "Section R" was founded in the fall of 1987 by Julio Villareal ('88), Orlando Sanchez ('88), and Carlos Sanchez ('89, no relation) to cheer on the struggling basketball team. To the chagrin of opposing teams, this tradition continues today.
Central plays its rival, Holy Cross, every year in the Holy Bowl.
In the 2005-06 school year, Central Catholic was home to District and/or Regional champs in seven sports: Basketball, Soccer, Baseball, Track, Swimming, Tennis, and Lacrosse. During the 2006-07 school year, the school's Cross-Country team took the runner-up award at the TAPPS state meet ahead of all South, East, North and Central Texas teams, but losing to El Paso Cathedral by two points. The school's soccer team came home with a state championship after defeating Austin St. Michaels 5-1 in the final match. The championship finished up an undefeated season of 22-0-0. The team also won the state championship again the following year vs Houston St. Pius. Central Catholic also has one of the oldest lacrosse teams in the city of San Antonio, claiming a newly formed division title in 2006. The lacrosse team is headed by long time coach, Jay McCracken, with many alumni as assistants.
From 1935-1999, Central Catholic competed in the Texas Catholic Interscholastic League, winning 25 state championships: Basketball, 15 (1937, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1974, 1975, 1982, 1984, 1991); Baseball, 6 (1954, 1958, 1959, 1976, 1980, 1984); Football, 2 (1970, 1990); Soccer, 1 (1987); and Track, 1 (1982).
Since 2000, Central Catholic competes in TAPPS, winning 5 state championships, 1 each in Cross Country (2007), Football (2001), Soccer (2007), Golf (2003), and Track (2001).
U.S. Army JROTC
Central Catholic is one of the few private schools in the city with a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC)unit (TMI: The Episcopal School of Texas also has an active AJROTC unit) and also bears the distinction of being the oldest JROTC program in the city, established in 1932. It is also the largest JROTC program in the nation. Students are required to be enlisted for two years in the corps, third and fourth years being optional. Currently, the unit bears the title of honor unit, placing in the top 50% of nationwide AJROTC units. Although Central Catholic is a single-gender school, students from Providence High School, Central Catholic's next door neighbor, may also choose to participate in the program, which was integrated in the 2003-2004 school year. It also has one of only two JROTC units in Texas with its own marching band.
The school is home to the Bordelon Rifles, consisting of two of the top air rifle shooting teams (a precision team and sporter team) in the nation. Shooters on the team consistently place well not only on local levels, but shoot at national and internation levels, placing themselves high in rankings for the teams and the shooters themselves. They boast many titles and trophies for their efforts, including the top prize from the American Legion Individual Overall National Championship in 1995, awarded to 1997 graduate Steve Wilson. The teams are named for SSgt. William J. Bordelon, USMC, a Central Catholic graduate who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The medal is now on display in the atrium of the main building.
The Central Catholic JROTC is also home to the Chaminade Guard (affectionately referred to as "The Machine"), the oldest active military exhibition drill team in the United States. The prestigious drill team was organized in 1938 and named after Bl. Fr. William Joseph Chaminade, the founder of the Society of Mary. The junior varsity drill team, the Loyd Rifles, was organized in 1961 as a Junior Varsity team when the Guard became too large of a unit. The team is named after First Lieutenant Frank J. Loyd Jr. (class of 1945), another one of Central Catholic's U.S. military heroes.
School Song
Our alma mater
For her we'll fight
Her honor
We'll always
And add them
God
Notable Graduates
- David W. Biegler , 1964, former CEO of TXU and ENSERCH Corporations
- William J. Bordelon, 1938, posthumous recipient of Medal of Honor at Battle of Tarawa, 1943
- Henry Cisneros, 1964, "Boy Mayor" of San Antonio 1981-9, HUD Secretary 1993-1997
- Solomon Casseb, Jr, 1932, Senior District Judge of Texas
- Joe Cortez, 1950, Buttons basketball coach 36 years, winningest coach in city history (over 800 wins)
- Ben Dunn, 1982, American comic book artist and founder of Antarctic Press in San Antonio, TX.
- Frank D. Frazier, 1947, astronaut candidate, Military Class 4
- Nicholas Gonzalez, 1994, actor
- Frank R. Loyd, Jr, 1945, posthumous recipient of Distinguished Service Cross, Korea citation
- Clarence Kahlig, 1965, owner, North Park Lincoln-Mercury and 10 other San Antonio automobile dealerships
- (Joseph) Sonny Melendrez, 1964, Disc jockey and actor
- Michael Mery, 1974, San Antonio County Court Judge
- Robert Skiles, attended 1962-64, musician, "Beto" of the Austin band Beto and the Fairlanes
- Whitley Streiber, 1963, author, screenwriter, UFO abductee
- William C. Velásquez, 1962, Chicano movement organizer and founder of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project