Bellarmine-Jefferson High School was a private,

Roman Catholic 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 let ...

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 ...

in Burbank, California. It was located in the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles The Archdiocese of Los Angeles ( la, Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, es, Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in th ...

. The school was reopened in 2019 as

St. John Paul II STEM Academy St. John Paul II STEM Academy at Bellarmine-Jefferson was a private school, private, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM-focused Catholic Church, Catholic high school in Burbank, California, launched in August 2019. It was owne ...

, which later closed in 2020.

Background

Bellarmine-Jefferson was a co-educational Catholic high school located in Burbank, CA that was founded by Monsignor Martin Cody Keating in 1944. Keating selected the school's name from

St. Robert Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine, SJ ( it, Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only 37 ...

(a 17th-century Italian Jesuit priest) and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

(the nation's 3rd president). The school colors are Red, White, and Royal Blue. The school mascot was the Guard, named for the

Swiss Guard The Pontifical Swiss Guard (also Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard; la, Pontificia Cohors Helvetica; it, Guardia Svizzera Pontificia; german: Päpstliche Schweizergarde; french: Garde suisse pontificale; rm, Guardia svizra papala) is ...

organization that has protected the pope since 1506. Bell-Jeff celebrated its first commencement ceremony with the class of 1948. The school's unofficial motto was "God helping me I will do my best today," a quote attributed to St. Robert Bellarmine. The school closed in Spring 2018.

Architecture

The school's main building is a replica of the old Pennsylvania State House, also known as

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpi ...

, located in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, PA. Adjacent to the main building is St. Eleanor's Hall, a replica of the main library at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

, designed by Thomas Jefferson. The main entry to St. Eleanor's Hall has 13 steps, representing the original 13 colonies in the order they became states by ratifying the U.S. Constitution. The clock tower on the main building is frozen to honor the two famous documents written in Independence Hall. On the north side of the tower is July 4, 1776 @ 8:00 pm to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and on the south side is September 17, 1787 @ 4:00 pm to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution.

Academics

Bell-Jeff was a four-year college preparatory high school. As of the 2014-2015 school year the school offered eight Advanced Placement courses (Calculus, Chemistry, Chinese Language & Culture, English Literature, European History, Psychology, Spanish Language, and United States History), UC approved college prep courses, and a host of electives. In its later years, the school sent students to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

Glendale Community College (California) Glendale Community College (GCC) is a public community college in Glendale, California. History The college was founded as Glendale Junior College in 1927, to serve the Glendale Union High School District which at the time included La ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

, USC, St. John's University,

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** ''University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the t ...

Los Angeles Valley College Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) is a public community college in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College District. The college is adjacent to Grant High School in the neighborhood of Valley Glen. Often call ...

, Occidental College,

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

UC Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. Th ...

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

, and

Marymount California University Marymount California University was a private Catholic university in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Originally founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RHSM), the university awarded associate, bachelor's, and graduate degrees. T ...

and St Mary's College of Moraga, California.

Athletics

Bell-Jeff offered 14 varsity sports. Girls competed in the Santa Fe League of the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

in six sports while boys competed in the Santa Fe League of CIF-SS in eight sports.
Athletics Website

Cross Country

The Cross Country teams were arguably the school's most successful sports program. The girls team won its league championship seven times since 2000, most recently in 2008, and was a consistent challenger in the CIF-SS Division V. Both teams hosted the annual Bellarmine-Jefferson Cross Country Invitational at Griffith Park. The Bell-Jeff Invitational was one of the largest and longest-running invitationals in Southern California. It was also the longest running event in Griffith Park.

Basketball

The most popular sport at Bell-Jeff has had it greatest success in the past two decades. The boys team has made the CIF-SS playoffs six consecutive years and had California's state leader in scoring in 1998 in Ruben Douglas. Douglas went on to lead the NCAA in scoring as a senior at the University of New Mexico and played professional basketball in Europe. The Guards last won the Santa Fe league title in 2011, ending a 14-year drought. The Lady Guards proudly own the school's only two sectional championships, winning the CIF-SS title during the 1996-1997 season and most recently during the 2008-2009 campaign. The 2008-2009 team went on to win the Southern California regional championship and then on March 20, 2009 defeated Pinewood Prep, 55-47, at Arco Arena in Sacramento to win the school's first California State Championship. The state championship was also the first ever for any Burbank area high school in a team sport. In addition, the team has appeared in the CIF-SS title game two times, losing both in 2003 and 2008. The Girls team also won the Nike Tournament of Champions in the Grey Division in 2008 and placed 3rd in 2009. After winning the CIF and State titles in 2009, the Lady Guards advanced to the CIF Semi-Finals for three consecutive seasons, 2010-2012. During the 2012 season Rishonda Napier was named the LA Daily News player of the year and was nominated as a McDonald's All-American. The Lady Guards basketball team won the 2017 CIF-SS Division 5A Championship and advanced to the CIF Semi-Finals in the State Tournament.

