DePaul College Prep is a Catholic

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, United States. It is located on the north side of Chicago at 3300 N Campbell Ave. DePaul College Prep is sponsored by the Western Province of the Congregation of the Mission, also known as the Vincentians.

School history

Gordon Technical High School opened in 1952 as an all-male school at the corner of Division Street and Greenview Avenue in Chicago's

Polish Downtown Polish Downtown was Chicago's oldest and most prominent Polish settlement. Polish Downtown was the political, cultural and social capital of not only Poles in Chicago but Polish Americans throughout North America as well. Centered on Polonia Tr ...

with an initial enrollment of 325 students. 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, a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

religious order. Its first principal was the Rev. John Dzielski C.R. The school was located at the previous campus of Archbishop Weber High School, also run by the Congregation of the Resurrection, which had relocated to the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood in 1950.Quintanilla, Ray & Kloehn, Stev
"Weber High To Close After 109 Years"
"Chicago Tribune", 01 April 1999. Retrieved 26 November 2014. The school was founded at the request of Cardinal

Samuel Stritch Samuel Alphonsius Stritch (August 17, 1887 – May 27, 1958) was an American Cardinal prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago from 1940 to 1958 and as pro-prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Pro ...

, 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 second and longest-serving campus in 1961, at the corner of Diversey and California. By the early 1970s, the school reached a peak enrollment of 2,800 students. The school formally shortened its name to Gordon Tech College Prep in 1999. In 2001, a new school motto was adopted, ''Ad Societatem Resurgendum'' (For the Resurrection of Society), replacing the old motto ''Ad Viros Faciendos'' (For the Making of Men). The school was all-male until declining enrollments and regional

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

during the 1990s (including the closure of all-female Madonna High School in June 2001) prompted the school to begin admitting girls in August 2002. In 2012, a group of trustees and administrators of

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

was asked by the Archdiocese of Chicago and the priests and brothers of the Congregation of the Resurrection to assist Gordon Tech College Prep. As the academic partnership with DePaul University progressed, 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. Sfondeles, Tina. "It's official: Gordon Tech to become DePaul College Prep," ''Chicago Sun-Times'', Wednesday, March 12, 2014.
/ref> The religious sponsorship of the school transferred from the Resurrectionists to the Vincentians in September 2019. On August 1, 2019, in response to growing enrollment and an aging campus, the Board of Directors & Administration announced the purchase of a 17-acre campus at 3300 N. Campbell Ave from Adtalem Global Education, formerly housing a campus for

DeVry University DeVry University () is a private for-profit university with its headquarters in Naperville, Illinois. It was founded in 1931 by Herman A. DeVry and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. DeVry is predominantly an online educator but ...

. The school moved to its new location throughout the summer of 2020, beginning the 2020-2021 school year at the new campus in August 2020. The new campus was dedicated on September 19, 2020, and the school continues to expand the campus.

Academics

DePaul College Prep is a co-ed college prep high school. DePaul Prep offers college prep, AP, Honors and International Baccalaureate classes on campus and dual enrollment classes at DePaul University.

Co-curricular activities

DePaul Prep has over 35 co-curriculars, clubs and academic teams on campus for students.

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 The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fe ...

(IHSA). The current school colors are blue, white and red, though they were originally orange and blue and formerly orange and gray. The school sponsors athletic teams for men and women in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

, cross country, soccer,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, football,

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

, and

cheer Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate approval or welcome. The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French into Middle Engli ...

. The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective state tournaments sponsored by the IHSA: *Basketball (boys) ** 2nd place (1989–90) ** 3rd place (2018-2019) ** #1 ranking in Illinois and #23 in the country (2020-2021) ** 3rd place (2021-2022) *Football ** State Champions (1980–81) ** State Semi-Finalist (1985–86) *Cross Country (boys) ** State Champions (2022-2023) *Cross Country (girls) ** 2nd place (2022-2023) The school also claims two Chicago Prep Bowl championships in football (1982, 1987). The school used to support an interscholastic

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

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.

Notable alumni

* Louis Antonelli (class of 1981) – independent filmmaker and director. * Gregg Bingham (class of 1969) – former Houston Oilers linebacker. *

Chris Bourjos Christopher Bourjos (born October 16, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player who played part of one season for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He has worked as an Arizona-based scout (sport), scout. Playing c ...

- former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

. *

Jason Gedrick Jason Michael Gedrick (born February 7, 1965) is an American actor best known for his work on the television series '' Murder One'' and '' Boomtown'', and the motion picture '' Iron Eagle'' as Doug Masters. Early life Jason Michael Gedroic was ...

(born Jason Gedroic) (class of 1982) - actor from stage, film, and television (''

Iron Eagle ''Iron Eagle'' is a 1986 action film directed by Sidney J. Furie who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Alyn Elders, and starring Jason Gedrick and Louis Gossett Jr.Mann, Roderick"Sidney Furie leads the cheer for 'Iron Eagle'."''Los Angeles Ti ...

'', '' Murder One'', ''

Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

'', '' Dexter''). *

Tom Kleinschmidt Thomas Kleinschmidt (born February 21, 1973) is a retired American basketball player and current head basketball coach at DePaul College Prep High School in Chicago, Illinois. He was an NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, All-American at DePaul B ...

(class of 1991) – former

and professional basketball player; men's head coach at DePaul Prep. * Lawrence Langowski (class of 2003) - wrestler who represented

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in the 120 kilogram weight class at the 2008 Summer Olympics. * Theodore Matlak (class of 1983) - former 32nd ward Chicago alderman. *

Robert Meschbach Robert Meschbach (born June 17, 1959) is a Canadian-American retired soccer player who played professionally as a midfielder in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and American Indoor Soccer Association. High school Whil ...

(class of 1976) - professional soccer player who set a national high school record with 71 goals in one season. *

Dennis Tufano Dennis Stanley Joseph Tufano (born September 11, 1946) is the original lead singer of the 1960s rock group The Buckinghams, and has been a solo performer since the early 1980s. Biography Dennis Tufano was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended ...

(class of 1967) - original lead singer of

The Buckinghams The Buckinghams are an American sunshine pop band from Chicago. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top-selling acts of 1967, charting their only five top 40 hits in the U.S. that year. The band dissolved in 1970, but re-formed ...

, a 1960s Chicago rock and roll group. * Ken Warzynski (Class of 1966) - basketball player at

, was a 2nd Round draft pick of the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

and played professionally. *

Raequan Williams Raequan Williams (born February 14, 1997) is an American football defensive end for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State. Early years Williams grew up in Lawndale and East G ...

(class of 2015) - professional football player on the Philadelphia Eagles; college football player at Michigan State University. * Jitim Young (class of 2000) - basketball player at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and the Phoenix Suns (summer league), Chicago Bulls (preseason) and San Antonio Spurs (free agent camp); also played in Europe, the Dominican Republic and Israel.Jitim Young bio @nba.com (dleague)
. Nba.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-30.

References

External links

DePaul College Prep Homepage
{{authority control Catholic schools in Chicago Educational institutions established in 1952 Private high schools in Chicago Catholic secondary schools in Illinois 1952 establishments in Illinois