Pacelli High School is 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 ...

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 ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

, United States. It is located in the

History

On March 2, 1958, Holy Family High School was established by Reverend Monsignor Herman J. Deimel, priest at the Church of the Holy Family. Holy Family was the first

Roman Catholic high school The Roman Catholic High School of Philadelphia is a four-year private, catholic high school for boys in Philadelphia. It was founded by Thomas E. Cahill in 1890 as the first free Catholic high school in the nation. The school is located at the ...

established in the city of Columbus, attached to Holy Family School (a K‒8 parish school). In late 1958, Thomas Joseph McDonough, Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah The Diocese of Savannah () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southern Georgia in the United States.Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

(whose birth name was Eugenio Pacelli). Pacelli's athletic program began with its first football team, which was established in 1960. St. Anne Catholic Church was established in 1961 following a

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

being celebrated in the Pacelli cafeteria. The lower school, Holy Family School was changed to St. Anne School, and the new church was connected to it. In the summer of 1980, St. Anne Church and School, along with Pacelli, underwent extensive renovation. This renovation included a new St. Anne church, along with additions to St. Anne School. The original church was turned into a media center/library for Pacelli. During that time, the media center, contained six pews, an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

, and a small

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

for Sunday Services. The renovations concluded with the addition of the Pacelli Sports Arena, a multi-purpose

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

nasium. Its name was later changed to the W. Donald Land Sports Arena. In 1989, construction of the Elena Amos Arts and Science Center was completed. This allowed for the addition of five more classrooms, along with an alumni office. Later that year, Pacelli's fitness center (

weight room Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, is exercise designed to improve physical strength. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate techniques such as bodyweight exercises (e ...

) was also completed. It was later named after the late Nathan Rustin, a long-time Pacelli football coach. Pacelli expanded again in 1999, with new additions including a fully equipped science lab, updated art studio, renovated kitchen and faculty dining facilities, and new building for administrative offices connected to St. Anne School. In 2008, plans were finalized to combine Pacelli High School with St. Anne School. The decision to combine the schools came from the recommendation of various committees and St. Anne Catholic Church. Both schools are now governed by St. Anne Church. Pacelli and St. Anne School operate in a unified manner, sharing office workers, admission directors, and other employees. In 2010, nearly all of Pacelli's athletic facilities received renovations. In 2011, the Nathan Rustin Fitness Center was completely renovated, and additions included new high quality weight lifting and exercise equipment. In May 2012, a donation from the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

prompted a major renovation of the Pacelli media center/library, which was completed at the end of 2012.

Academics

Pacelli is known locally for its numerous

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

classes. It offers AP classes in

American Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Calculus Calculus is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations. Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Microeconomics Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the behavior of individuals and Theory of the firm, firms in making decisions regarding the allocation of scarcity, scarce resources and the interactions among these individuals and firms. M ...

Statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

Studio Art An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...

, and

United States History The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

. As in most schools, students have the option of preparing for AP exams independently, and many do. Students travel to nearby

Columbus State University Columbus State University is a public university in Columbus, Georgia, United States. Founded as Columbus College in 1958, the university was established and is administered by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. History ...

to take their AP exams. Pacelli also offers 19

honors course An honors student or honor student is a student recognized for achieving high grades or high marks in their coursework at school. United States In the United States, honors students may refer to: # Students recognized for their academic achievem ...

s. No strict core curriculum exists, but ninth and tenth graders are offered limited flexibility in their courses. Juniors and seniors are freer, selecting electives and other courses.

Graduation requirements

Pacelli students entering grade 9 must earn a minimum of 24 Carnegie credits. Students must take one core course each year in English, math, science, social studies, and religion. All students are also required to earn one credit in fine arts, as well as 1/2 credits in both health and physical education.

Community service

Each year, students must complete community service projects as part of religion class. 9th graders are required to do two projects per semester while 10th, 11th, and 12th graders are required to do three. Seniors are also required to do a senior project. To earn full credit for the projects, students must turn in a journal of each experience. The project portion of the students' Religion grade is 10% of their final average.

Activities

Athletics

Pacelli has competed in different regions and classifications under the Georgia High School Association as PHS has grown through the years: * 1961-63: 3-C * 1964-67: 3-South-B * 1968-69: 5-South-B * 1970-77: 5-B * 1978-97: 5-A * 1998-99: 3-A * 2000-05: 2-A * 2006-: 4-A * V = Varsity, JV =

Junior varsity A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At High school, ...

GHSA state championships

* Baseball - 2008 * Golf - 2007 (girls') * Softball - 2002 * Cross country - 1980, 1982, 1986, 1989-91 (boys'); 1984, 1986-87 (girls')

GHSA Class A Region Championships

* Baseball - 1983, 1984, 1991, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008 * Cheerleading - 2002 * Cross country - 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 (girls'); 1979–82, 1986, 1989–91, 2002 (boys') * Football - 1970, 1975, 2003, 2004 * Golf - 2006 (boys'), 2008 (girls') * Soccer - 1990, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2018 (boys'); 1998 (girls') * Softball - 2003, 2004, 2008, 2012 * Tennis - 1993 (boys') * Track - 2008 (girls') * Boys Basketball -2021 (Boys’)

Pacelli-Brookstone rivalry

Pacelli's biggest rival is Brookstone High School, located in North Columbus ( north of Pacelli's Midtown campus). Although Pacelli plays Brookstone in all of their sports, the most popular rivalry is their yearly football game, dubbed the "Battle for the Jug". The winner of this game gets to keep the "Broocelli Jug" (a milk jug painted red and blue) at their campus for the next year, along with bragging rights. In 2013, Pacelli received the jug for the first time since 2004 in a 14–7 win. The rivalry first began in 1972, and Brookstone leads the series 27–17–1.

Clubs and organizations

Pacelli features student-led clubs and organizations. They include the following:Activities
@ sasphs.net. Retrieved 2011-8-10.

Notable alumni

* Jeff Beeland, Oscar winner for visual effects for the movie ''Life of Pi'' *

Donna D'Errico Donna Jeanette D'Errico (born March 30, 1968) is an American actress. She posed for ''Playboy'' as its Playmate of the Month for September 1995 and had a starring role (1996–1998) on the television series ''Baywatch''. She continues to act i ...

, actress and model * Matt Dunham, professional football player,

Columbus Lions The Columbus Lions are a professional indoor football team based in Columbus, Georgia, and are a member of the National Arena League (NAL). The Lions were founded in 2006 as an expansion team of the World Indoor Football League (WIFL). After th ...

* Mark LeGree, professional football player * Michael O'Neal, baseball player, Atlanta Braves *Allen Brinkman, CEO of INB Florida, and founder of 1858 Investment Bank, Founder of Hawksix NFP low income community restoration. Former Chairman and CEO of SunTrust Bank West Florida Division, Former President of Seacoast Ban
Personal, Business or Commercial Banking , Seacoast Bank

Notes and references

External links

School website

Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah
{{authority control Catholic secondary schools in Georgia (U.S. state) Educational institutions established in 1958 High schools in Columbus, Georgia 1958 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)