Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, commonly known as SHC or SH, is a Catholic school located in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Founded in 1852, Sacred Heart Cathedral is the oldest Catholic secondary school and was the first

co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

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 school in San Francisco. SHC is owned by the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish: ''Archidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the Unite ...

History

Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory was formed by a merger between two single-sex schools — St. Vincent's and Sacred Heart High School. St. Vincent's was founded in 1852 as an orphanage and a girls' day school by five sisters of the Daughters of Charity. In 1868, the Christian Brothers would open St. Peter’s Parochial School, which would eventually be renamed to Sacred Heart High School, to accommodate the growing elementary-aged population. Both campuses would be destroyed during the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. St. Vincent’s school would eventually be rebuilt, and moved three more times, finally settling on the corner of Gough and Geary streets in 1938. In 1966, the St. Vincent’s would be razed to make way for St. Mary's Cathedral, rebuilt adjacent to it, then renamed Cathedral High School. The schools would merge together in 1987 into Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, after having collaborated together since 1967.

Facilities

The school is located in San Francisco's Western Addition, with the two academic buildings located on the corner of Gough and Ellis Streets. A field used by the school's athletic teams for practice is also located on the corner of Gough and Eddy Streets.

De Paul Campus for the Arts

On the northwest corner of the intersection is the former Cathedral High School building, now named the De Paul Campus for the Arts in honor of

St. Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...

. It houses the Sister Caroline Collins, DC, Theater, opened in fall of 2010; freshman lockers; the history, visual and performing arts, and Language Other than English (LOTE) departments. Starting in 2020, the DePaul Campus underwent renovations to modernize the front lobby. These renovations are ongoing. The building adjoins San Francisco's Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption; the school's former building was razed by the

Archdiocese of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish: ''Archidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the Unite ...

to make room for the construction of the new Cathedral. The cathedral's rectory is adjacent to the De Paul Campus, but there is no access to it from the school; the entrance is located on the northeast corner entrance of the campus.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

stayed in the rectory at the De Paul Campus during his trip to

in 1987, which is marked by a plaque at the entrance of the rectory.

La Salle campus

The La Salle campus is named in honor of St. John Baptist de La Salle. This campus has a six story building which houses school administration offices, the library, the Community Life Center, and the English, Mathematics, Science, and Religion departments. The library occupies the entire sixth story, except for a small chapel and veranda.

Student Life Center

The Sister Teresa Piro, DC, Student Life Center, completed in 2004 at an estimated cost of $16 million, houses a 1,500-seat athletic gym (called the Pavilion) and 1,000-seat Dining Hall. The building is adjoined to an older facility housing a gymnasium, weight room, fitness center, and robotics lab.

Tuition and enrollment

Tuition at SHC costs $22,000 per student in the 2021-2022 term. SHC provides an array of courses, including college preparatory, honors, and

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 ...

classes. All students are required to take English and Religious Studies for four years, as well as three years of Math and Social Studies. SHC uses a

tracking Tracking may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Tracking, in computer graphics, in match moving (insertion of graphics into footage) * Tracking, composing music with music tracker software * Eye tracking, measuring the position of t ...

system for math, with students typically being placed on one of three tracks in their freshman years. Most students additionally opt to take three or four years of Science and a foreign language, and one year of a visual or performing art. Sacred Heart Cathedral enrolls approximately 1,300 students from San Francisco and its suburbs.

Athletics

The athletic teams, known as the Fightin' Irish, compete in the

West Catholic Athletic League The West Catholic Athletic League or WCAL is a highly competitive high school athletic conference in the Central Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation. The boys division is made up of seven Catholic schools and one nondenom ...

. There are 22 teams and 53 sport levels for boys and girls at SHC split into Fall, Winter, and Spring seasons. In the 2021-2022 school year, Sacred Heart Cathedral claimed its first

CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...

football title in school history after winning the Division 4-A state championship game.

Rivalry with Saint Ignatius College Preparatory

Sacred Heart Cathedral's traditional rival is

Saint Ignatius College Preparatory St. Ignatius College Preparatory, commonly referred to as SI, 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 Su ...

, also located in San Francisco. The SH-SI rivalry began with a

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

game on St. Patrick's Day in 1893. SH and SI compete against each other in football, basketball, baseball, and

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 Summ ...

for the Bruce-Mahoney Trophy, which is named after Bill Bruce of SI and Jerry Mahoney of SH, alumni who died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. SI has a significant edge over SH, with a winning record of 53-20-3 for the trophy.

Notable alumni

James J. Corbett James John "Jim" Corbett (September 1, 1866 – February 18, 1933) was an American professional boxer and a World Heavyweight Champion, best known as the only man who ever defeated the great John L. Sullivan (hence the " man who beat the man ...

, 1880 - Professional boxer *

Harry Heilmann Harry Edwin Heilmann (August 3, 1894 – July 9, 1951), nicknamed "Slug", was an American baseball player and radio announcer. He played professional baseball for 19 years between 1913 and 1932, including 17 seasons in Major League Baseball with ...

, 1912 - Professional baseball player *

Joe Cronin Joseph Edward Cronin (October 12, 1906 – September 7, 1984) was an American professional baseball player, manager and executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop, most notably as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Cronin spe ...

, 1924 - Professional baseball player, inducted into

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

and

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

president * Bob Marshall, 1952 - Mayor of

San Bruno, California San Bruno (Spanish for " St. Bruno") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, incorporated in 1914. The population was 43,908 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is between South San Francisco and Millbrae, adjacent to S ...

(1980-1992) *

Kevin Gogan Kevin Patrick Gogan (born November 2, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, and Sa ...

, 1983 - Professional football player for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

, Los Angeles / Oakland Raiders,

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

, and San Diego Chargers * Eric White, 1983 - Professional basketball player * Justin Love, 1996 - Professional basketball player *

Shannon Rowbury Shannon Rowbury (born September 19, 1984) is an American middle-distance runner from San Francisco, California. After competing collegiately for Duke University, she turned professional in 2007. Rowbury has represented the United States at the ...

, 2002 - United States Olympic Runner and outdoor distance medley relay record holder * Jason Hill, 2003 - Professional Football Player * Keith Ismael, 2016 - Professional football player for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

Notes and references

External links

Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory Website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1852 Educational institutions established in 1874

Catholic secondary schools in California High schools in San Francisco Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco Boys' schools in the United States 1874 establishments in California 1852 establishments in California