Holy Cross High School (New Jersey)

Infobox School
name = Holy Cross High School
established = 1957
type = Catholic
principal = Dennis Guida
enrollment = 765 (as of 2006-07)
faculty = 46.0 (on FTE basis)
ratio = 16.8
colors = Maroon and Gray
Yearbook = "The Lance"
newspaper = "Crossroads"
mascot = "The Lancer"
address = 5035 Route 130 South
Delran, NJ 08075
information = 856-461-5400
tuition = $8,200
website = [http://www.holycrosshighschool.org School website]

Holy Cross High School in Delran Township, New Jersey is the only Roman Catholic high school in Burlington County. Holy Cross is fully accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The school is run under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton.

Occupying a convert|100|acre|km2|sing=on campus, it has a wide variety of co-curricular activities, including 40 sports teams and over 50 clubs, for students to participate in. Tuition for the 2007-2008 school year is $7,900. As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 765 students and 46.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 16.8. [http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=00867265&ID=00867265 Holy Cross High School] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed May 19, 2008.]

The student population is from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. 92% of the school's graduates go onto four-year colleges and universities, with another 13% continuing their education at junior colleges or trade schools. The school had seen a decline in students in recent years, and the school came close to closing following the 2003-2004 school year. However the school has rebounded in the past three years and freshman enrollment has increased over this time.

The school has also undergone a $25 million renovation, including a new roof in 2005 to replace the old one which had been in place since the school opened in 1956. [http://sp.holycrosshighschool.org/about/about.htm About Holy Cross] , Holy Cross High School. Accessed March 28, 2008.] A renovated Gerald Finsen Media Center was built during the 2005-2006 school year.

Mission Statement

Empowered by the Gospel message of Jesus, Holy Cross, a Catholic high school, develops young men and women to become life-long learners and well-informed citizens through dynamic spiritual, academic, co-curricular, and community activities. The mission statement is recited every day to the students in the morning announcements.

Cross C-A-R-E-S

Cross's motto is that Cross CARES; CARES is an acronym for Community-Academics-Responsibility-Extracurricular-Spiritual.

Changes for the 2008-2009 School Year

In the new school year, Holy Cross hired a director of institutional advancement and three new teachers. The music program is still expanding. Block scheduling remains in place for the new school year.The freshmen Class of 2012 have also been given Tablet PC laptops which they will use in their classes instead of textbooks. The can take notes and sent their teachers their homework from the laptops. It is the hope that after the Class of 2010 graduates, all Holy Cross students will use laptops instead of books. It has been announced that the class of 2012 and 2013 will both receive tablet PCs. All subsequent classes are expected to receive them as well.For the new school year, the student council will return and work in partnership with the Student Activities Board.

Crossroads, School Newspaper

The school newspaper at Holy Cross High School is a major activity that many participate in. "Crossroads", is an incredibly popular newspaper that is advised by Mr. Merckel and is almost completely student run. After each set of previous editors moves on from Holy Cross, the new editors are given the responsibility of modernizing the paper and working in the footsteps of the already successful paper that was handed down to them.

Just like the rest of the Holy Cross High School campus, many changes are planned for "Crossroads". The major advancement will be the "Crossroads Online" web site. Since the other half of the student body will have laptops, as does the teachers, this website will allow the newspaper staff to quickly release news, sports statistics, articles and more. Planned features are interactive polls, photo galleries, video clips, and comment boards. Also included at "Crossroads Online" will be a new service known as "CROSSXConnect". This groundbreaking feature will allow students to debate topics live and discuss school related issues. An archive will make it easy to keep track of, and view, such online conversations. A simple and free membership is needed to use "CROSSXConnect".

For 2008 Crossroads launched the Get Involved! campaign. They are looking into making it even easier for new students to get involved with school activities. Crossroads is completely free. A back to school issue is rumored to be in the works, and a September issue will follow. In addition, this year their is a new Newsroom that the newspaper club members are excited about.

Extracurricular activities

About 96% of the student body is involved in some type of extracurricular activity. A full-time trainer and new weight lifting facility has helped the Holy Cross Lancers to excel on the field, court, pole vault runway, and even the bowling alley.

