- St. Mary's High School (Phoenix, Arizona)
History
Saint Mary’s High School is the oldest Catholic high school in Arizona and has been a part of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area since 1917. Saint Mary’s is Arizona’s first Catholic high school, founded by the Sisters of the Precious Blood. The founders were able to set aside classroom space for 4 boys and 10 girls in Saint Anthony’s Elementary school. This was the beginning of the Saint Mary’s community.
In 1920, Saint Mary’s moved into its very first, one-story home located on East Monroe Street. In 1928 all male students were transferred to Brophy College Preparatory School on North Central Avenue, leaving the Saint Mary’s school an all girls’ facility. The Depression caused a great deal of financial problems, leading to the closure of Brophy in 1936. The boys were temporarily without a Catholic high school. Male students moved back to Saint Mary’s, but this time, into a new building.
During the 1930's, one city block bordered from Polk to Taylor and Second to Third Streets, had been purchased for $24, 000. With this new land, a second Saint Mary’s was built by the Franciscan Fathers whose goal was to educate those boys displaced by the closure of Brophy High School. The separation of both boys’ and girls’ schools lasted until 1958. By the end of the year, the girls’ school was condemned to make way for the Civic Plaza. Both schools were combined, making it mixed once again. As a result of boys and girls attending the same facility, it became necessary to add classrooms. On March 20, 1961, Reverend Francis J. Green, O.D., Bishop of Tucson, performed the dedication ceremony for the new seven-room addition to the school. Included with this addition were a ramada and a much needed library.
Throughout the years, many new and excellent additions were made to all three of the differently located schools. However, Saint Mary’s High School never had a gymnasium, baseball/softball diamond, or football field of its own for numerous years. The athletes found themselves using an unsafe area behind the school to practice on. Luckily, on October 5, 1950, ground was broken under the guidance of Father Victor Bucher, O.F.M., pastor of Saint Mary’s parish. The Dads’ Club and alumni of Saint Mary’s were able to begin raising funds for the new Knights' Gym.
Since that time, the Polk Street campus, built on two acres, had a total of twenty-four classrooms and a gymnasium. There was a maximum of six hundred students from very diverse backgrounds. The student body was approximately 45% Hispanic, 45% Anglo and 10% African American.
The constant dedication of the Saint Mary’s family taught everyone involved the values of education, brotherhood and community since its inception. Unfortunately, the ravages of time and the rapid development of downtown in Phoenix caused Saint Mary’s to halt its growth on their inner-city campus.
In 1988, Saint Mary’s was razed to make room for the Arizona Center. The school moved to its present location at Third Street and Sheridan, renovated existing buildings, and constructed a multi-purpose building to house administration, classrooms, and a cafeteria. Currently, Saint Mary’s has an enrollment of 834 students from many different backgrounds. The student body currently consists of 1.5% Native Americans, 4.3% African Americans, 1.0% Asian Americans, 42.1% Hispanic and 51.1% who have listed themselves as other on their registration list.
Money constraints prevented the school from building a gym; a new facility was estimated to cost the school $1.2 million. With tribute to several of mankind’s greatest attributes: generosity, imagination, perseverance, loyalty, and the highest form of friendship, the construction of the Saint Mary’s gym began. A nearby Catholic high school that been closed, Gerard High School, left behind a prefabricated metal building that had housed a gymnasium. A former graduate of Saint Mary’s was able to contact a contractor who agreed to relocate the steel superstructure. After this first step was completed, volunteers pulled together and began creating a gym from parts of other buildings all over the city. The project cost approximately $400,000. After a generous gift of $100,000 from a charitable trust was matched, St. Mary’s borrowed the remaining $200,000 from the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.
The flooding of Camelback High School’s gymnasium was another advantage. The school’s athletic program could not afford the time and risk of trying to dry out the maple floor. With the insurance company’s permission, Saint Mary’s took the donated wet wood to dry out in a warehouse. For the lights, scoreboards, and backboards another Phoenix school was soon-to-be demolished and was also a source. The source of 36,000 pounds of tile for the locker rooms and showers was the donation of another destroyed building. The two-story gym was also fortunate to boast an elevator donated by a former graduate. Altogether, the Saint Mary’s family was able to reuse materials to put into the gym, making it recycled. A gymnasium valued at $1.4 million was constructed for approximately $400,000.
After a series of moves and contributions, the Saint Mary's Campus continues to grow on 3rd Street and Sheridan. The history of Saint Mary's is more than a building, or location downtown. Doctors, engineers, scientists, teachers, and other leaders of our community have come to call Saint Mary's home. A tradition of excellence has been held for over 80 years and continues on.
Mission Statement
The mission of Saint Mary's Catholic High School is to provide a quality Catholic education by developing and sustaining a rich tradition grounded in Gospel and family values, discipline, and respect.
