DePaul College Prep is a Vincentian Catholic college preparatory high school founded in 2014 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The founders were a group of administrators and trustees of

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

and other individuals committed to

Catholic education Catholic education may refer to: * Catholic school, primary and secondary education organised by the Roman Catholic Church or affiliated organisations * Catholic higher education, higher education run by the Catholic Church or affiliated organisat ...

. As part of its mission and vision, DePaul Prep teaches the

charism In Christianity, a spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek language, Greek singular: wikt:χάρισμα, χάρισμα ''charisma'', plural: χαρίσματα ''charismata'') is an extraordinary power given by the ...

St. Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, Congregation of the Mission, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was an Occitans, Occitan French Priesthood in the Catholic Church, Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving ...

, encouraging its students to serve those who live on the margins of society.

History

In 2012, a group of trustees and administrators of

was asked by the

Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. The Vatican erected it as a diocese in 1843 and elevated it to an ar ...

and the priests and brothers of the

Congregation of the Resurrection The Resurrectionists, officially named the Congregation of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ (; abbreviated CR), is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men. It was founded in 1836 by three men: Bogdan Ja� ...

to assist Gordon Tech High School. As the academic partnership with DePaul University progressed successfully, the school officially became DePaul College Prep in 2014. In July 2019, in response to a rapidly growing enrollment, DePaul College Prep's Board of Directors acquired a new 17-acre campus and modern school buildings at 3300 N. Campbell, Chicago, Illinois. DePaul College Prep moved its operations to the new campus in August 2020. The religious sponsorship of the school transferred from the Resurrectionists to the Congregation of the Mission (“the Vincentians”) in September 2019. In August 2020, DePaul College Prep proudly began the 2020-2021 school year on the school's new campus. Since 2020, additional renovations and new construction have been completed. The 17 acre campus includes the 178,000 square foot Mary A. Dempsey Academic Center, comprising 62 modern classrooms, 2 student dining halls, 4 maker spaces, 10 state-of-the-art science labs, Black Box Theatre, strength training and weight room, library, chapel, and 2 student gathering spaces. The campus also includes an organic teaching garden, greenhouse, grass practice field, and 1,800-seat turf field stadium.

Academics

Students are able to choose from a wide range of course offerings, including College Prep, Honors,

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

(AP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes. In partnership with

, dual enrollment classes are offered at DePaul University's Lincoln Park and Loop campuses. ''International Baccalaureate Program'' DePaul Prep became authorized as an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme School in 2015. It is the only co-ed Catholic high school in Chicago to offer the IB Program. IB is a highly regarded educational opportunity for DePaul Prep students that teaches critical thinking with a global perspective and, like AP classes, offers the potential for college credit opportunities. Students may apply to the full IB Diploma Programme or take individual IB courses.

Extracurricular activities

DePaul Prep offers over 45 co-curriculars, clubs, and academic teams for its students. More than 80% of DePaul Prep students participate in co-curricular activities and/or athletics.

Athletics

DePaul Prep is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) and competes in two conferences: the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference (GCAC) and the Chicago Catholic League (CCL) for boys athletics.
There are 31 total athletic programs in 2024-2025 for the following sports: Basketball, Baseball, Bowling, Cheerleading, Cross Country, Field Hockey, Football, Golf, Hockey, Lacrosse, Rowing, Sailing, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball, and Wrestling. The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective IHSA sponsored state tournaments: *Boys Basketball ** 2024-2025 - 3A State Champions ** 2023-2024 - 3A State Champions ** 2022-2023 - 2A State Champions ** 2021-2022 - 3rd Place in IHSA Tournament ** 2020-2021 (Covid) - #1 ranking in IL and #23 in the country *Football ** 2024-2025 - 4A State Champions *Boys Cross Country ** 2022-2023 - State Champions *Girls Cross Country ** 2022-2023 - 2nd Place

Notable alumni

Louis Antonelli Louis Antonelli (born July 28, 1962 in Chicago, Illinois) is a filmmaker and poet. Biography Louis Antonelli's professional career began in 1980, with the theatrical release of his short film, "The Game". His feature film debut was in 1994 with, ...

