Saint Francis High School, founded in 1955 by the Brothers of Holy Cross, is a

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 ...

co-educational 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 t ...

, college preparatory

secondary 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 Mountain View,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States. The Brothers of Holy Cross serve both on the faculty and on the Board of Directors. The school is located in the Diocese of San Jose in California.

History

The Brothers of Holy Cross opened Saint Francis High School as an all-boys school in September 1955. The original teaching facility was a small frame building, renovated from a grammar school and named Grant Hall after Harry Grant, the first student to enroll. Other buildings included a former residence, Andre House, and some peripheral structures. The grounds were largely orchards. Four Brothers comprised the first-year faculty. The first principal was Brother Donatus Schmitz. He was soon replaced by Brother Fisher Iwasko, who remained several years and is considered the principal founder. Soon afterwards, the Brothers of Holy Cross invested $210,000 of their own funds and $225,000 of borrowed funds to build Holy Cross Hall. The building contained eight classrooms, three science laboratories, and administrative offices, and was completed in December 1956. In 1959, Raskob Memorial Gymnasium was built on land donated by Ira and Elise Higgins. By 1962, the student body had grown to 685. In 1972, Saint Francis merged with Holy Cross High School, necessitating additional facilities. In 2012 the school made a $15,000 investment into the website Snap Inc.; it had taken money from the endowment fund. This investment grew to $24 million by 2017.

Academics

As a Catholic college preparatory school, Saint Francis requires coursework in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

, social studies,

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

modern language A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

, and religious studies. Saint Francis also provides 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 ...

program, offering students over 33 AP courses and honors courses.

Notable alumni

* Troy Bienemann, former NFL player * Eric Byrnes, former MLB player *

Linda Cardellini Linda Edna Cardellini (born June 25, 1975) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her leading roles in the teen drama '' Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), the medical drama '' ER'' (2003–09), the drama thriller '' Bloodline'' ...

, actress * Doug Cosbie, former NFL player *

Rhett Ellison Rhett Marshall Ellison (born October 3, 1988) is a former American football tight end and fullback who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in ...

, former NFL player *

Gryffin Dan Griffith (born September 29, 1987), known by his stage name Gryffin (often stylized in all caps), is an American musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer. He gained recognition for remixing some well-known songs such as Tove Lo's " Ta ...

, DJ * Bob Hamm, former NFL player * Mike Hibler, former NFL player * Tyler Johnson, NBA player * Chase Lyman, former NFL player *

Grant Mattos Grant Logan Mattos (born March 12, 1981) is known as a former NFL wide receiver and special teams player who played for three teams over a four-year career, and as a contestant on '' Survivor: Redemption Island'', the 22nd season of U.S. Surviv ...

, former NFL player * K. Megan McArthur, astronaut and oceanographer *

Tim Rossovich Timothy John Rossovich (March 14, 1946 – December 6, 2018) was an American football linebacker and a television and movie actor, active from 1977 to 1998. He was the brother of actor Rick Rossovich. Biography Rossovich was born in Palo A ...

, former NFL player * Will Ta'ufo'ou, former NFL player * Joseph McGee, US Army General

Athletics

Saint Francis is well-known for its strong athletic programs. Most of the student-athletes play in the West Catholic Athletic League part of the CIF Central Coast Section a subset of the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a ...

. , the school has accumulated 32 CIF-NorCal championships. Saint Francis was named 2021-22 State School of the Year by Cal-High Sports. The following sports are offered at Saint Francis: *

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 ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

* Cross country *

Field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

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 wi ...

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

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 ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 ...

* Swimming & diving *

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 cov ...

Track and 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 ...

Water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...

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 s ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Holy Cross secondary schools Catholic secondary schools in California Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in California Buildings and structures in Mountain View, California Educational institutions established in 1955 High schools in Santa Clara County, California 1955 establishments in California