Loyola Blakefield

Infobox University|name = Loyola Blakefield Jesuit School


motto = Men for Others
|established = 1852
type = Private
president = Rev. Thomas A. Pesci, S.J.
Dean of Students = Mr. John Stewart
Head of Admissions = Mr. Michael Bresci
city = Towson
state = Maryland
country = United States
nickname = Dons
website = [http://www.loyolablakefield.org www.loyolablakefield.org]

Loyola Blakefield is a Catholic, college preparatory school established by the Society of Jesus to educate men for others, a motto established by the Jesuits and this institution. The ideal Loyola graduate is a man of integrity who, because he strives "to find God in all things," is open to growth, dedicated to academic excellence, religious, committed to diversity, and loving. Loyola Blakefield is located in Towson, Maryland. It is a member of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Students from Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Harford County, Carroll County, Howard County, Anne Arundel County, and Southern Pennsylvania attend the school. The late great Jim McKay was a student at Loyola as well as the famous author Tom Clancy.

History

Upon reaching Maryland in 1634, the Jesuits carried out the objectives of their forefathers. They wanted to build new men, men who were conscious of a religious purpose. The Jesuits accomplished this in the way they knew best – through education. In 1851, Archbishop Francis Kenric asked the Jesuits to oversee the formation of a school for laymen that would incorporate the Jesuit standards of excellence and build new men conscious of a religious purpose. The construction of Loyola High School began on Calvert Street in Baltimore City, Maryland in early 1852, and on September 15, 1852, the doors opened to young men.

In the early 1930s the growing and cramped high school began to look toward moving north of the city. In 1933, with the support of the Blake family, Loyola purchased the land known today as Blakefield in Towson, Maryland. In 1941, the students moved to the new campus. Between 1981 and 1988, a Middle School was gradually introduced, and in recognition of the two levels of education, Loyola High School officially became known as Loyola Blakefield.

Loyola Blakefield has seen many changes and enhancements these past few years, some of them striking, such as the construction of Knott Hall which houses the student commons and dining hall, athletic center, and alumni areas, the Burk Hall academic wing, and the renovations to the 60-year-old science laboratories in Wheeler Hall.

The mission and philosophy remain the hallmarks of the Jesuit education at Blakefield, the benchmarks by which true educational success can be measured. There are nearly 1,000 students today at Loyola Blakefield in grades six through twelve.

Academics

Loyola Blakefield maintains a strong academic program, in keeping with Jesuit tradition. Among the Catholic schools in Baltimore it is the best in terms of its average graduating SAT scores, number of National Merit Finalists and other standard metrics of success.

While the curriculum is standard for all students there is increasing flexibility in course selection as one moves from the sixth through the twelfth grades. Popular electives include Greek, Latin and a wide variety of AP courses.

The Loyola Forensics team is a standout club and team at the school. The team, which was led by English instructor Tom Durkin and is currently led by Science teacher Charles Donovan, was the champion of the National Forensics League in 2005.

Athletics

Loyola Blakefield participates in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) for all interscholastic sports, while the Basketball team participates in the Baltimore Catholic League in addition to the MIAA.

The athletics at Loyola Blakefield are historically successful, most notably in Lacrosse, Football, Swimming, Basketball,and Cross-Country .

Blakefield's up and coming Rugby program won the second ever MIAA A Conference Championship in 2008 against John Carroll 14-7, and are the first team to win it outright (2007 ended in a tie). The Dons ended the season with only one MIAA loss, which they avenged against Spalding in the semi-finals, 17-10.

The football program is one of Baltimore's most revered. Recent MIAA gridiron championships for the Dons include a three-way title in 2006 and a two-way tie in 2007 and an outright winner in 2003. The Dons 2001 squad was able to beat nationally ranked Gilman in Joseph Brune's final year as head coach.

