Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
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| Motto | "Men for Others", Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, Sic Deus Vult |
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| Established | June 21, 1960 |
| Type | Jesuit Private school |
| Affiliations | Catholic, Jesuit |
| President | Fr. Daniel K. Lahart, S.J. |
| Principal | Mr. Richard Nevle |
| Dean | Mr. Kelly Clemons |
| Faculty | 112 |
| Students | 864 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Houston, Texas, USA |
| Campus | Urban, 44 acres |
| Colors | Green and White |
| Mascot | The Fighting Crusaders |
| Yearbook | The Crusader |
| Newspaper | Magis |
| Website | www.strakejesuit.org |
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Strake Jesuit College Preparatory is a Jesuit University-preparatory school for young men in southwest Houston, Texas, founded on June 21, 1960. The school is also known for the large collection of art pieces placed around the campus. The school is classified as an official art museum with a full-time curator. The school is located within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. It is one of two private schools in Texas that are members of the University Interscholastic League.
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Location and history
In the summer of 1960, Father Michael F. Kennelly, S.J. was sent to Houston by the Jesuit Fathers of the New Orleans Province to establish a college preparatory school for boys. Father Kennelly was aided by the Jesuit Alumni Association in Houston in the foundation of the school.
The first freshman class of 1961-1962 started in late September after Hurricane Carla delayed the opening of the school. By 1965, the school had a complete four-year college preparatory curriculum and graduated its first class of seniors.
The land for Strake Jesuit was donated by Frank Sharp, the developer of Sharpstown.It has operated in the same location for the entirety of its existence, and is still run by the Jesuits, with seven or more Jesuits living on-site at any given time. Jesuit novices, during their two year formation period, may spend a month at the school. The campus is located at 8900 Bellaire Boulevard, where it intersects Gessner Drive in the Sharpstown neighborhood. The campus is no longer its original size. The school sold approximately 1/3 of the property to the Dominican Sisters for the building of Saint Agnes Academy. Further, there was a stock market scandal which involved the school's property as collateral, and a significant portion had to be sold. The school encompasses approximately 60% of the original site. The school was saved from financial collapse by a generous donation from the Strake family; thus, the name of the institution.
Saint Agnes Academy, a Catholic high school for girls founded by the Dominican Sisters, is adjacent to Strake Jesuit, separated by nothing more than the Jesuit parking lot. There are some collaborative activities between the two schools. For example, young women from Saint Agnes are recruited to serve as cheerleaders for Strake Jesuit sports teams. Additionally, there are a handful of classes arranged to include students from both schools, particularly in later years. These tend to be popular with students from both sides of the parking lot. Examples are Latin I and II, taught at St. Agnes, and all music classes, which are taught and preform at the Parsley Center at Strake.
Hurricane Katrina and Second Session
In light of the damage and evacuation of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of students from Jesuit High School in New Orleans flocked to Houston. In response, Strake Jesuit lived up to its "Men for Others" motto as it took in over 400 students that had previously attended Jesuit New Orleans. Since it was impossible for a school with 900 students to successfully incorporate 400 more students into its present classes, Strake Jesuit opened up a "Second Session" that ran from Sunday through Thursday evenings. During this "Second Session", teachers from Jesuit New Orleans (approximately 30) used the Strake campus to run the school for the 400+ students. Upon the conclusion of the 2005 Fall semester, the majority of the New Orleans Students left, closing the Second Session. The few students that stayed were incorporated into normal class schedules.
Mottos and principles
The school mottos are:
- "Men for Others,"
- The Jesuit motto: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, translating to For the Greater Glory of God.
- Sic Deus Vult, translating to God Wills It So. This was the battlecry of the Crusaders, and is used because of the Jesuit mascot being a crusader, and the religious affiliation of the school.
In keeping with these mottos, students are required, before graduation, to complete junior and senior service projects; the senior service project requires 100 hours of community service.
The "Grad at Grad", an essay written regarding the status of what a Strake Jesuit student should be, also defines the seniors of the school by the time of graduation. This is used to show an outline of what is expected from each student, namely that he is intellectually competent, open to growth, physically fit, committed to doing justice, religious, and loving.
The patron saints of the school are St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, and St. Stanislaus Kostka, the patron saint of students and youth.
People of Strake Jesuit
Students and alumni
Strake Jesuit currently maintains approximately 900 students actively in session. Out of roughly 500 annual applicants, between 250-300 are accepted to form the freshman class of 225, out of which normally more than 200 graduate.[citation needed]
The school currently has an average graduating class of 180. The 2004-2005 graduating class consisting of 215 students was the largest in Strake Jesuit's history.[citation needed]
Faculty and Staff
The current principal is Mr. Richard Nevle, and the president of the school is Fr. Dan Lahart, SJ.
Since the arrival of Fr. Lahart in 2001, the school has experienced a significant increase in the number of alumni serving as teachers. The current list of employed alumni includes:
- Jack Bonner '98
- Hector Chavez '02
- Henri de Ybarrondo,’91
- John Foster '88
- Kyle Kornegay,‘92
- Ken Lojo,‘91
- Tony Muniz, ‘87
- Trip Norkus
- Andrew Pruett '97
- N.J. Santarcangelo,’67
- Tim Scalzitti,’90
- Charles Sharman '03
- Michael Sullivan, ’87
- Jeff Wallis, '84.
Several of the newer teachers joined the faculty after spending a year working at the school in a voluntary capacity. Although the volunteer program was not originally intended as a recruitment vehicle it has become the main method by which the school attracts alumni to teach; this has led to the accusation, by some, that Strake has become something of an insular entity in the matter of faculty recruitment.
Strake Jesuit Educational Television
The school uses a closed-circuit television system known as Strake Jesuit Educational Television (SJET). SJET was established in 1970 when an audiovisual system of that magnitude was unique for an institution such as a high school; today such a system remains rare for most high schools. Daily morning announcements are shown in a format similar to typical television news programs. They are presented and produced by students under the guidance of Mr. Gilbert, who has moderated SJET since its inception. The students participating in SJET can take Television Production for half a class credit.[1]
Around 1999, Strake Jesuit updated its SJET system with the addition of a smart board in some classrooms, and they were added to all classrooms by the beginning of the 2006 school year. Smart boards use projectors and touch sensitive technology to produce an interactive way of teaching. The smart boards are also used for the display of the SJET morning announcements.
Throughout the course of the year, the student body may view new installments of the school's own game show, "Scribbage Match" during the morning announcements. SJET is also commonly used to announce items of interest to the student body, including the student council candidate speeches and messages from the faculty. In addition, "news strips", "interviews", and other programs that are intended to be comical (such as teacher impersonations) are shown on SJET. Special guests are also sometimes featured on SJET. Also, the ten announcers, two who announce every day, must make a story every school quarter, which is shown to the student body after announcements are finished, should time permit it. [1]
Sports
Jesuit Bowl
In light of not being able to compete in the standard Texas Districts, Strake Jesuit and Dallas Jesuit formed a pact to compete in what would be known as the "Jesuit Bowl", the football competition of two of the top Catholic high schools schools in Texas. Strake Jesuit won three out of the four competitions before it was ceased following both schools being allowed into the UIL.
Lacrosse
At the request of overwhelming student demand, Strake Jesuit implemented a new Lacrosse program in 2000. Students from the first ever Jesuit squad made the brand new team a force to be reckoned with, winning state championships their first two years.
Rugby
Rugby is Strake Jesuit's 13th sport beginning in the Spring of 2008. It will participate in the Texas Rugby Union.
See also
- Jesuit Secondary Education Association for other Jesuit high schools
External links
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