In 2006, Holy Cross created a new, redesigned Dance Team program with a custom dance studio that was completed that summer. Holy Cross features three annual drama events: a fall play, an annual rendition of "A Christmas Carol", and a spring musical. The 2008-2009 lineup includes Noises Off in October 2008, "A Christmas Carol", which will run in December 2008 and a spring musical that runs in April.

November 2006 also marked the first Holy Cross Math Bowl. Backed by Mr. Frank Sgroi, it was run solely by Holy Cross students; everything from judging to making the questions was student-based. Junior high and middle school students from around the area came to compete.

An entire week of games and activities lead up to the big game and the homecoming dance. "Spirit Week" draws alumni, friends, family, and the curious in general.

Holy Cross' student government format is a student-run Activities Board that is open to anyone in the student body who wishes to be involved. While the board has a president and other positions, it takes ideas and opinions from anyone regardless of rank. The board is responsible for many of the year's events, including formal dances, homecoming activities, etc.

Athletics

In 2007, the field hockey team won the Central Jersey, Group I state sectional championship with a 2-1 win over Haddonfield Memorial High School in the tournament final. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=243004&tclass=Central%2C%20Group%20I 2007 Field Hockey - Central, Group I] , NJSIAA. Accessed November 12, 2007.]

The 2007 boys soccer team won the South B state sectional championship with a 1-0 win over Bishop Eustace High School in the tournament final. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=243094&tclass=South%20B 2007 Boys Soccer - South B] , NJSIAA. Accessed November 14, 2007.]

In 2007 the Holy Cross Football team, won the Non-Public Group II State Championship with a 17-0 win over Gloucester Catholic High School in the tournament final. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=246272&tclass=Non%2DPublic%2C%20Group%20II 2007 Football - Non-Public, Group II] , NJSIAA. Accessed March 28, 2008.]

A team representing Holy Cross High School competes in the South Jersey High School Ice Hockey League.In 2007 the Lancers Ice Hockey team won the S.J.H.S.H.L. Championship defeating Cherry Hill West. This was the school's first Ice Hockey championship since 1993

In 2008 the boys spring track team won the patriot division championship, the South Jersey Parochial B championship, and the Parochial B State Championship.

In 2008 the girls spring track team won the patriot division championship, the South Jersey Parochial B championship, and the Parochial B State Championship.

During the 2007-2008 sports season, Holy Cross was able to bring back a total of six state championships.

Faculty

Holy Cross Principal, Dennis Guida, is currently backed by three Vice Principals, Michael Fynan, who handles facilities, Stephen Bleistine, who handles student services, and Marie Germano (formerly Reen) as Vice-Principal for Curriculum and Instructional Development. Danny Dooley has take the job as Dean of students.

Notable alumni

*Mark Adamo (born 1962), composer and librettist currently with New York City Opera.Fact|date=May 2008
*Anthony Giacchino (born 1970), filmmaker, producer and composer. Composed the original music for "Speed Racer", the motion picture. [Coppock, Kristen. [http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-09112007-1405731.html "Filmmaker brings ‘The Camden 28’ to the nation’s attention on PBS"] , "Burlington County Times", September 11, 2007. Accessed May 19, 2008. "A graduate of Holy Cross High School in Delran, the self-professed history buff, who lives in Astoria, N.Y., said he was especially curious why such an important event had happened so close to his hometown, and no one he had grown up with knew about it. He wanted to change that."]
*Michael Giacchino (born 1967), Emmy Award Winner, Nominated for multiple Grammy's and an Academy Award for "Ratatouille". [Gaul, Lou. "His early interest in film scores pays off with a dream job", "The Intelligencer (Doylestown, Pennsylvania), November 2, 2004.] [http://www.holycrosshighschool.org/guidance/new_page_8.htm "Lancers working in radio, television and the movies"] , Holy Cross High School. Accessed March 28, 2008.]
*Michelle Kosinski (born 1974), NBC News National Correspondent.
*Wali Lundy (born 1983), running back for the Houston Texans. [ [http://www.houstontexans.com/team/roster_detail.php?PRKey=216 Houston Texans Player Profile: Wali Lundy] , accessed November 28, 2006.]
*Gregg Murphy host of "Out of Bounds" on CN8 [ [http://www.bradyresidence.com/060206.html On The Air by Laura Nachman] , "Bucks County Courier Times", June 2, 2006.]
*Jerry Penacoli (born 1956), correspondent on "Extra". [ [http://extratv.warnerbros.com] , accessed November 28, 2006.]
*Gervase Peterson (born 1969), contestant on "". [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0677167/bio Biography for Gervase Peterson] from the Internet Movie Database, accessed November 28, 2006.]
*John "JR" Rickert (born 1970), NFL Agent who has negotiated over $100 Million in professional sports contracts; represents Correll Buckhalter and Jamaal Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles, Greg Camarillo of the Miami Dolphins and Joshua Cribbs of the Cleveland Browns among others.Fact|date=May 2008