Football

The football team returned to play its 2012 home games at newly constructed Memorial Field on the campus of John Burroughs, after playing its 2011 home games at North Hollywood HS. Despite the school's small student population, the football team is consistently ranked in the top-ten of CIF-SS's Northeast Division. The team has won four league championships in its history - 1954, 2000, 2004, and most recently 2007. The 2008 team won the schools' 1st CIF playoff game since 1954, before falling in the CIF Quarterfinals. The Guards returned to the playoffs in 2012, and the future is bright as the Guards welcome new head coach and athletic director, Fred Martinez (Class of 1981) to the school for the 2014 season.

Volleyball

Both teams play their home games in Keating Memorial Gymnasium (nicknamed "The Guard House") on campus. The girls team won seven consecutive Santa Cruz league titles from 2006-2012. The girls had a 49-1 record during that time which included a winning streak of 46 matches. In 2009, the team advanced all the way to the CIF-SS Division IVA Championship game, the only title game appearance in school history. The Lady Guards had advanced to the CIF Quarterfinals in 1993 and 2008. In 2010 the girls reached the CIF Semi-Finals and then the Quarterfinals in 2011 - both years falling to the eventual division champion. The boys team also has fared well in recent years, qualifying for the CIF-SS Division V playoffs three consecutive years and having their finest season in 2007 when they advanced to the CIF Quarterfinals.

Baseball/Softball

The baseball team plays its home games at Burbank's Brace Park and competes in CIF-SS Division V. The team ended an almost twenty-year drought by winning the Santa Fe League Championship in 2005. The team qualified for the CIF-SS playoffs for nine consecutive years from 2003-2011. The softball team competes at Burbank's Gross Park and has qualified for the CIF-SS playoffs in each of the last nine seasons, winning its first playoff game since 1994 in 2008. The softball team has developed into one of the finest in the area. The Lady Guards have won five consecutive Santa Cruz League Championships from 2010-2014 (losing only one game during that time - by forfeit) and advanced to three consecutive CIF-SS Championship games, losing to Pomona Catholic in 2011 and again in 2012, before finally breaking through and winning the school's first CIF-SS softball championship on June 1, 2013, 8-4 over Mary Star of the Sea.

Notable alumni

Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war come ...

- actor *

Angie Dickinson Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...

- actress * Ruben Douglas - professional basketball player * Michael Galeota - actor *

Nancy McKeon Nancy Justine McKeon (born April 4, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jo Polniaczek on the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' and Jinny Exstead on '' The Division''. Early life and family Nancy Justine McKeon was born o ...

- actress * Philip McKeon - actor * James Morris - bassist of

downset. Downset (usually stylized as downset.) is an American rap metal band from Los Angeles, California. Originally called Social Justice, the band's music blends influences from rap music, rap, funk, hardcore punk, and Heavy metal music, metal with ...

Kevin Roentgen Kevin Roentgen (pronounced "rent-gehn") is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and formerly guitarist for the rock band Orson, who is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. Roentgen is previously known for fronting L.A. rock band ...

- guitarist of

Buckcherry Buckcherry is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, '' Buckcherry'' (1999) and '' Time Bomb'' (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckcherry's first album ''Buckcherry'' was DreamWorks first ...

* Doug Savant - actor *

Bobby Schayer Bobby Schayer (born December 23, 1966 in Los Angeles, California) was the drummer for Bad Religion from 1991 to 2001. He was a resident of Encino, a suburb in the San Fernando Valley. He started drumming in 1976 at the age of 10, but it was not ...

- drummer of Bad Religion *

Tim Doyle Tim Doyle is an American television producer and television writer. His credits include ''Dinosaurs'', ''Roseanne'', ''Grace Under Fire'', ''Ellen'', '' Sports Night'', '' Still Standing'', ''The Big Bang Theory'', ''Better Off Ted'', ''Rules o ...

- television writer and producer

Notes and references

External links

School Website
{{authority control Roman Catholic secondary schools in Los Angeles County, California High schools in the San Fernando Valley Educational institutions established in 1944 1944 establishments in California Buildings and structures in Burbank, California Catholic secondary schools in California