St. Ignatius College Preparatory
| Saint Ignatius College Preparatory | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
2001 37th Avenue, San Francisco, California | |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, Coeducational |
| Motto | AMDG: "For the Greater Glory of God" |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1855 |
| Principal | Patrick Ruff |
| Grades | 9 - 12 |
| Enrollment | 1,444 [1] |
| Campus | Urban |
| Color(s) | Red and Blue |
| Mascot | Wildcats |
| Publication | The Quill (Literary magazine) |
| Newspaper | Inside SI |
| Yearbook | Ignation |
| Tuition | $16,990 (2011) |
St. Ignatius College Preparatory is a private Catholic preparatory school in the Jesuit tradition, serving the San Francisco Bay Area since 1855. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, in the Sunset District of San Francisco, St. Ignatius is one of the oldest secondary schools in the U.S. state of California. It is known also as S.I.
History
St. Ignatius was founded as a one-room schoolhouse on Market Street by Fr. Anthony Maraschi, a Jesuit priest, just after the California Gold Rush in 1855. Maraschi paid $11,000 for the property which was to become the original church and schoolhouse. The church opened on July 15, 1855, and three months later, on October 15, the school opened its doors to its first students.
SI was the high school division of what later became the University of San Francisco, but it has since split from the university and changed locations five times due to the growth of the student body and natural disaster. In the 1860s, the school built a new site, adjacent to the first, on Market Street in downtown San Francisco. In 1880, SI moved its campus to a location on Van Ness Avenue in the heart of San Francisco, and by 1883, SI had become the largest Jesuit school in the nation. Within 26 years of the relocation, however, St. Ignatius would be completely destroyed. Though the school would survive the tremors of the 1906 earthquake with only moderate damage, the subsequent fires destroyed the school and church, forcing SI to find a new location near Golden Gate Park, a hastily constructed "temporary" wooden building, affectionately known as the "Shirt Factory", which housed the school for more than 20 years, from 1906 to 1929.
In 1927, the high school was separated from the university, becoming St. Ignatius High School. Two years later, SI relocated its campus once more, this time to Stanyan Street, where it remained for 40 years. In the fall of 1969, Father Harry Carlin moved SI to its current Sunset District campus, whereupon the current name, St. Ignatius College Preparatory, was adopted.[2]
Though originally founded as an all-boys school, SI became coeducational in 1989 and is now[when?] home to 1,400 students.
SI celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2005.
Academics and Student Body
In 2004 the faculty was one of 12 schools nationwide to be honored by Today's Catholic Teacher magazine for excellence and innovation in education.[3]
St. Ignatius offers honors courses and Advanced Placement classes. In 2010, students took 1,422 Academic Placement tests and passed 1,142, breaking the school record. Students scored more than 700 4s and 5s on these tests. This performance ranks SI among the top 150 schools in the nation, or top 2/3 of 1 percent.[4]
Additional information:
- Student body: 33% students of color, 50% girls/50% boys, 24% students receive nearly $2.1 million in financial aid[citation needed]
- Current ethnic diversity: 64% Caucasian, 18% Asian American, 10% Latino, 4% African American, 4% decline to state or other[citation needed]
- 80% of the faculty has masters degrees, 7% have doctorates, 11 from the Jesuit community
- A top-60 Prep School[clarification needed][citation needed]
- One of the 12 best Catholic schools in the nation for professional development[citation needed]
- A top-30 school in the nation for AP scores, with about 1100 exams administered last year[when?] and an 80.9% pass rate[citation needed]
- SAT scores more than 150 points above national and state average[citation needed]
- Financially stable: $75 million in endowment[citation needed]
- 62 clubs with more than 1,000 members
- Campus is 20 acres on two sites
- Student to Teacher Ratio: 14 to 1; average class size is 25
Athletics
The school has 65 athletic teams with over 900 students participating.[citation needed] The Wildcats generally participate in the Western Catholic Athletic League (WCAL) in the Central Coast Section of California, though for some sports, teams belong to other leagues
The men's rowing team won the US Rowing Youth National Championships in 1997, 2005, and 2006.[citation needed] In addition, the crew competed in the Henley Royal Regatta in England, where St. Ignatius won Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup in 2006.[citation needed]
The lacrosse team won the state championship and was ranked nationally[citation needed] in 2007 and 2008.[citation needed]
The school's soccer team is nationally ranked by ESPN.[citation needed] They won the WCAL championship in 2009 and 2010, and the CCS championship in 2009.[citation needed]
The SI Football team has been WCAL champions in 1967 and 2006, as well as CCS Division III champions in 2006 and 2011.
Rivalry with Sacred Heart Cathedral
St. Ignatius' traditional rival is Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, also located in San Francisco. The SI-SH rivalry began with a rugby game on St. Patrick's Day in 1893.[citation needed] SI and SH compete against each other in football, basketball, and baseball for the Bruce-Mahoney Trophy, which is named after one SI and one SH alumni who died in World War II.[citation needed]
Notable alumni
- Daniel J. Callaghan - Medal of Honor recipient
- William Callaghan,[5] 1914, military, first commanding officer of USS Missouri (BB-63)
- Igor Olshansky, 2000, NFL football player, Defensive Lineman for the Miami Dolphins[6]
- Jerry Brown - 32nd and 39th Governor of California [7]
- Dan Fouts - NFL Pro Bowl Quarterback, played for the San Diego Chargers. NFL Hall of Fame.
- Darren Criss - Musician, Actor, Singer-Songwriter, Composer, Broadway Star, one of the Sexiest Men Alive
- Levy Middlebrooks - former professional basketball player
- George Moscone - Mayor of San Francisco
- John Paul Getty, Jr. - Philanthropist
- Gordon Getty - Billionaire and businessman
- Francis Jue - actor
- Paul Otellini - President and CEO of Intel
See also
References
- ^ St. Ignatius College Preparatory website. "School Statistical Profile". Retrieved June 13, 2009.
- ^ St. Ignatius College Preparatory website. "About SI". Retrieved June 13, 2009.
- ^ "CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOR TOMORROW AWARD". Today's Catholic Teacher Magazine. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "Genesis V" (PDF). Saint Ignatius College Preparatory. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ History Supplement: Admiral William Callaghan '14, Genesis IV: The alumni magazine of Saint Ignatius College Preparatory (2005), pp. 34–35. Retrieved on September 8, 2009.
- ^ "Official Site of the Dallas Cowboys; Bios; Players". DallasCowboys.com. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
(Olshansky) Was a first-team all-league at St. Ignatius High School in San Francisco, Calif.
- ^ Office of the Governor - About Retrieved April 11, 2011
