St. John XXIII College Preparatory, formerly Pope John XXIII High School, is a Catholic independent, non-profit, coeducational, private day school in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Harris County, Texas Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas; as of the 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston, ...

, United States, near Katy. The school serves grades 9–12. The academic year consists of two semesters extending from approximately August to December and January to May. Student leadership development through the Works of Mercy program is a distinct characteristic of the school, and leadership principles are integrated into every course at St. John XXIII. 'SJ23' is accredited by/a member of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

(RCAGH), led by Archbishop

Daniel DiNardo Daniel Nicholas DiNardo (born May 23, 1949) is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the second and current archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Houston serving since 2006. He previously served as bishop of the Di ...

. SJ23 is also the newest private day school in the Katy area for over fifty years, effective 2004. It is located at 1800 West

Grand Parkway State Highway 99 (SH 99), also known as the Grand Parkway, is a ring road in the U.S. state of Texas. Its first section opened on August 31, 1994. When the route is completed, it will be the longest beltway in the U.S., the world's seventh-lon ...

North. The principal is Joseph Noonan .

History

The Houston real estate company Westside Ventures Inc. donated the land used for the school, which first opened in the fall of 2004; the initial construction had a cost of $8 million and included classroom and athletic facilities. It was the first Catholic school to be built in Greater Houston since

Strake Jesuit College Preparatory Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (properly referred to as Strake Jesuit or Jesuit but often informally called Strake by students and alumni) is a Jesuit, college-preparatory school for boys, grades 9–12, in the Chinatown area and in the Greate ...

opened in the 1960s. - Alternately published as
Catholic high school prepares to start class near the Katy area
on Thursday August 5, 2004. Pope John XXIII initially had only the 9th grade, with 47 students enrolled in its first year of classes. As time passed, the school added more grade levels. Circa October 2007 Lynn Veazey, who was serving as the principal, resigned. Don Lupton served as the interim principal until April 2008, when the school appointed the position to Tim Petersen, who previously served as the principal of Bishop Manogue Catholic High School in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. At that time Lupton became the dean of students. In 2008 the school had 165 students, and in the spring of that year the school held its first graduation. By April of that year the student count was 206. The student body increased to 270 for the 2009–2010 school year and then 314 for the 2010–2011 school year. The second phase was scheduled to start construction in early 2011, and in January 2012 the phase opened. The school had 400 students in the 2013–2014 school year. The school held its 10h anniversary celebration on October 11, 2013, and the canonization of Pope John XIII was expected the following year.

Operations

Saint John XXIII serves the west side of the

Houston area Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

in the

Greater Katy Area Greater Katy Area is the term often used to refer to a suburban region on the west side of the Greater Houston metropolitan area roughly corresponding to the boundaries of the Katy Independent School District. Many people and businesses in this ar ...

. Students from the Katy, Spring Branch, Cypress, Memorial, Rosenberg and

Sugar Land Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around ...

areas attend the school. it also served the

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

area. As of the 2013–2014 school year there were 10 students per teacher, and the average class size was 16. Upon admission, students are sorted into one of five houses, much like the

Oxford colleges The University of Oxford has thirty-nine colleges, and five permanent private halls (PPHs) of religious foundation. Colleges and PPHs are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university. These colleges are not only houses of residen ...

system. These houses are Aquinas, Borromeo, Lisieux, Loreto, and Neri, each named after an important saint of the Catholic church. Each house has its own form of internal student government, senior house captains, and has faculty and staff associates who work with the members of their house. Each house competes in Academic and Athletic competitions to earn points towards the Roncalli Cup as well as earning points from other ways such as coin drops at various sports events and competitions regarding charity donations such as who has donated the most items. The Roncalli Cup is named after the original last name of Pope John XXIII. As of 2021, each house except Borromeo has won the Roncalli Cup at least once. This house system is the first to be implemented in

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

high schools in the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Campus

Saint John XXIII High School is located on a parcel of land at the intersection of the

and Franz Road. Initially a smaller gymnasium with attached locker rooms served the school's athletic needs. The first phase included 19 classrooms, a cafeteria, and an office. The current gymnasium, built at a cost of $4 million, opened as part of the second phase of construction. It is on the eastern end of the campus. In addition to the new gymnasium, there was also a student center building that had a chapel, five classrooms, two laboratories, and a fitness center and attached locker room. The school is preparing to continue expansion after the newly constructed Crosthwait Student Center and a Competition Gymnasium nicknamed by the students the 'New Gym.'

Academic performance

In 2012, the school was honored by the Cardinal Newman Society for Excellence in Catholic Identity as a part of the Catholic High Schools Honor Roll; it was one of only seven schools in the nation to receive such a distinction, and it was the only one in

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

to do so.

Athletics

The school's mascot, nicknamed PJ, is the lion. The school offers 15 different athletic teams, including football, volleyball, boys' and girls' basketball, baseball, softball, swimming, tennis, boys' and girls' soccer, cross country, track and field, golf, lacrosse (offered by an offcampus club) dance/drill team, and cheerleading. The women's swim team won the state title in

TAPPS The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, or TAPPS, is an organization headquartered in the Lone Star Tower at Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas. It was formerly headquartered at the Salado Civic Center in Salado, Texas. Fou ...

4A in February 2012 and 2013. The girls' soccer team won the state title championship in

3A in 2010. The TAPPS 4A Men's Cross Country champion has been from Pope John XXIII High School in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years. In 2013, the football team went to the TAPPS 4A State title game, and in 2014 the Boys' Golf team won their first state title. In 2018, the Girls' Softball team made it to the finals in TAPPS and ended the season in second place.

Notable alumni

Gabe Klobosits, professional baseball player for the Washington Nationals

Notes and references

External links

Pope John XXIII School home pageRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston
{{authority control Catholic secondary schools in Texas Educational institutions established in 2004 Private high schools in Harris County, Texas 2004 establishments in Texas