Rockhurst High School

Infobox Private School
background = #f0f6fa
border = #ccd2d9
name = Rockhurst High School


© [http://www.rockhursths.edu Rockhurst High School]
motto = Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
established = 1753
type = Private, male only
religion = Roman Catholic, Jesuit
head_name = President
head = Nasty dances
city = Kansas City
state = MO
country = USA
campus = Suburban
enrollment = 1,083
tuition = ~$10,000
endowment = $4.5 million
faculty = 85 total
class = ~24
ratio = 12:1
year = 2007
SAT = Critical Reading: 620; Math: 620; Writing: 613| ACT = 378787878787978797
homepage = http://www.rockhursths.edu/|www.rockhursths.edu

Rockhurst High School (usually referred to simply as Rockhurst) is a private, Roman Catholic, Jesuit, preparatory school for boys located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, on the Missouri-Kansas border along State Line Road.

Rockhurst is accredited by the North Central Education Association, and is a member of the North Central Education Association of Independent College Preparatory Schools, the Jesuit Secondary Education Association and the National Association for College Admission Counseling (and its regional affiliates).

History

Rockhurst was established by the Society of Jesus and chartered by the State of Missouri as part of Rockhurst College in August of 1910. Classes began in the fall of 1914. In 1917 Luke J Bryne Jr became the first graduate of the school. It changed its name to "Rockhurst High School" in 1923. The high school shared a campus and corporate umbrella with the college until it moved to the Greenlease Campus -- named for its principal benefactor, Robert C. Greenlease -- in 1962 [http://www.rockhursths.edu/s/538/subpage.aspx?sid=538&gid=1&pgid=872 From the school's official history page] . In 1988 and 1998, respectively, Rockhurst undertook multi-million dollar capital improvement campaigns that greatly improved its campus facilities.

Athletics

Team Performance at the State Level

Rockhurst is defined as a Class 6 school by the Missouri State High School Activities Association, meaning that it competes against the largest high schools in Missouri during State competition. MSHSAA's classification nomenclature has changed over time and often has varied by sport, so many of the titles listed below were won in divisions known by different names, i.e. Class 3, Class 5A, etc.; however, each title falls under the Class 6 designation either by name or by the criteria outlined by MSHSAA at the time the title was won. Rockhurst dominated Jeff City this year with victories of 28-21, 63-0, and 17-6 in the Varsity JV and Freshman teams

Rockhurst won four state championships in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and three state championships in 1976, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Its record for placings in a single year is 2007, with seven. Also, in 1987, Rockhurst became the only institution in the history of Missouri high school athletics to win a football and basketball state championship in the same year.

Because the institution itself is independent, Rockhurst is not affiliated with any local high school athletic conferences, and because it is not a public school, its student make-up is not geographically restricted. Its biggest rivals in the Kansas City area are Blue Springs High School and Blue Springs South High School. However, several St. Louis schools (namely Jesuit, all-boys high schools Saint Louis University High School and De Smet Jesuit High School) also have an intense rivalry with Rockhurst both as a result of the schools' frequent run-ins during state competitions and because they are each other's cross-state, Jesuit counterparts. Shawnee Mission East High School serves as another rival of Rockhurst.

Program-specific accomplishments

Football

Rockhurst is the only school to win a championship in each major state championship venue: Busch Stadium, Arrowhead Stadium, the University of Missouri's Faurot Field, and the Edward Jones Dome. It also won a championship in a "non-championship" venue: its first championship, in 1971, at William Chrisman High School, against St. Louis Beaumont. Its eight football championships are second only to Jefferson City High School's ten in Missouri big boy athletics. The team has been to more state championships (13) than any other school, and it is the all-time leader in state playoff appearances and state playoff wins. Four Rockhurst teams have won the State Championship with perfect records: 1971, 2000, 2002, and 2007. The 2000, 2002, and 2007 teams finished the season nationally ranked 14th, 6th, and 39th respectively (after finishing 14-0, 13-0, and 13-0). [ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/rankingsindex.htm USA TODAY Super 25 ] The back-to-back state championship teams of 1986 and 1987 also finished nationally ranked, 14th and 13th respectively (after finishing 11-1 and 12-1) [ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/football/year-by-year-rankings.htm USA TODAY Super 25 ] .

