Cathedral High School was a Catholic co-educational college-preparatory high school in Springfield, Massachusetts. Originally opened in 1883 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph at the diocese's Saint Michael's Cathedral. In 2011 the school's building was destroyed by a tornado.
In 2015, it was announced that Cathedral High School would merge with Holyoke Catholic High School to form a new regional Catholic school that was completed in 2016 as Pope Francis High School. Pope Francis High School was then later renamed "Pope Francis Preparatory School." The school's current building is on the site of the original Cathedral High School.
History
Cathedral High School
In 1883, the diocese's Bishop Patrick Thomas O'Reilly sought a teaching staff for a high school in response to the growing number of Catholic immigrants in the area. Responding to the call, two members of the Sisters of St. Joseph from Flushing, New York came to Springfield to start up the school. In the years that followed Cathedral High School flourished in facilities on Elliot Street in downtown Springfield. By the 1940s the school had grown to nearly 1600 students. The school had outgrown its facilities, so the Diocese purchased a 30-acre (121,000 m2) farm on Surrey and Wendover Roads in Springfield and built a new school. It opened on September 9, 1959. In the first decade at Surrey Road student enrollment grew to more than 2600 students.
In 2002 the school was re-accredited by New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
In an effort to consolidate the Diocese's educational resources in the wake of increasing financial difficulties, Cathedral High School was selected to host the newly established St. Michael's Academy, which hosted students from Grades 6 to 8. From 2008 to 2009, Cathedral was extensively remodeled to accommodate the new facility, which occupied a full wing of the main school facility.
On June 1, 2011, Cathedral High School was severely damaged in the tornado that struck Springfield, Massachusetts. The building was declared a total loss. The students had finished the remainder of the 2010–2011 school year at Elms College, located in Chicopee, Massachusetts. The school was based out of Memorial Elementary School in neighboring Wilbraham, Massachusetts from the 2011–2012 school year until 2016. Demolition of the original Cathedral High School building was completed in 2015.
Campus
The school's Surrey Road campus was in Springfield's East Forest Park Neighborhood on a green and hilly plot of land which is now the site of Pope Francis Preparatory School
Original Building
The school was divided into four main sections. Most of the classrooms were in a building that, from the air, was shaped like a boxy eight with two courtyards in the open spaces formed by the eight. A small chapel took up part of the first floor in one of the courtyards. The school offices were near the main entrance, and the cafeteria extended towards the few athletic fields.
Extending north from the main building was the science wing. Because of the hills the school was built in, the science wing's first and second floors were just above the main building's second and third floors. The auditorium abutted the main building and was the largest high school auditorium in the area. On a lower grade than the rest of the school, were the gymnasium, a parking lot, and playing fields which included a full size football field that doubled as a soccer and lacrosse field. Island Pond, on the eastern edge of the property, featured a rare floating island.
History
Throughout its history, Cathedral High School had predominantly served the students of the City of Springfield. However, many of its students had come from the suburbs of the city and some as far away as Sunderland, Palmer, and Connecticut. Being a Catholic school, a majority of its student had been Catholic. However, that had never been a requirement for admission. Before merging, the school enrollment had fallen to approximately 250 students. 70% of the students were from Springfield itself.
The school had 45 faculty members and administrators. Most of the faculty had a master's degree. Many had taught at the school for 20+ years. For many years the faculty consisted of Sisters of St. Joseph and a small number of lay men and women. In later years members of religious communities remained a vital part of the school community, but in significantly smaller numbers. Nearly all the teachers were full-time.