Central Catholic High School (Massachusetts) Explained

Central Catholic High School
Address:300 Hampshire Street
County:(Essex County)
Zipcode:01841
Coordinates:42.7125°N -71.1714°W
Faculty:125
Average Class Size:24
Ratio:14:1
Tuition:$15,365 (2020–2021)[1]
Campus:Urban
Campus Size:1 Block
Campus Type:Cluster
Conference:Merrimack Valley Conference (MVC)
Accreditation:New England Association of Schools and Colleges[2]
Team Name:Raiders
Colors:Red and navy blue
Publication:The Emblem
Alumni:14,000+
Enrollment:1330
Enrollment As Of:2015–2016
Free Label2:Admissions Director
Free Text2:Christopher Merrill
Free Label3:Athletic Director
Free Text3:Ernie DiFiore
Free Label4:Director of Advancement
Free Text4:David Erwin

Central Catholic High School is a college preparatory school with an academic campus in Lawrence, Massachusetts and an athletic campus in Lawrence, Massachusetts associated with the Marist Brothers of the Schools and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and founded in 1935 by Brother Florentius.

In 2010, Doreen Keller became the school's first woman principal. The president is Chris Sullivan. The school has approximately 1,200 students and 18,000+ alumni. It was originally a boys-only school but has been co-educational since 1996.

History

Campus

Central Catholic's campus consists of three inter-connected buildings on a small plot of land off Hampshire Street in north Lawrence. The first of which is the oldest remaining part of the Auburn St. school known as the Memorial Gymnasium, known as the "Large Gym" (opened 1950). This building houses classrooms in a hallway known as "the Horseshoe" and the gym, along with a large performance stage as well as a cafe. The second of which is the Hampshire Street building, known as the "Old Building" (opened 1969).

This three floor building houses the small gymnasium, theatre, administrative offices, computer labs, library, and classrooms. Third, an 80,000 square foot $12.8 Million building, the South Wing is known as the "New Building" (opened 2005). This building houses the new main entrance and lobby, offices of the president and principal, the campus store, additional locker rooms, the campus ministry office, the cafeteria, state-of-the-art science labs, the chapel, and classrooms. The Lawrence campus has a softball field adjacent to the parking lot by Holly Street and a turf field parallel to Auburn Street.

Academic departments

Graduation awards

The two major awards given at graduation ceremonies every year are the Brother Florentius, FMS Memorial Award, which is the highest honor presented to "the graduate who best exemplifies the ideals and values embodied in the founder of Central Catholic High School" and the Florentian Yearbook Dedication, presented "by the graduating class to the person or persons whom they consider worthy of special praise."

The Florentius award has been given annually since 1963 and the Florentian Dedication has been given annually since the inception of the yearbook in 1945. Also given at graduation are the Michael Garvey Award which is given to an outstanding male student-athlete and the Mary J. Kilcoyne Award is given to the outstanding female athlete.

Athletics

Central Catholic Raiders are a member of the MIAA and the Merrimack Valley Conference. Up until 1996, the athletic teams were known as the Red Raiders, but the school dropped the word "Red" in 2000. The school offers 29 varsity programs and 51 teams at levels such as varsity, junior varsity, and freshman. Central Catholic has a softball field and open practice field on its Lawrence, MA campus. The Boys Hockey Team practices and plays their home games at Icenter in Salem NH.

On February 21, 2021, the Boys hockey team beat Tewksbury (5–2) to win the (first-ever due to COVID-19) MVC Division 1 championship cup; they would finish the season 9–1. The Central Catholic Boys Hockey Team has won the MVC championship 13 times, with the most recent being in 2022, and has qualified for the MIAA Super 8 Tournament 10 times, most recently in 2018. In 2022, The team qualified for the inaugural reconfigured 32 team state tournament as the no. 17 seed before being defeated 2–1 in the first round by no. 16 Winchester. On February 24, 2007, the Central Catholic Raiders received their first-ever invitation to participate in a play-in game for the Super 8 Hockey Tournament. The team beat Waltham High School in the play-in game and then proceeded to win one game against Malden Catholic High School and lose to both Catholic Memorial School and Weymouth High School respectively in the round-robin bracket round. The football team, track teams, and girls' lacrosse team share the Veterans Memorial Stadium with Lawrence High School. The baseball team has qualified for the MIAA tournament 20 of the past 24 years winning the North Sectional Championship once while runners up two other times. The baseball team has 8 MVC championship crowns, most recently in 2019.

In 2008 the baseball team won the MIAA prestigious sportsmanship TEAM award as well as the Massachusetts Alliance for Sportsmanship award given by the Boston Red Sox. The boys winning the state championship in 2008. Girls were state champs in 2009. The golf team year in and year out compete for the MVC championship winning 5 back to back titles in recent years as well as in 2009. Wrestling and track perennially contend for MVC, sectional, and state championships.

The boys recently won the 2009 state championship in outdoor track. More recently, the boy's and girl's track teams won the 2017 state championships in outdoor track. The softball team in 2008 won the Division 2 North Sectional Championship and more recently won the MVC Championship in 2010. The Lady Raider soccer program just captured its first MVC crown in ten years in 2008 and repeated in 2009. On March 14 of 2009, the girls won the state championship in girls hoop at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. The Boys Outdoor Track team are back-to-back State Champions, in 2009 and 2010.

In 2013, the football team made an improbable run to the Division 1 State Championship, upsetting multiple powerhouse programs throughout the playoffs including Everett, Acton-Boxborough, and Xaverian. They finished the season with a 12–1 record and defeated Xaverian in the Division 1 State Championship by a score of 34–17 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Massachusetts.

The school colors are red and navy blue. Those colors are proudly worn during pep rallies and games as Central Catholic has some of the most dedicated and enthusiastic fans in the nation. The school has had a history of dedicated fans known as the "red sea" who have gone particularly out of their way to show their dedication. "Moses Parting the Red Sea", one of the unique rallying cheers, has gone viral on Facebook since his first appearance in 2010.[7]

Sports teams

Non-athletic activities and clubs

Tuition and financial aid

The tuition cost of Central Catholic High School was $15,365 for the 2021–22 school year. Central Catholic offers a financial aid program. Thirty percent of students receive some form of assistance or scholarship.

Notable alumni

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tuition Announcement 2021-2022 . centralcatholic.net . February 10, 2022.
  2. Web site: NEASC-Commission on Independent Schools. July 28, 2009. NEASC-CIS. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090616135733/http://cis.neasc.org/cis_directory_of_schools. June 16, 2009.
  3. http://www.centralcatholic.net/2008_Hall_of_Fame_Program.pdf
  4. News: Central Catholic does job. https://web.archive.org/web/20121102062710/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8525074.html. dead. November 2, 2012. Boston Globe. March 14, 1999.
  5. Web site: Central Catholic High School. April 28, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215141/http://www.centralcatholic.net/podium/default.aspx?t=204&nid=696835. March 3, 2016. dead.
  6. Web site: Central Catholic High School. April 28, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160117041116/http://www.centralcatholic.net/podium/default.aspx?t=204&nid=703136. January 17, 2016. dead.
  7. Web site: Lawrence School's 'Moses' Cheer Goes Viral On YouTube. December 19, 2011.
  8. Web site: Lessels. Allen. December 13, 2014. Jonathan Lemire, Central Catholic/Columbia University track & field - The Boston Globe. 2022-02-06. BostonGlobe.com. en-US.
  9. News: Fashionable fight at Central Catholic's Catwalk4Cancer. Francis. Peter. April 3, 2017. Eagle-Tribune. 2017-06-25. en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Central Catholic High School (Massachusetts)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.