Controversy

On November 22, 2006, Holy Cross Principal Joseph Lemme was placed on indefinite administrative leave, without pay, by the Diocese of Trenton, after a preliminary audit found "numerous financial irregularities" in certain accounts that were his responsibility. [ [http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/counties/camden_county/16112282.htm Holy Cross High principal put on leave after audit] , "The Philadelphia Inquirer", November 28, 2006.] It was reported in the "Burlington County Times" that the school filed a lawsuit on November 30, 2006 seeking to recover $200,000 lost under Lemme's leadership. According to the suit, the school was missing about $35,000 collected for student trips to New York City, Disney World and other places; $21,000 collected for last year's summer school program and $171,000 from book sales in 2005 and 2006. The lawsuit does not say whether Lemme spent any of the missing money. Court filings did say he deposited $233,000 into a bank account since 2003. After school leaders suspended him, he tried to withdraw some of the funds, but by then the accounts had been frozen. [ [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--principalaccused0111jan11,0,5191287.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey Private school principal accused in suit of taking school's money] , "Newsday" via Associated Press, January 11, 2007.] Lemme was dismissed as principal shortly afterwards.

On June 4, 2007 a Grand Jury indicted Lemme on charges of stealing $415,848 from the school. [Sudol, Karen. [http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706070451 "Principal indicted in theft of school funds"] , "Asbury Park Press", June 7, 2007. Accessed June 13, 2007. "A former principal of a Burlington County Roman Catholic high school who resides in Wall has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of stealing $415,848 from the school.... Initially placed on administrative leave without pay pending the Diocese of Trenton's investigation, Lemme was fired in late November, said Rayanne Bennett, diocese spokeswoman. The diocese oversees the high school."] He has been charged in nearby Monmouth County (where Lemme resides) with second-degree theft by deception, second-degree misuse of entrusted property and fourth-degree falsifying records. Bond has been set at $300,000. [McHale, Todd. [http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-06072007-1359248.html "Former principal indicted for theft"] , "Burlington County Times", June 7, 2007. Accessed June 13, 2007. "A Monmouth County grand jury indicted Lemme on Monday on charges of second-degree theft by deception, second-degree misuse of entrusted property and fourth-degree falsifying records, according to court records.... Lemme was arraigned yesterday in Monmouth County. He was transported to Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold with bond set at $300,000 with no 10 percent available."]

On December 4, 2007, Lemme accepted a plea agreement where he plead guilty to the charges and is expected to serve five years in prison and will be forced to reimburse Holy Cross the entire $415,848.88 he took from the school over three years by putting money for school functions in his personal account and using it to finance a lavish lifestyle. Lemme was sentenced February 15, 2008 to five years in prison, with mandatory service of 6 months, plus a full restitution to the school. Lemme says “I am most ashamed and horrified by the scandal I have shown students, I was supposed to be a leader and a role model. What I have done is nothing short of scandalize every one of those students.”Fact|date=May 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.holycrosshighschool.org/ Holy Cross High School Web site]
* [http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=00867265&ID=00867265 Data for Holy Cross High School] , National Center for Education Statistics
* [http://crossroads.hclance.org/ official site]