St. Joseph High School (Kenosha)

St. Joseph High School is a Catholic High School located in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Founding

Founded in 1957 by the School Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis, and the parishes of Kenosha, St. Joseph High School opened its doors in September 1958 to 460 freshmen and sophomores. In 1959 the school opened to all other students. The School Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis, transferred ownership of the school to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1981. Catholic parishes in Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie continue to sponsor the school.

Notable people

Many St. Joseph's graduates have gone on to fame including numerous artists, musicians, athletes and performers. Some of the graduates of St. Joseph include Jim Rygiel, an Academy Award winning visual effects supervisor who worked on "Lord of the Rings"; Dominic J. Cibrario, author of "The Pomelo Tree" and numerous books; Michael Schumacher, author of "Mighty Fitz" and numerous books.
Former St. Joseph athletes include Tom Regner, University of Notre Dame All American and member of 1967 National Championship Team; NFL Houston Oiler, Nick Van Exel - NBA All-Star, University of Cincinnati; Jarvis Brown, Triton College, member of 1991 Minnesota Twins World Series Champion, current Head Baseball coach - University of Wisconsin-Parkside; and Dick Versace, Head Coach of several NCAA college basketball teams, NBA head coach, NBA television broadcaster.

taff

Longtime Athletic Director, Frank Matrise, began his career at St. Joseph in 1959. He was part of the faculty, which at the time included 55 nuns and five lay teachers. After giving the Lancers 49 of the best years of his life, as the school's athletic director, guidance counselor, social studies teacher, wrestling coach, assistant football coach and even golf coach, Frank Matrise retired from the school on July 1, 2006, a month short of his 69th birthday.

Matrise, a Kenosha native who earned a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison during his summer vacations, was the state athletic director of the year in 1988 and the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association man of the year in 1996. Matrise said he thought he was the only athletic director in the state who has had schools in the old Wisconsin Catholic organization, the WISAA and the WIAA.

Matrise focused on hiring the best coaches he could find to run the school's various athletic programs, and he found some great ones, including basketball coaches Dan Chubrilo (won state championships in Illinois and Wisconsin); Dick Versace (who later coached in the NBA); Dr. Ray Knight (coached and developed over 50 college basketball players in 15 year career); football coach Bob Freund (won state championship and 2 second place finishes. Recently elected to the Wisconsin High School Hall Of Fame); and John Lattner, Heisman Trophy winner - University of Notre Dame, member NFL Hall of Fame, a St. Joseph football coach for several years in the 1960s.

As a fitting tribute to Mr. Matrise, the St. Joseph varsity baseball team won back-to-back state baseball championships in 2005 and 2006.

Another staff member, Sister Virginia Handrup, SSSF, known as Sister Theodore Marie before Vatican II, retired in June 2007 after 50 years as an educator. In her tenure Sister Virginia was twice voted teacher of the year in Wisconsin and received many national and local awards. Sister taught many subjects, but her most endearing subject was English. Many students learned proper English from Sister Virginia, including how to write coherent, sensible sentences and speak in a clear and concise manner. Sister did not allow "slang" or "street talk" in her classes. Sister Virginia was also very active in the preparation of students for ACT and/or SAT testing. St Joseph students consistently scored well above the national average in English and like subjects.
Former students would return each year bragging how Sister Virginia made college English seem like child's play.

Current and Future Plans

Enrollment for the 2008-2009 school year stands at just over 257 students, but with anticipated population growth St. Joseph could grow to enrollments of 1,000 or more like it saw in the 1990s.

Current plans keep St. Joseph students on a 10-1 student to teacher ratio.

St. Joseph is one of the few Catholic or private schools in the area to offer a limited program for students with special needs. About 20 students with mild learning disabilities have access to a resource center and two special-ed staffers, who provide assistance in test and note taking, reading and other needs.

Also

External links

* [http://www.kenoshastjoseph.com St. Joseph's High School website]