Saint Joseph High School (commonly referred to as ''St. Joe'') is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

college preparatory

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., ...

located in

South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. Formerly located adjacent to the campuses of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

, St. Mary's College, and Holy Cross College, in 2012, the school moved to a new location about a mile south of Notre Dame. It is located within the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend.

History

Saint Joseph's High School began classes on September 20, 1953, as the first consolidated, co-institutional Catholic high school in the South Bend area. The school was made up of students from Central Catholic High School, Saint Hedwig School, Saint Joseph's Academy, and South Bend Catholic High School. Contributions from South Bend and

Mishawaka Mishawaka () is a city on the St. Joseph River, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Mishawaka is a principal city of the South Bend-Mishawaka, Indi ...

parishioners enabled building the school on of land donated to the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend by the

Brothers of Holy Cross The Congregation of Holy Cross (), abbreviated CSC, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished f ...

. From 1953 to 1968, Saint Joseph's High School had separate divisions for boys and girls. The faculty consisted primarily of

Sisters of the Holy Cross The Sisters of the Holy Cross are one of three Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Religious congregation, congregations of nuns, religious sisters which trace their origins to the foundation of the Congregation of Holy Cross by Basil Moreau in Le Ma ...

and Brothers of Holy Cross. In 1968 the school became

coeducational 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 ...

. In 2012, St. Joseph's constructed a new building on the site formerly occupied by Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center. Along with the new building, the official name of the school was changed from Saint Joseph's High School to Saint Joseph High School.

Academics

SJHS is accredited by the

Indiana Department of Education The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) oversees primary and secondary education in the U.S. state of Indiana. The department is managed by the Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, an elected office most recently held by Jennifer McC ...

and the

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It ...

and is also a member of the National Catholic Education Association. 17 different AP classes are offered. St Joe has been named a

Blue Ribbon Blue ribbons are typically a symbol of high quality. The association comes from The Blue Riband, a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners and, prior to that from Order of the Holy Spirit#Cordon Bleu, Cord ...

school by the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and ...

. AP classes offered include AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP Computer Science A, AP English Language and Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP Latin, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, AP Physics C, AP Spanish, AP Statistics, AP United States Government and Politics, AP United States History. SJHS was named one of the Top 50 Catholic High Schools in the Catholic High School Honor Roll every year from 2006 to 2013.

Academic teams

*Euro Challenge * Fed Challenge **National Champions in 2010 *

Quiz Bowl Quiz bowl (quizbowl, scholars' bowl, scholastic bowl, academic bowl, academic team, academic challenge, etc.) is a family of quiz-based competitions that test players on Outline of academic disciplines, a wide variety of academic subjects. Stand ...

**Traditional State Champions in 2013, Rotary State Champions in 2013, 2014, 2015

Athletics

The Saint Joseph Indians are a member of the Northern Indiana Conference. Fellow member Mishawaka Marian is Saint Joe's

archrival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

; the SJHS Huskies, formerly Indians, and the Marian Knights battle annually for the Bishop's Trophy. Sports offered are: *Baseball **State Champions in 2017 *Basketball (Boys) **State Champions in 2025 *Basketball (Girls) **State Champions in 2005, 2017 *Cheerleading *Cross Country (Boys) *Cross Country (Girls) *Danceline *Football **State Champions in 1995 **Top-ranked in the state in 1964, prior to an official state championship. *Golf (Boys) *Golf (Girls) *Hockey **State Champions in 1988, 1989 *Lacrosse (Boys) **State Champions in 2022 *Lacrosse (Girls) *Soccer (Boys) **State Champions in 2003 *Soccer (Girls) **State Champions in 1998, 2010 *Softball ** State Champions in 2022 *Swimming (Boys) *Swimming (Girls) *Tennis (Boys) *Tennis (Girls) **Team State Champions in 1975 (3-way tie), 2010, 2024 *Track (Boys) *Track (Girls) *Volleyball **State Champions in 1972 *Wrestling

Notable alumni

* Tom Abernethy,

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) basketball player * Paul Appleby, singer *

Brendan Bayliss Brendan Bayliss (born August 11, 1976) is an American musician and the founder, a lead guitarist, and primary vocalist for progressive rock band Umphrey's McGee. Biography Bayliss formed Umphrey's McGee in 1997 and took its moniker from the ...

, singer/guitarist of the band

Umphrey's McGee Umphrey's McGee, sometimes stylized as UM, is an American rock band originally from South Bend, Indiana. The band experiments with many musical styles, including rock, metal, funk, jazz, blues, reggae, electronic, bluegrass, country, and ...

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025. A me ...

United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

, former mayor of

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

, 2020 presidential candidate *

Nathan Gunn Nathan T. Gunn (born November 26, 1970, in South Bend, Indiana) is an American operatic baritone who performs regularly around the world. He is an alumnus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he is currently a professor of voice ...

, Award-winning baritone opera singer *

Traci Paige Johnson Traci Paige Johnson is an American animator, writer, producer, director, and voice actress best known for co-creating the television series ''Blue's Clues'' (1996–2006), its spin-off ''Blue's Room'' (2004–2007), and the reboot series ''Blue ...

, animator and television producer, creator of ''

Blue's Clues ''Blue's Clues'' is an American interactive educational television, educational children's television series created by Traci Paige Johnson, Todd Kessler, and Angela Santomero, Angela C. Santomero. It premiered on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block ...

'' * Joe Kernan, former

governor of Indiana The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the U.S. state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state gover ...

, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana * James Mueller, mayor of South Bend, Indiana *

John Laskowski John Laskowski (born June 7, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player. He played two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). College career A 6'6" guard born in South Bend, Indiana, Laskowski played basketball ...

, Indiana University basketball broadcaster, former NBA Player and member of IU's national championship team * Mike McNeill, former NHL hockey player * Steve Ontiveros, former MLB pitcher; 1994 All Star with Oakland Athletics; American League ERA Leader 1994 *

Clarissa Pinkola Estés Clarissa Pinkola Estés (; born January 27, 1945) is a Mexican-American writer and Jungian psychoanalyst. She is the author of '' Women Who Run with the Wolves'' (1992), which remained on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list for 145 weeks a ...

, poet, post-trauma specialist, and Jungian psychoanalyst *

Mike Schmuhl Michael Schmuhl (born 1983) is an American political figure formerly serving as the chair of the Indiana Democratic Party. Schmuhl previously managed the Pete Buttigieg 2020 presidential campaign. Schmuhl worked for more than a year as Buttigieg's ...

, political campaign manager * Jake Teshka, politician

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph High School, South Bend, Indiana Educational institutions established in 1953 Education in South Bend, Indiana Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend Catholic secondary schools in Indiana Private high schools in Indiana Schools in St. Joseph County, Indiana 1953 establishments in Indiana