Montini Catholic High School (Lombard, Illinois)

Montini Catholic High School
Signum Fidei The Sign of Faith
Address
19W070 16th Street Lombard, Illinois, 60148-4797 United States
Coordinates	41°51′13″N 88°0′3″W / 41.85361°N 88.00083°W / 41.85361; -88.00083Coordinates: 41°51′13″N 88°0′3″W / 41.85361°N 88.00083°W / 41.85361; -88.00083
Information
Type	Private, Parochial, Co-educational
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Patron saint(s)	St. John Baptist De La Salle
Established	1966
Authority	Diocese of Joliet
Oversight	Brothers of the Christian Schools
CEEB Code	142663
President	James F. Segredo
Principal	Maryann O'Neill
Faculty	86
Grades	9–12
Gender	co-educational
Age range	14-18
Enrollment	700
Average class size	20
Student to teacher ratio	14:1
Campus type	Suburban
Color(s)	Maroon, Gold and White
Athletics conference	Suburban Christian Conference
Mascot	Bronco Go Broncos!
Team name	Broncos
Accreditation(s)	North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
Publication	Musings (literary magazine)
Newspaper	'The Bronco Rambler'
Yearbook	'Echoes'
School fees	$475, Fr/Soph $575 Jr/Sr[2]
Tuition	$9,175[3]
Website	www.montini.org

Montini Catholic High School (often shortened to Montini) is a co-educational, college preparatory, high school, run by the Christian Brothers in Lombard, Illinois. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois. The school was planned by the Christian Brothers in 1963. Pope Paul VI, whose name was Giovanni Battista Montini (John Baptist Montini), was elected to the Papacy that same year. He was a brilliant and deeply spiritual man. In his honor, the Christian Brothers named the school Montini Catholic High School. Construction of the buildings took place in 1965 and 1966. In September of 1966, Montini Catholic High school opened its doors to 217 freshmen. The first commencement exercises were held on June 1, 1970. Since then, Montini Catholic has graduated more than 6,000 students, over 98% of whom have gone on to college.^[4]

LaSallian Tradition

St. John Baptist De La Salle

John Baptist De La Salle, a French cleric, organized the Brothers of the Christian Schools (also known as the Christian Brothers) in France in 1682, an order dedicated solely to education. In the 300 plus years since then, the Christian Brothers have never lost sight of that singular mission, as the organization has grown to include secondary schools, colleges and universities in more than 80 countries.

John Baptist De La Salle was declared a saint by Pope Leo XIII in 1900, and was named patron saint of all Christian teachers by Pope Pius XII in 1950.

Today at Montini Catholic High School, while the faculty and administration consist of primarily of lay men and women, the vision of De La Salle remains alive in an educational community, characterized by high standards of teaching, good relationships between teachers and students, high priority given to religious education and an overriding concern for the poor and social justice.^[5]

Mission Statement

Montini Catholic High School is a Lasallian school which will provide the environment to achieve a quality Catholic, family-centered education for each of its students. This education will provide Montini Catholic students a foundation for life-long learning. Each student is encouraged and expected to participate in a creative, holistic educational setting that will emphasize message, service and responsibility to community, church and family.

Renovations

Inside 300 Corridor, West Wing

The campus renovation initiative, begun in the fall of 2002, is called the Capital Campaign.^[6] It is divided into three phases addressing facility and campus improvements and growth to the school’s endowment fund. When completed, this Campaign will provide Montini students, as well as and faculty and staff, excellent, state-of-the-art instructional and extracurricular facilities and a strong endowment fund. Phase I of the Capital Campaign, construction of the West Wing, was completed in 2003. The West Wing contains the 300 Corridor, which added 8 new classrooms to the school and the Field House which has 3 full basketball courts, 18 hoops with 3 partitions, and 2 batting cages.