Philosophy
Saint Mary's High School is a Roman Catholic, diocesan, coeducational high school serving the greater Phoenix area. It is a multicultural, centrally located school that offers a traditional academic curriculum with a primary emphasis on college preparation.
In cooperation with parents, who are the primary educators, we as Catholic school educators, place the student at the center of the educational process and acknowledge our responsibility to help prepare students of varying academic levels to meet the spiritual, intellectual and social challenges of life.
As a Catholic school, Saint Mary's has the unique privilege and responsibility of providing spiritual resources for the school community. We believe that by promoting moral values, fostering lifelong service, instilling knowledge of the truths of the Catholic faith, and integrating that faith with all that is taught and experienced at Saint Mary's, students are provided with a solid foundation on which to live out their faith in our world. Additionally, we strive to provide an environment in which students can become contributing members of their faith communities.
The Saint Mary's faculty and staff endeavor to be models of Christian love and service. We strive to leave lasting impressions of the values of honesty, decency, and integrity with our students. Because each student must be able to make informed decisions and to live according to Christian principals, we encourage self-discipline, self-respect, respect for others, and growth in learning so that students will be able to deal with everyday issues.
We, as an academic community, have a responsibility to facilitate learning for our students. Because each student needs to acquire knowledge and skills for today while preparing for tomorrow, we provide opportunities and high expectations for learning. We believe that graduates of Saint Mary's must be prepared for continuing education therefore, the faculty strives to develop students high level thinking skills.
tudent Clubs and Activities
Ambassador Club: The Knight Ambassadors are a group of students who are enthusiastic, friendly, disciplined, and willing to work as a team to promote the history and traditions of their school.
Art Club: This club does community and school projects, and visits art museums and studios. The club creates a variety of art work, including creation of soup bowls sold as a fundraiser for the homeless, murals, and liturgical banners.
Black Student Union: The BSU invites students of all races to focus on Black history and culture. The club highlights Black History Month, goes on club trips, and sponsors educational student assembles at Saint Mary's.
Bowling Club: This club is for students seeking a sport for fun. The club has been set up for students to compete, socialize, and be active. The club bowls weekly in a league format throughout the school year.
Columbian Squires: An international organization of Catholic young men ranging in age from 10-18 years. The Squires Circle at Saint Mary’s is the first at a Catholic high school in Arizona and is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Squires work toward developing into Catholic leaders, sharing their faith with others, helping people in need, and enjoying the company of friends in a variety of activities.
Culture Club: An organization designed to enhance student awareness and acceptance of the many cultures within the broader community and foster respect for the study of foreign languages.
Drama Club: The club is dedicated to promoting interest in the performing arts and to building a strong, active, and viable drama program. This club oversees the Fall and Spring plays as well as participating in the “Knight of Fine Arts” program at the end of the school year. Last year the club produced “Absolutely Murder” and “The Crucible.” This fall the club will perform a three-act series of Fractured Fairy Tales.
Earth Club: The purpose of the Earth Club is to encourage the Saint Mary's community to be active in the improvement of the environment. The club is responsible for paper recycling on the campus and sponsors activities during “Earth Week Awareness” in the spring.
Film Club: This new club seeks to promote awareness of cinematic, screenwriting, and direction techniques and discussion of themes and characterization.
Key Club: This club is a service organization associated with the International Kiwanis Club. There are dues charged to each member. Membership is open to all grade levels.
Lettermen's Club: A club for students who have lettered in a varsity sport at Saint Mary's. Members provide service to the school and the community.
Math Club: The Math Club is a club dedicated to enriching the minds of Saint Mary's students as to the usefulness and importance of Math in real-world situations.
M.E.Ch.A.: Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan is a multicultural organization for anyone interested in ethnic and national heritages.
National Honor Society: The National Honor Society (NHS) is a national organization that recognizes students who have achieved high standards in scholarship, leadership, character and service. A student must show strength in all four areas to be selected for membership.
Newspaper: The student newspaper, known as the Round Table, is published as a part of the Journalism class. Any other student may submit articles or other journalistic work to the newspaper's staff for possible inclusion in the newspaper.
Pep Band: As a school-sponsored, extracurricular activity, the pep band offers students who play a band instrument an opportunity to enhance school spirit at pep assemblies and sports activities.
Saviors of Soul: This student musical ensemble is responsible for providing music for school liturgical celebrations. Members include both vocalists and instrumentalists.
Science Research Club: The club seeks to support efforts of students to participate in a broad range of scientific research projects, including science competitions and contests, locally, regionally, and nationally.
Student Council: Student Council seeks to promote student involvement in school life, to organize school functions, and to work for the betterment of the school. To be a member of the Student Council, students must be hardworking and willing to work to help the school and its students prosper as a community.
X Society: The X Society is a club that promotes skaters and is in union with the ymca and boys and girls club to show the next generation that skating is an alternative to drugs and gangs.
External links
* [http://www.diocesephoenix.org/school/st_marys_hs/ School Website]
Notes and references
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