St. Laurence High School
| St. Laurence High School | |
|---|---|
|
Where Leadership Begins | |
| Address | |
|
5556 West 77th Street Burbank, Illinois 60459 United States | |
| Coordinates | 41°45′14″N 87°45′36″W / 41.75389°N 87.76000°WCoordinates: 41°45′14″N 87°45′36″W / 41.75389°N 87.76000°W |
| Information | |
| Type | private |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic |
| Established | 1961 |
| Sister school | Queen of Peace |
| Oversight | Archdiocese of Chicago |
| President | Joseph A. Martinez |
| Principal | James Muting |
| Faculty | 60 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Gender | all-male |
| Average class size | 24 |
| Campus size | 23 acres (93,000 m2) |
| Campus type | suburban |
| Color(s) | Black and Gold |
| Fight song | Viking Fight Song |
| Athletics conference | Chicago Catholic League |
| Mascot | Igor the Viking |
| Team name | Vikings |
| Accreditation | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[1] |
| Publication | Gladsheim (literary magazine) |
| Newspaper | The Helm |
| Yearbook | Valhallan |
| Tuition | 9,400 (2014-2015) |
| Affiliation | Congregation of Christian Brothers |
| Website | www.stlaurence.com |
St. Laurence High School is a private, all-male Catholic college preparatory high school founded in 1961. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, the school is conducted by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and is named for the Irish saint, St Laurence O'Toole. It is located in the southwest Chicago suburb of Burbank, Illinois, adjacent to Queen of Peace High School, a private all-female Catholic high school.
History
Due to construction delays on the Queen of Peace High School building, Queen of Peace High School classes were held in the D and E-Wings of the St. Laurence building for one school year while construction on Queen of Peace High School was completed. While teaching at St. Laurence that first year, the nuns from Queen of Peace High School were offended by the urinals in the restroom of the wing being used for the girls' school, so they asked that the urinals be removed. The urinals were instead covered by a large wooden boxes. The anchors and bolt holes where the boxes were attached can still be seen today.
Classes
Classes are divided into three levels: B Track, A Track, and Honors. The majority of the students are in A Track classes. The students enrolled in the Honors level are given an extra .5 added to their GPA and additional schoolwork. A 2005/06 Helm article complained that the differences between the A Track and Honors track are growing and that students believe that it wasn't fair that you can get all "A"s in an A Track class and have a 4.0 GPA whereas all "B"s in an Honors class would only yield a 3.5 GPA. There continues to be a discussion over these issues. At the start of the 2013 school year, St. Laurence became a STEM school. For STL, STEM means Spirituality, Leadership, Science, Technology, English, and Math. STL hopes that the STEM format will become a new learning development for 21st century learners.
Athletics
St. Laurence is a member of the Chicago Catholic League (CCL) and the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).
St. Laurence sponsors interscholastic teams in baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, lacrosse, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling, which compete in IHSA sponsored state championship tournaments. The school also sponsors an ice hockey team.[2]
The following teams have finished in the top four of their respective class' state tournament, sponsored by the IHSA.[3]
- Baseball: 3rd place (1992–93)
- Basketball: 4th place (1976–77)
- Football: Champions (1976–77); Runner-Up (1979–80)
- Wrestling: Champions (1989–90)
The ice hockey team finished second in state in 1981, and reached the state Elite 8 in 1999. The now defunct water polo team finished third in state in 1986, and won a state championship in 1987.
In 2004 the Varsity Hockey team won the AHAI White Division State Championship.
Notable alumni
- Brent Bowers, former MLB player (Baltimore Orioles)
- Kevin Bracken competed for the United States in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics.[4]
- Jim Dwyer is a former Major League outfielder and member of the 1983 World Series champion Baltimore Orioles.
- Tim Grunhard is a former All-Pro NFL center with the Kansas City Chiefs.
- Col. James Hickey is one of the men involved in the capture of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in December 2003
- Bishop Daniel Robert Jenky, csc, is the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria; former rector of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Indiana at Notre Dame University as well as chaplain of Notre Dame's last football team to win a national championship.
- Paul Ladewski is a San Francisco Examiner sports columnist. He is a former Daily Southtown award-winning sportswriter and Chicago Baseball Museum executive director.
- Kevin J. O'Connor is a film and TV actor (The Mummy, Van Helsing, Steel Magnolias, Color of Night, There Will Be Blood)
- Stan Smagala is a former NFL Safety with the Dallas Cowboys.
- Jeff Vintar is a screenwriter (I, Robot)
- John Tumpane is a 2001 graduate and Major League Baseball
References
- ↑ NCA-CASI. "AdvanceEd-NCA Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement". Retrieved 2009-05-23.
- ↑ St. Laurence HS Athletics; accessed 7 March 2009
- ↑ IHSA records page for St. Laurence HS; accessed 7 March 2009
- ↑ "Coaches". Top Gun Wrestling Club. 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
External links
- St. Laurence High School | Official Website
- SouthtownStar: "A happy state of mind in Burbank" - article on 2007 football resurgence of St. Laurence and Reavis
- IHSA: annual athletic records