New Academic and Administrative Center

Phase II of the Capital Campaign, demolition of Dominic Hall and construction of an Academic and Administrative Center, was completed in 2009. The new building 32,000 square foot building consists of: six new science laboratories, a technology driven learning resource center, guidance center, administrative center, and two student washrooms. Also at this time, the auditorium was remodeled and improvements were made to the sound, lighting, electrical, and audio visual systems. The cafeteria was also remodeled and improved upon with the construction of a new food serving area and a new storage area, along with the painting of a new student mural, the purchase of new cafeteria tables and chairs. New trophy cases and an audio visual system were installed. A new Campus Ministry Center was constructed. Additionally, the athletic corridor also experienced a major facelift with the construction of a new concession and storage facility, the installation of irrigation systems, scoreboards for all the athletic fields, and field grading and fencing improvements.^[7]

Phase III of the Capital Campaign is the last Phase. It was begun in the summer of 2010 and should be completed by the year 2016. It consists of six initiatives: construction of a New Music Wing and a Student Physical Fitness center, renovation of the Duffy Memorial Stadium, Cafeteria, and 22 classrooms, and improvements to the Baseball Field. The renovation of Duffy Memorial Stadium which consisted of adding lights, artificial turf, new viewing stands, a six-lane all-weather running surface, and a long jump pit, a triple jump pit, and pole vault pad was completed in the summer of 2011 in time for the fall sport playing schedule.^[8]

Completed Duffy Memorial Staudium Field Turf

Academics

Montini Catholic High School provides a college preparatory curriculum as comprehensive and rigorous as any high school can offer. With annual ACT scores well above the national average, 98% of graduating seniors continue their education at the college of their choice. In recent years those choices have included some of America’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, such as Northwestern, Notre Dame, Michigan, Brown, Purdue, Marquette, Princeton, Yale, and many more.

All students take the ACT Exam. The top 25% of the class of 2011 earned an average ACT score of 29. Seventy-five percent of students earned an average ACT score of 25 and all exceeded the State and National Average at 23. Annually over 80% of Montini’s Advanced Placement (AP) students receive college credit. In the last seven years, the Montini Catholic High School Math Team has finished in the top 10 in the 2A Division Math Competition in the State of Illinois.

Students and teacher using computer in the New Learning Resource Center

The faculty for the 2011-12 school year consists of 52 men and women whose average teaching experience is 17 years. Seventy-three percent have advance degrees with 37 having Master's Degrees and 5 having Ph.D.'s.^[9]

The school year is comprised of two 18 week semesters. Mid-semester grades are issued at 9 weeks. The school day consists of 8 class periods of 48 minutes each.

Athletics

Montini is a member of the Suburban Christian Conference and the Illinois High School Association. Teams are stylized as the Broncos.

The school won three state championships in football: 2004, 2009, and 2010. The school has won nine state titles in wrestling: 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. The girls basketball team won the 2010 and 2011 state championships.

The school's dance team, The Broncettes, have won 2 consecutive state Pom titles.^[10]

References

1. ^ NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". http://www.advanc-ed.org/schools_districts/school_district_listings/?. Retrieved 2009-07-28. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ http://www.montini.org/s/200/internal.aspx?sid=200&gid=1&pgid=262
3. ^ http://www.montini.org/s/200/internal.aspx?sid=200&gid=1&pgid=262
4. ^ MCHS. "Academic Profile". http://www.montini.org/montini.aspx?pgID=1067. Retrieved 2007-07-03. 
5. ^ http://www.montini.org/s/200/internal2.aspx?sid=200&gid=1&pgid=2201
6. ^ http://www.montini.org/s/200/internal2.aspx?sid=200&gid=1&pgid=1798
7. ^ "Phase II". Montini Catholic High School Web Site. http://www.montini.org/s/200/internal2.aspx?sid=200&gid=1&pgid=1799. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
8. ^ "Phase III". Montini Catholic High School Web Site. http://www.montini.org/s/200/internal2.aspx?sid=200&gid=1&pgid=1800. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
9. ^ "Academics". Montini Catholic High School Web Site. http://www.montini.org/s/200/internal2.aspx?sid=200&gid=1&pgid=266. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
10. ^ IDTA. "Past Winners". http://www.idta.org/typo/fileadmin/misc_PDFs/IDTAWinners.pdf. Retrieved 2007-07-03. 

External links

• Official website