St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Dover, New Hampshire)

Infobox Secondary school
name = St. Thomas Aquinas
native_name =

motto = "Lux In Tenebris" (Light in Darkness)
established = 1960
city = Dover
state = New Hampshire
province =
country = United States
campus = Suburban
type = Roman Catholic Secondary School
affiliation =
president =
principal =
headmaster =
rector =
dean =
founder = Matthew F. Brady, Bishop of Manchester
chaplain =
chairman =
head_label =
head =
faculty = 60
enrollment = 707
grades = 9-12
address = 197 Dover Point Rd
district =
oversight = Diocese of Manchester
accreditation = New England Association of Schools and Colleges
mascot = Saints
colors = Navy and White
colours =
newspaper =
yearbook =
website = [http://www.stalux.org/ www.stalux.org]
footnotes =
picture =

St. Thomas Aquinas High School is a coeducational Catholic high school in Dover, New Hampshire, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester. It has a student population of approximately 700, and a faculty of 50.

History

In August 1959, His Excellency Matthew F. Brady, Bishop of Manchester, opened the fund raising drive for St. Thomas Aquinas High School. When Bishop Brady suddenly died, Richard Cardinal Cushing of Boston kept his last project alive. Cardinal Cushing greeted the new bishop, His Excellency Ernest J. Primeau, with the advice, "Go on with St. Thomas Aquinas."

The Diocesan co-educational school opened in 1960 with a freshman class only. Serving seventeen parishes in southeastern New Hampshire, the school was staffed by two Diocesan priests, seven School Sisters of Notre Dame and one layman. When STA graduated its class of 219 in 1964, the faculty had grown to six priests, twenty-one sisters (requiring a new convent) and four lay teachers.

By the late sixties, enrollment topped nine hundred students, making St. Thomas a Class L power in athletics. A nationwide trend toward declining enrollments, combined with the higher cost of salaries as the number of teaching sisters fell, brought St. Thomas through a series of challenges throughout the 1970’s.

Beginning in the mid-1980s through the 1990’s St. Thomas showed a steady and dramatic increase in enrollment. During this period the school enhanced and expanded the academic and extracurricular programs available to students. The convent, named Notre Dame Hall, was converted to provide additional classroom space and to house the Guidance Department, which includes offices, a library, and a conference area. Today the school is at its maximum enrollment. Admission has become competitive and many classes have waiting lists.

Athletics

The school's sports teams compete as the "Saints". Teams of note include football, soccer, swimming and diving, ice hockey, basketball, lacrosse, wrestling, tennis, track and baseball. In 2006-2007, the school's football team was crowned Division IV champions, and its girls' soccer team won the Class I championship. The girls' swimming team and girls' tennis team were state champions in 2008. Team athletic alums include Jon Gaffney of York, Maine, 2002 New Hampshire State Wrestling Champion. Jon wrestled for University of New Hampshire club team for 4 years and was a 2-time NCWA All-American.

Notable alumni

Among St. Thomas' graduates are Ron Fortier, comic book and pulp writer best known for his work on "The Green Hornet", and Brendan Dubois, author of numerous novels including "Resurrection Day".

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Current Administrators:

[currently vacant] - Principal

Mr. Gordon Quimby - Dean of Students

Mr. Ronald Holtz - Dean of Studies

Mrs. Gale LeClair - Guidance

Mr. Keith Adams - Campus Minister

Mr. Jack Leary - Athletics

Mr. Dan Raposa - Advancement

Department Heads:

Mrs. Kathleen Collins - English/Fine Arts

Mr. Jason Strniste and Mr. Charles Prince - Mathematics/Science

Mr. Jeff Thomson - Social Studies

Dr. Paul DiPietro - Theology

Mrs. Mary Chamberlain - World Languages

External links

* [http://www.stalux.org Official website]