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Cathedral High School is a private co-educational, college preparatory Catholic junior high and high school in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, United States. It is located in the historic South End neighborhood, adjacent to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the seat of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston The Archdiocese of Boston ( la, Archidiœcesis Bostoniensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New England region of the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the whole of ...
. Cathedral High School serves a diverse and primarily urban student population, most of whom live in the city of Boston. The school offers substantial financial aid and underwriting, funded through benefactors and an endowment. The school boasts a 100% graduation rate with 100% of graduates also earning college admittance for 16 straight years.


History

Cathedral High School was founded as an archdiocesan high school in 1926 by Cardinal
William Henry O'Connell William Henry O'Connell (December 8, 1859 – April 22, 1944) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 until his death in 1944, and was made a cardinal in 1911. Early life William O'Connell wa ...
, then-Archbishop of Boston, primarily to educate the sons and daughters of Boston's large immigrant and first-generation American population. Cardinal O'Connell tasked the
Sisters of St. Joseph The Sisters of St. Joseph, also known as the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, abbreviated CSJ or SSJ, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in 1650. This congregation, named for S ...
with teaching at the new school. The
Archdiocese of Boston The Archdiocese of Boston ( la, Archidiœcesis Bostoniensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New England region of the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the whole of ...
centralized its high schools, including Cathedral, in 1950 under the auspices of Archdiocesan Central High Schools, Inc. In 2004, Cathedral separated from the Archdiocese in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal. The school is now staffed by mostly lay leadership and faculty and led by an independent board of trustees. In 2014, the school announced a "Catholic Urban Partnership" with Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mission Grammar School in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. In 2015, Cathedral High will take in Mission's 7th and 8th grades while Mission will focus on K-6 education. Curriculum between the two institutions will be aligned and Mission graduates receive guaranteed admission to Cathedral for grade 7.


Academics

As of the 2014-2015 school year, Cathedral had 280 enrolled students and employed 23 full-time teaching faculty to achieve a student/faculty ratio of 12:1.


Curriculum

Students participate in a college preparatory curriculum which includes, in addition to standard core subjects, college readiness and academic literacy classes. As a Catholic educational institution, students also take academic courses in religion/theology every year. Electives include art, Spanish language, and physical education. Cathedral High School offers
Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...
(AP) courses including in English, calculus, and U.S. history. Seniors are also required to complete 100 hours of volunteer community service and formally reflect on their experience as a graduation requirement.


August Institute

In 2014, the school inaugurated a summer program called the August Institute for Learning. Students entering grades 7 through 9 are required to attend the three-week program focused on project-based applied mathematics, problem solving, and summer reading. The summer program is in addition to required summer reading assigned to students in all grades.


Internships

Through strategic partnerships with Boston area businesses, Cathedral students can apply to a number of paid summer and school-year internships in a variety of industries. Annual partners in hiring Cathedral interns include
Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is on ...
and
WilmerHale Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as Hale & Dorr and WilmerHale, is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. It is co-headquartered in Washington, D.C. and Boston. It was formed in 2004 thr ...
law firm.


Tuition & Financial Aid

Tuition revenue accounts for less than 14% of Cathedral’s annual operating expenses. To offer a reasonably affordable Catholic college preparatory education most of the school's costs are covered by philanthropy. Tuition for 2020-2021 is $7,000 per student. Full tuition, merit-based scholarships are awarded to a number of students and some students also receive need-based financial aid.


Athletics

Cathedral High School teams are known as the "Panthers". They compete as a member of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Division IV and in the
Catholic Central League The Catholic Central League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference in district H of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. Most league members are schools with Catholic affiliations. The league is based mostly in the eastern p ...
. Boys' sports include football, basketball, and baseball. Girls' sports include volleyball, basketball, softball, and cheerleading. Coed teams include soccer, indoor track, and outdoor track. The boys' basketball squad has established a strong reputation as one of the premier small school basketball teams in the state. The Panthers have appeared in five Division IV State Championship games (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012). The team won their division's state championship in 2006, 2007, and 2009. They were also South Sectional Finalists in 2011, and were Division 4 State Semi-Finalists in 2014.


Football

Cathedral's football team has also developed a strong reputation in Boston recently. Under the leadership of then Head Coach Duane Sigsbury, the Panthers appeared in back-to-back Division 4A State Championship games in 2011 and 2012, winning the State Championship in 2012 with an overtime win against Madison Park. Kadeem Edge, a wide receiver on the 2012 championship team, was selected as a Boston Herald All-Scholastic and was also named a Catholic Central Small All-Star. Also, Panthers defensive lineman Mohammed Braimah was named the Catholic Central MVP, and was also selected as a member of the Boston Globe All-State Team and was named a Boston Globe All-Scholastic. Further honors for the 2012 Cathedral football team also included Sean Elad as the Catholic Central Small Defensive MVP, and Derek Welcome as the Catholic Central Small Defensive Lineman of the Year. Also with the rise of the Class of 2015 who went 41-9 in their tenure at Cathedral included Kejonte Hickman, Jermal Jackson, Justice Turner, Elijah Marcelo, Trehme Haney, Bryan Cedeno and Khalik Clerville.


