Holyoke Catholic High School

Holyoke Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts.

Background

Holyoke Catholic High School was founded in the fall of 1963 at the campus of the former Saint Jerome High School in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The school is the product of the merger of three Catholic parish schools within the City of Holyoke, with a fourth added later in the decade. The school flourished under the leadership of the Rev. John J. Mara for which a building was later named on the campus.

The Chestnut Street campus was occupied from the fall of 1963 until the summer of 2002 when the Diocese of Springfield deemed the buildings "unsafe" for occupation. The Diocese commissioned the architectural firm of A.P. Casella to conduct the evaluation of the property. In order to address the safety concerns the Diocese suggested that the school be merged with the other Diocesan high school Cathedral High School. The merger would be temporary and last only until a new school could be built, but the merge never happened. The school was relocated temporarily to the former site of Saint Hyacinth Seminary in Granby, Massachusetts. In 2006, HCHS accepted an offer from Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts to occupy the neighboring Assumption School.cite web|url=http://www.gaels.org/Docs/LookingToOurFuture.pdf|title=Holyoke Catholic High School-Looking to our Future|accessdate=2007-05-11|author=HOCHS] An $11 million renovation of the existing 24,000 square foot building and construction of a 32,000 square foot addition began on September 20, 2007.cite web|url=http://www.masslive.com/republican/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1216107907144240.xml&coll=1|title=Officials confident Holyoke Catholic High School will be finished on time|accessdate=2008-07-15|author=masslive.com] Construction was completed in August 2008, and the students attended their first full day of classes at the new location on August 28, 2008.cite web|url=http://www.masslive.com/republican/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1219302933259700.xml&coll=1|title=Catholic school racing deadline|accessdate=2008-08-21|author=masslive.com] cite web|url=http://www.masslive.com/republican/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-16/12209482639060.xml&coll=1|title="Bishop blesses high school|accessdate=2008-09-09|author=masslive.com]

External links

* [http://www.gaels.org/ School Website]
* [http://www.gaelsalumni.org Alumni Web-Site]

Notes and references