St. Rita of Cascia High School

St. Rita of Cascia High School is an all-male Augustinian Roman Catholic high school located on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and has approximately 800 students.

Infobox Secondary school
name = St. Rita of Cascia High School
motto = "Veritas Unitas Caritas"
("Truth, Unity, Love")
established = 1905
type = Private, secondary, all male
city = Chicago
state = Illinois
country = USA
enrollment = 800
grades = 9–12
campus = Urban
principal= Sally Deenihan
mascot = Mustangs
colors = Red and Blue
yearbook = "The Cascian"
newspaper = "The Ritan"
website = http://www.stritahs.com

History

The school was founded in 1905 by James F. Green, O.S.A. Building Green Hall was the initial building on the original campus. Student enrollment grew rapidly and by 1922 St. Rita High School had become established in Chicago as one of the leading secondary schools.

Successor to the founder was William L. Egan, O.S.A., during whose incumbency the original Harris Gym and Egan Hall were completed.Joseph B. Kepperling, O.S.A. followed Egan in 1926, but his career was brought to a close by his death on June 4, 1929. John J. Harris, O.S.A. was selected as the next rector of St. Rita.

In the summer of 1935, Ruellan P. Fink, O.S.A. succeeded Harris. Fink was the motivating spirit of one noteworthy developments, the installation of a technical course in 1936. Fink also began an extensive expansion program as evidenced by the erection of the Mendel technical building, completed in June 1938, and the addition to Egan Hall, completed in August 1939. A modern concrete stadium was built in 1946 and the new monastery was completed in May 1949.

John E. McLaughlin, O.S.A. succeeded Fink in 1956 as Principal. In 1962 Francis P. Crawford, O.S.A. became Principal. Hslute was succeeded in 1968 by Daniel B. Trusch, O.S.A. In 1971 LaVern J. Flach, O.S.A. became Principal; in 1979 David L. Brecht, O.S.A., in 1983 Patrick E. Murphy, O.S.A. became Principal and in 1989 Bernard R. Danber, O.S.A. was appointed Principal. Both Murphy and Danber are graduates of St. Rita High School.

On June 27, 1990, Bernard R. Danber O.S.A. was given the keys to the new campus at 7740 S. Western Avenue. In 1993 a new president-principal model was adopted for the school. Michael J. O'Connor, O.S.A. became the school's first president. O'Connor appointed Joseph F. Bamberger as Principal. In the year 2000 Thomas McCarthy O.S.A. was then named the second President and the first alumni president of St. Rita High School. In the spring of 2002 McCarthy, O.S.A. became President-Principal after Joseph F. Bamberger retired after 42 years of dedicated service to St. Rita High School. In 2007, Sally Deenihan became not only the twelfth principal in the school's history, but also its first female principal.

In 2006, St. Rita was named one of 96 "outstanding" high schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report The Catholic High School Honor Roll named St. Rita one of the 25 top academic institutions in the United StatesFact|date=July 2008.

St. Rita High School has been the source of many local (Chicagoland), national and international leaders over the past 100 years. In 1990 the St. Rita Campus moved from 63rd and Claremont Avenue to 77th and Western Avenue. Prior to St. Rita's purchase of the 77th and Western campus, Quigley Seminary South High School resided there. The Archdiocese of Chicago closed Quigley South prior to St. Rita's purchase of the property, returning the Chicago minor seminary to its original site at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary.

Athletics

St. Rita competes as a member of the Chicago Catholic League.

The 1963 football team was recognized as National Champions.Fact|date=October 2008 The 1970-71 football teams won back to back Chicago City Prep football championships.Fact|date=October 2008 St. Rita won the IHSA State Championship in football in 1978 and 2006.Fact|date=October 2008 St. Rita won the IHSA 7A State Football Championship in 2006 by defeating Lake Zurich High School.Fact|date=October 2008

St. Rita also won the 2007 Prep Bowl on November 23, 2007 defeating Morgan Park High School 31-7.Fact|date=October 2008

St. Rita won the IHSA State Championship in wrestling in 2003 and 2004.Fact|date=October 2008

The original football stadium at 63rd and Claremont was used in the beginning of the movie "Rudy".Fact|date=October 2008

Notable alumni

*Nick Etten, former Major League Baseball player for the Philadelphia Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Yankees
*Scipio Spinks, former Major League Baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros
*Ed Farmer, former Major League Baseball player for Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics and current radio voice for the Chicago White Sox
*Jim Clancy, former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves
*Dennis Lick, former American National Football League player for the Chicago Bears
*Tom Flaherty, former American National Football League player for the Cincinatti Bengals
*Tony Simmons, former American National Football League and Canadian Football League player for the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants, and Houston Texans. In the CFL he played for the British Columbia Lions Simmons also, played for the Barcelona Dragons of NFLE in 2001.
*Ahmad Merritt, current American National Football League and Arena Football League player for the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, and Arizona Cardinals.Merritt also, played for the Berlin Thunder of NFLE in 2001. In the AFL he played for the Chicago Rush
*Kevin Carberry, current American National Football League and Arena Football League player for the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and Carolina Panthers. In the AFL player for the New York Dragons, New Orleons Vodoo, and curently Philadelphia Soul Carberry also, played for the Berlin Thunder of NFLE in 2005.
*Stuart Dybek, author
*Edward Rowan Finnegan, former U.S. Representative
*Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for The Doors

References

External links

* [http://www.stritahs.com/ Official St. Rita of Cascia High School site]
* [http://www.osanet.org/ Order of St Augustine, International Homepage]
* [http://www.augnet.org/ Augnet] International Cooperative Web Site for Schools in the Tradition of St. Augustine
* [http://www.ihsfw.com/links/C_folder/chi_strita.html IHSFW.com's St. Rita Football page] (News website)