(class of 1981) — independent filmmaker and director *

Gregg Bingham Gregory Raleigh Bingham (born March 13, 1951) is a former National Football League (NFL) linebacker, who played from 1973 through 1984 for the Houston Oilers. He had 4 touchdowns and lead the league in tackles for 11 years. He played football ...

(class of 1969) — former Houston Oilers linebacker *

Chris Bourjos Christopher Bourjos (born October 16, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player who played part of one season for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He has worked as an Arizona-based scout (sport), scout. Playing ...

— former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

Jason Gedrick Jason Michael Gedrick is an American actor. He is best known for his work on the television series '' Murder One'' and ''Boomtown'', and the motion picture ''Iron Eagle'' as Doug Masters. He starred in the 2001 film '' Summer Catch'' as Mike ...

(born Jason Gedroic) (class of 1982) — actor from stage, film, and television (''

Iron Eagle ''Iron Eagle'' is a 1986 action film directed by Sidney J. Furie who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Alyn Elders, and starring Jason Gedrick and Louis Gossett Jr.Mann, Roderick"Sidney Furie leads the cheer for 'Iron Eagle'." ''Los Angeles ...

'', '' Murder One'', ''

Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at a ...

'', ''

Dexter Dexter may refer to: People * Dexter (given name) * Dexter (surname) * Dexter (singer), Brazilian rapper Marcos Fernandes de Omena (born 1973) * Famous Dex, also known as Dexter, American rapper Dexter Tiewon Gore Jr. (born 1993) Places United ...

'') *

George Gomez George Gomez is an industrial designer, video game designer, and pinball designer who has worked for Bally, Williams, and Stern Pinball, among other companies. He has designed or contributed to several notable games, including ''Tron'' (1982), ...

(class of 1973) — designer of toys, video games and pinball machines *

Tom Kleinschmidt Thomas Kleinschmidt (born February 21, 1973) is a retired American basketball player and current head basketball coach at DePaul College Prep High School in Chicago, Illinois. He was an All-American at DePaul University and the first player in s ...

(class of 1991) — former

and professional basketball player; men's head coach at DePaul Prep *

Lawrence Langowski Lawrence Langowski Mendoza (born June 11, 1985) is a former Olympic wrestler from Chicago. Langowski competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics for Mexico in freestyle wrestling at 120 kg. Biography Langowski was born and raised in Chicago, Ill ...

(class of 2003) — wrestler who represented

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the 120 kilogram weight class at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Theodore Matlak Ted Matlak was the alderman of the 32nd ward in Chicago from 1998 until 2007. On April 17, 2007, Matlak lost to challenger Scott Waguespack in a close aldermanic race. Background Matlak was born in Chicago near the 2500 block of Marshfield in ...

(class of 1983) — former 32nd ward Chicago alderman *

Robert Meschbach Robert Meschbach (born June 17, 1959) is a Canadian-American retired soccer player who played professionally as a midfielder in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and American Indoor Soccer Association. High school Whil ...

(class of 1976) — professional soccer player who set a national high school record with 71 goals in one season * Dennis Tufano (class of 1964) — original lead singer of

The Buckinghams The Buckinghams are an American pop band from Chicago. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top-selling acts of 1967, charting their only five top 40 hits in the U.S. that year. The band dissolved in 1970, but re-formed in 1980 ...

, a 1960s Chicago rock and roll group *

Ken Warzynski Kenneth Harry Warzynski (June 30, 1948 – January 18, 2019) was an American basketball player who played for DePaul University and was a second round draft pick (32nd pick overall) of the Detroit Pistons in the 1970 NBA draft. Early life Warz ...

(Class of 1966) —basketball player at

, 2nd Round draft pick of the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

* Raequan Williams (class of 2015) — football player on the Philadelphia Eagles; college football player at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

Jitim Young Jitim Young (born December 19, 1981) is an American basketball player. Young attended Northwestern University and was famous for his play at the collegiate level and as an All-American at Gordon Tech High School. High school career Young attended ...

(class of 2000) — basketball player at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

and the NBAJitim Young bio @nba.com (dleague)
. Nba.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-30.

References

External links

DePaul College Prep Homepage
{{authority control Catholic schools in Chicago Educational institutions established in 1952 Private high schools in Chicago Catholic secondary schools in Illinois 1952 establishments in Illinois