West Catholic Preparatory High School is a co-educational Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 45th and Chestnut Streets, the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia.
History
The school opened on September 8, 1989, as a result of a merger between West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys, opened in 1916, and West Philadelphia Catholic Girls High School, opened in 1927.
When they originally opened, both West Catholic Girls and West Catholic Boys served students from West Philadelphia, Southwest Philadelphia and Delaware County. As more Archdiocesan high schools opened in the suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s, West's "feeder schools" became limited to parishes in West and Southwest Philadelphia. With the advent of "open enrollment" for Archdiocesan high schools in the 1990s, West Catholic continued to draw from West and Southwest Philadelphia, and also attracted students from Philadelphia and its suburbs. Currently (2011), approximately 25% of the students come from suburban areas, with the other 75% from across the City of Philadelphia.
In 2012, there was a proposal to close the school.
In July 2013, the school announced its official name change to West Catholic Preparatory High School, as part of its overall strategic plan.
Academics
Based on the school's student focus and support; school organization and culture; challenging standards and curriculum; active teaching and learning; professional community; leadership and educational vitality; school, family, and community partnerships, and indicators of success the Blue Ribbon Schools program (in affiliation with the United States Department of Education) has awarded West Catholic the prestigious 'Blue Ribbon School of Excellence' recognition several times.
West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys was named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the Blue Ribbon Schools program in the academic year of 1983-1984 Co-Educational West Philadelphia Catholic High School was also named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the Blue Ribbon Schools program in the academic years of 1994-1996.
West Catholic graduates have gone on to Swarthmore, NYU, Georgetown, Columbia, Stanford, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others. West Catholic graduates earned scholarships such as Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards, Gates Millennium Scholarships, Nelson Scholarships, Mayor's Scholarships, and an F.C. Haab Science Scholarship.
The Brothers of the Christian Schools
West Catholic's faculty includes a number of Catholic religious orders, most notably, the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, also known as the Christian Brothers. The Christian Brothers are a Roman Catholic lay religious teaching order, founded by French Priest Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. De La Salle was a canon of the cathedral and came from a wealthy family. De La Salle's goal was setting up free schools where the children of the working and poor class citizens could learn reading, writing and arithmetic and also receive religious instruction and other training appropriate for forming good Christians.
The Christian Brothers taught at West Catholic Boys beginning in 1926 (succeeding the Brothers of Mary). Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) and the Sisters of St. Joseph (Chestnut Hill) are two of the women's religious teaching orders from West Catholic Girls. In addition to the religious orders, the school's faculty includes a number of lay teachers. The Chaplain is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Partnerships
As a resident of the University City, West Catholic Preparatory High School has taken advantage of its unique location by establishing a partnership with several universities in Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Drexel University University of the Sciences of Philadelphia
Athletics
West Catholic is a member of the Philadelphia Catholic League Blue Division, which comprises schools with smaller enrollment. They currently offer the following sports at the varsity level: Girls' Volleyball Football Cheerleading Boys' Basketball Girls' Basketball Girls' Indoor/Outdoor Track Boys' Indoor/Outdoor Track Cross-Country
Football championship history
West Catholic has won several football championships. The following is a listing of the championship wins, the year they were won, and the winning head coach: Tom Tracey- 1925 Jocko McGarry- 1932 Bob Dougherty- 1940, 1941, 1943, 1944 Bill McCoy- 1945, 1946 Jack Shields- 1951 Vince McAneny- 1962 John McAneny- 1965 Brian Fluck- 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