2011 State Championship "Celebration" Controversy

In 2011, the football team nearly won the MIAA Division 4A State Championship, but lost due to a controversial official's call which overturned a potential game-winning touchdown in the final minutes. Midway through the 4th quarter, Cathedral trailed Blue Hills by a score of 16-14 in the Division 4A State Championship game. With approximately six minutes remaining in the game, Cathedral quarterback Matt Owens raced around the right side of the line and split the defense for a potential 56-yard game-winning touchdown run. At around the 20-yard line, Owens raise one of his arms in celebration before crossing the goal line. The referees threw a flag on the play and called an unsportsmanlike penalty on Owens, which negated the touchdown and moved the Panthers back fifteen yards from the original line of scrimmage. On the next play, Cathedral turned the ball over to Blue Hills, and they eventually ran the clock out to secure a 16-14 win over Cathedral. In the aftermath, Boston mayor
Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...
was critical of the call and invited the entire Cathedral football team to lunch. Furthermore,
Skip Bayless Skip Bayless (born John Edward Bayless II) is an American sports columnist, commentator, and television personality. He is well-known for his work as a commentator on the ESPN2 show '' First Take'' with Stephen A. Smith, a show which he left ...
and
Stephen A. Smith Stephen Anthony Smith (born ) is an American sports television personality, sports radio host, and sports journalist. He is a commentator on ESPN's ''First Take'', where he appears with Molly Qerim. He also makes frequent appearances as an N ...
debated the controversial call on
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
TV series, First Take on December 6, 2011. The story made national headlines and was covered by sources across the nation. The following season in 2012, the Panthers returned to the Division 4A State Championship game, where they defeated Madison Park by a score of 22-20 in overtime. The school honors alumni-athletes and supporters biennially in a hall of fame induction, among which is notable class of 1984 alumna and WNBA player Michelle "Ice" Edwards.
Tufts Medical Center Tufts Medical Center (until 2008 Tufts-New England Medical Center) in Boston, Massachusetts is a downtown Boston hospital midway between Chinatown and the Boston Theater District. The hospital is a community based medical center for biomedical r ...
partners with Cathedral to provide athletic training services and team physicians to serve at home games. Tufts also conducts free annual sports physicals and weekly clinics to assess and serve student athletes.


Extracurricular Activities

Cathedral students are required in grades 7 through 9 to participate in some form of extracurricular activity (referred to as "Extended Learning Opportunities"). Some of the extracurricular activities and clubs available include: ;54th Regiment The 54th Massachusetts Regiment is an American Civil War reenactment group where students live out and learn history, travel for weekend events, and hold talks. ;CHS Voices CHS Voices is a poetry and writing club which entertains and encourages from traditional poetry to spoken word and slam poetry. Voices helps members refine skills as a creative and performer and hosts quarterly open mic nights featuring students, alumni, faculty, and visiting poets. CHS Voices hosted a night of poetry at the school for Boston ArtWeek 2014. ;Mock Trial Cathedral participates in the annual statewide competition sponsored by the
Massachusetts Bar Association The Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA) is a voluntary, non-profit bar association in Massachusetts with a headquarters on West Street in Boston's Downtown Crossing. The MBA also has a Western Massachusetts office. The purpose of the MBA is t ...
. The bar prepares a case based on a topical legal situation and each school's team works on both sides of the case. Students then present each side at different times in a real courtroom setting with another school representing the opposing side. ;National Honor Society Cathedral has a chapter of the
National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...
and are selected for membership based on criteria of scholarship, service, leadership, and character. ;Student Council Representatives of the student body are elected annually to the student council and, in addition to representing the students to the administration, also assist in planning events including homecoming, service projects, and prom. ;Yearbook The school has published an annual hardcover yearbook, "Cathedra," every year since at least the 1930s. Students assist with photography, photo editing and selection, copywriting, layout design, and editorial.


Philanthropy

The school is supported largely by private philanthropy. Benefactors include alumni, community members, charitable foundations, and corporate partners. The school also raises substantial support through the Adopt-A-Student Foundation, a separate 501(c)(3) charitable foundation. The Adopt-A-Student Foundation's primary fundraising activities include an annual golf tournament in June and an annual Partnership for Success Dinner in October. Cathedral is a beneficiary of the Catholic Schools Foundation and its Inner-City Scholarship Fund, the Highland Street Foundation, and numerous other public and private entities.


Notable alumni

*
Arthur L. Andrews Arthur L. "Bud" Andrews (March 9, 1934 – October 26, 1996) was a Chief Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force who served as the 7th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force from 1981 to 1983. Early life Andrews was born in Boston, M ...
, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force *
Michael DeSisto A. (Albert) Michael DeSisto (May 29, 1939 – November 1, 2003) was an American educator best known for founding and directing the DeSisto Schools. Early life and education Born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 29, 1939, Michael DeSisto attend ...
, educator * Michelle "Ice" Edwards, WNBA * Barbara McInnis, public health nurse and activist


References


External links


Cathedral High School Official Website
{{authority control Catholic secondary schools in Massachusetts Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston High schools in Boston Educational institutions established in 1926 1926 establishments in Massachusetts