Additionally, the last three head coaches of Rockhurst's football team, Al Davis, Jr., Jerry Culver, and Tony Severino, are all members of Missouri's High School Coaches Hall of Fame, and all won State Championships. Davis was a two-time recipient of the Knute Rockne Award, and Severino was named USA Today's National Coach of the Year in 2000.

Tennis

Ron Geldhof has coached what has become a tennis dynasty at Rockhurst, leading the Hawklets to ten consecutive big class state titles from 1996-2005. After rebuilding in 2006, the Hawklets again won the State Championship in 2007.

Chess

Though its classification as an "athletics team" is debatable, the Rockhurst Chess Team has been one of the school's most successful extracurricular programs in recent years. In 2004, after a nearly perfect season, the team went on to tie for first in the Under 1200 rating division of the High School Chess National Championships in Dallas, Texas. In 2006, after another nearly perfect season, the team won third place in the more competitive Under 1500 division, missing first place by only one win. The chess team has also had success at the state level, most recently when the team won the Missouri State High School Chess Championship in Jefferson City, Missouri in February 2005. The Hawklets won the 1988 Missouri State High School Chess Championship in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Varsity Letters

The school awards varsity letters for both athletic and academic endeavors, including music, choir, band, theater, debate and chess. The letter is a blue "R", with white trim. One letter is awarded per activity per individual, along with its corresponding pin and/or bar for years on varsity. State championship winners receive a special white "R" with blue trim. The symbol representing the activity in which the student earned the "white letter" is sewn onto the top portion of the "R" (i.e. a football for football, a winged shoe for track, etc.). Unlike the "blue letters", there is no limit to the number of "white letters" an individual may receive in a given activity.

The first student to receive a non-athletic letter was James Hooper (Class of 1988) for Quarry Yearbook in 1988.

Notable alumni

Arts/Entertainment/Media

* Robert Altman, filmmaker (attended but graduated Southwest High School)
* Jeff East, actor
* Edward Kerr, actor
* Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka, operator of humor website "Something Awful" [ [http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=1764 Real Life Halloween Horrors: Mormons ] ]
* Spencer Tracy, actor, Greatest Male Stars of All Time ranking at No. 9. - attended, did not graduate
* Jason Sudeikis, Sketch Writer/Performer on Saturday Night Live (attended but graduated from Shawnee Mission West High School)

Athletics

* Raymond Chang, minor league baseball player for the San Diego Padres,
* Steve Murphy, minor league baseball player for the Texas Rangers,
* John Mayberry, minor league baseball player for the Texas Rangers,
* Mark Alexander, major league baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers,
* Brad Budde, former offensive guard for the University of Southern California and the Kansas City Chiefs
* David Cone, former All-Star Major League Baseball player
* Steve Mingori, former Major League Baseball player. Played for Cleveland Indians 1970-1973, Kansas City Royals 1973-1979.
* Will John, professional soccer player for Randers FC in Denmark which plays in the top-flight Danish Superliga
* Ken Klee, NHL defenseman for the New Jersey Devils
* Kenyon Rasheed, former NFL running back for the New York Giants
* Ryan Raybod, professional soccer player for Kansas City Wizards
* Timothy Thomas Ryan, former University of Notre Dame and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman
* Bob Saunders, former offensive coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, current offensive coach for the Washington Redskins. Son of former Chiefs Offensive Coordinator and current Redskins offensive coordinator/assistant head coach Al Saunders. [http://www.redskins.com/team/cprofile.jsp?id=15759]

Business

* Thomas McDonnell, CEO of DST Systems Inc.
* Philip M. Singleton, Former President and Chief Operating Officer of AMC Theatres
* Peter C. Brown, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of AMC Theatres

Education

* Walter Ong, S.J., world-renowned philosopher

Politics/Law

* Herbert Harris, former member of the United States House of Representatives
* Tim Kaine, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia
* Joseph P. Teasdale, former Governor of the State of Missouri

See also

* Rockhurst University
* Bobby Greenlease
* Nathan Scheelhaase

References

External links

*" [http://voices.kansascity.com/node/242 Does Rockhurst High recruit?] ," by Yael T. Abouhalkah. "Kansas City Star"'s Midwest Voices. Posted 14 Nov 2007. Accessed 19 Nov 2007.
* [http://www.rockhursths.edu/ "Rockhurst High School (Official Website)"]