The Loyola Lacrosse program is one of the most dominant sports at Loyola. The lacrosse team won eight championships in the 1980's and recently won a championship in 2001, 2007, and 2008. In 2007 they defeated Boy's Latin 10-6 in the MIAA championship game. In 2008 they defeated previously undefeated Gilman 12-11 in the championship game at Towson's Johnny Unitas Stadium in front of over 8000 people. There have been several successful players that have graduated from Loyola who continued their lacrosse career including Mike Kimmel '06 Johns Hopkins, Tim Harrington '06 Colgate University, Tim Donovan '07 Johns Hopkins, Tim Paul '06 Naval Academy, Tom Phelan '05 Naval Academy, Ben Rubeor '04 University of Virginia, Matt Pinto '02 Johns Hopkins, '06 Joe Lennon, and National Lacrosse Hall of Famer John Stewart. The class of 2008 has several players that will play D1 lacrosse including nations #1 recruit Steele Stanwick (attack) Virginia, MJ Leonard (goalie) University of Maryland, College Park, Joe Cummings (attack) University of Maryland, Andrew Pataki (midfield) Harvard College, Alek Ferro (attack) PENN, Keith McKinley (midfield) Mt. St. Mary's

The soccer program has produced Division I talent in All-American goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald '06 Wake Forest, Defender Matt Reichenbach '06 Lafayette College, and Mike Lookingland '01 Bucknell. Mike Potempa '97 was named the Gatorade Maryland High School Player of the Year in 1996. They won the Maryland Championship in 2001. He played on several Youth National Teams while attending Loyola. He went on to become an All-ACC player from 98-00 while playing at Clemson University. He was drafted 69th overall in the 2001 MLS Superdraft by the Los Angeles Galaxy, but retired due to injuries. He is currently an assistant coach at his college alma mater. Loyola is currently coached by Lee Tschantret, a former longtime player in the MISL won several championships with the Baltimore Blast.

The Loyola Basketball [http://www.loyolahoops.com] program during the 1970's was regionally recognized as one of prominent status. Led by head coach Jerry Savage, he accumulated 600+ career wins from 1969 to 2003. He produced several D1 athletes, most notably Anthony Guy '78 and Pete Budko '77 who went on to the University of Kansas and University of North Carolina to play basketball. Loyola has been in the most Baltimore Catholic League finals with 13 total, and 6 championships. Savage also coached the 1997 MIAA Championship team, the last championship of any sort for the Dons basketball program. The program faced several disappointing seasons and also had a period of four years in which there were four head coaches. Josh Davalli, a former All-Metro player at Cardinal Gibbons in the mid-90's serves now as the current Varsity head coach, while also teaching in the Middle School.

The Swimming and Diving team, led by legendary coach Keith Schertle, completed its 15th straight MIAA Championship season and top 25 national ranking in 2008. The program has produced many All Americans (including 7 in 2007), multiple Olympians and NCAA division I competitors. Most notable are Patrick Kennedy of the 1984 US Olympic team and former University of Southern California captain Joe Curreri, who died on October 26, 2007 in an accidental drowning while stationed the Philippines in service to the United States Army.

Loyola Blakefield squares off every Thanksgiving Day, in the one of the oldest continual national Catholic high school football rivalries against cross-town rival Calvert Hall College. The game, known as the Turkey Bowl is held at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Loyola has enjoyed tremendous success versus their arch-rival winning the last 5 consecutive years including 2007. They also hold a dominating record versus Calvert Hall in the series. The game is broadcast on television and radio courtesy of WMAR News.

Notable alumni

* Ephraim Francis Baldwin, architect for B&O Railroad.
* Louis A. Becker III, Associate Judge, Howard County, District 10, District Court of Maryland
* Luke K. Burns, Jr., Associate Judge, Carroll County Circuit Court, 5th Judicial Circuit
* Tom Clancy, Author
* J. Joseph Curran, Jr., former Attorney General of Maryland
* Nathaniel Fick, Captain, USMC
* Joseph Ingolia, Chief Administrative Law Judge for the US Coast Guard
* Bradley M. Kuhn, free software activist
* Mike Lookingland, Soccer player with Real Salt Lake and Baltimore Blast, 2001.
*Donald S. Parker, former General Counsel of Fairchild Industries, Inc., Sprint International, and GlobalOne Telecommunications, Inc.
*James Cardinal Stafford, Major Penitentiary, former President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and former Archbishop of Denver
* Robert F. Sweeney, Chief Judge, District Court of Maryland
* Thomas F. Monteleone, author
* Bruce McGonigal, former National Football League player
* Bobby Barry, basketball
* James Kenneth McManus, better known by his professional name of Jim McKay, Emmy-winning Olympic sports caster and host of The Wide World of Sports
* Dewey Hammond, managing editor of Yardbarker
* Alan Klug, Baltimore Metro Area Franchise Partner of [1-800-GOT-J

External links

* [http://www.loyolablakefield.org/ Loyola Blakefield Homepage]