Catholic Central School was a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

, centrally located pre-K-12 regional Catholic school in

Latham, New York Latham is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place in Albany County, New York, Albany County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located along U.S. Route 9 in New York, U.S. Route 9 in the Administrative divisions of ...

, within the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany The Diocese of Albany () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory in eastern New York in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany. The Diocese of Albany is a suffragan diocese of the Archd ...

. It was formed in 2022 with the merger of Saint Ambrose elementary school in Latham with Catholic Central High School in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

. The new school is located on the grounds of the former Saint Ambrose School. The school's Troy property was put up for sale in March 2022, and was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2024.

Catholic Central

In 2022 Catholic Central High School partnered with St. Ambrose Parish school in Latham to create a Pre-K - Grade 12 regional institution. The school is located on the St. Ambrose campus. Students at Catholic Central are encouraged to perform ten hours of community service.

Athletics

The school offers indoor track, volleyball, and basketball; boys and girls baseball, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field.

History

Catholic Central High School

Catholic Central High School, a coeducational, college preparatory school, was founded in September 1923 by Bishop Edmund F. Gibbons, at the request of the pastors from parishes in Troy, Watervliet and Green Island. The school drew students from Sacred Heart (Troy), St. Augustine’s (Troy), Our Lady of Victory (Troy), St. Paul’s (Troy), St. Mary’s (Troy), St. Joseph’s (Troy), St. Anthony’s (Troy), St. Jude the Apostle (Wynantskill), St. Mary's (Hoosick Falls), St. Mary's (Waterford), Holy Spirit (East Greenbush), St. Ambrose (Latham), and St. Pius X (Loudonville). It was originally located on Eighth Street in Troy before moving to its location at 116th Street and Seventh Avenue in North Troy. The original Catholic Central High School building on Eighth St. has now become part of

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

. The first principal was Father Burns. The student body numbered 525 students. The first class graduated in June, 1924 and numbered thirty-two. When the doors reopened in September, 1924, there were 1,046 students registered in the high school. In 1953, Catholic Central purchased the

Cluett Peabody & Company Cluett, Peabody & Company, Inc. once headquartered in Troy, New York, was a longtime manufacturer of shirts, detachable shirt cuffs and collars, and related apparel. It is best known for its Arrow brand collars and shirts and the related Arrow C ...

building, which had been used for experimental purposes in the field of textile research as a miniature textile mill. In February, 1953, Catholic Central High School was relocated to its present-day campus in North Troy. In 1957, where once lay a vacant lot, soon became the Monsignor Burns Gymnasium. The basketball team no longer had to play its "home" games "away". From 1960 to 1965, Father Harry Joseph Flynn taught English at Catholic Central. Flynn later became Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Catholic High once held more than 2,000 students, but enrollment declined as Catholic churches and elementary schools closed in the city. In 1989, the school added seventh and eighth grades and in 2021, the school added sixth grade. The school closed in June 2022 and the property was put up for sale in March 2022.

Information and achievements

Catholic Central High School was located in Troy, New York at 116th Street and 7th Avenue, central to the

Capital District A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

. It served students from Albany, Columbia, Rensselaer, Saratoga and

Schenectady Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

counties. Busing was provided by the resident public school district for families within a fifteen-mile (24 km) radius. Buses came from vicinities in Clifton Park, Niskayuna, Colonie, Troy, Waterford, East Greenbush, Brunswick (Brittonkill), Averill Park and Hoosick Falls. Catholic Central High School educated students in grades 612 and offered a college preparatory/Regents curriculum along with the university at the High School program under the direction of the

State University of New York at Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the State University of N ...

. Advanced placement courses were also offered in several disciplines. The gymnasium housed not only the gym but cafeteria, stage for dramatic productions, a weight room and band room. Tuition assistance was available, including a summer work study program. Catholic Central won the International Center of the Capital Region Academic Worldquest Competition twice, in 2018 and 2019, earning a spot in the National Academic Worldquest Competition both years in Washington D

CCHS participated in the Colonial Council athletic league. The 201011 Girls Varsity Volleyball team won the Big 10 Championship and went on to the Section II semi-finals where they lost to Queensbury. They defeated many great teams, especially Troy High School, whose team had not lost a game in 3 seasons until their defeat by Catholic Central.

Notable alumni

* Matthew Harvey Clark,

Roman Catholic bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy orders in the Catholic Church, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teachin ...

, late

Bishop Emeritus In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the c ...

of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the Upstate region of New York State in the United States. The bishop of the diocese is currently Salvatore Matano. The metropolitan for the diocese is the archbish ...

Chris Conroy Christopher Patrick Conroy (born July 22, 1974) is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire. He made his MLB debut on September 29, 2010. His uniform number is 98. Conroy was officially added to the full-time staff of MLB umpires on June ...

, screenwriter of Lionsgate Pictures' " Employee of the Month" and other films *

Joe Mahoney Joseph Edward Mahoney (born February 1, 1987) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2012 to 2013 for the Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins. College career Mahoney attended Ca ...

, professional baseball player who played first base for the Miami Marlins. *

Maureen Stapleton Lois Maureen Stapleton (June 21, 1925 – March 13, 2006) was an American actress. She received numerous accolades becoming one of the few actors to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award ...

, American actress in film, theater and television *

Michael Botticelli Michael P. Botticelli (born January 2, 1958) is an American public health official who served as the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) from March 2014 until the end of President Obama's term. He was named ...

, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Obama * Justin Rohrwasser, place kicker for the New England patriots of the national football league. * Denise Doring VanBuren, 45th President General of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

Saint Ambrose School

Saint Ambrose School was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, located within the

. During the 2021-2022 school year, Saint Ambrose School had about 200 students. The school was merged with Catholic Central High School in Troy, and became the Catholic Central School starting in the 2022-2023 school year.

History

Saint Ambrose parish was founded in 1924. One year the parish school opened, staffed by the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It moved to its current location in 1956.

Merger

In 2021, Catholic Central announced it would sell and close its Troy campus and relocate to the 19-acre St. Ambrose campus in Latham, creating a new regional K-12 campus through a merger with St. Ambrose. Albany Catholic Schools Superintendent Giovanni Virgiglio said that considerations that affected the decision to move to St. Ambrose were the convenience of the location to the areas from which the school draws its students, and the fact that Lansingburgh was a split campus with students having to cross the street to get to the cafeteria and gymnasium.

References

External links

Catholic Central School website
{{authority control Catholic secondary schools in New York (state) Educational institutions established in 1923 Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany Schools in Troy, New York Private middle schools in New York (state) 1923 establishments in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Rensselaer County, New York