John F Kennedy Catholic School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

located in

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. It opened in 1967 and has a current student population of approximately 1,100, aged 11 to 18. The secondary school currently has a student population over 170 in 6th form, which is its largest 6th form on record. The school's motto is ''Pacem in terris'' (peace on Earth). The school is also part of a local partnership of secondary schools, offering a variety of subject choices for post-16 students, but as of 2020, this partnership is more limited. In September 2009, the school opened a major £8.4m ($16.2m) new building project which has expanded facilities for several of the school's subject departments. The building project includes: * A new teaching block * 4 new tennis courts on previously unused field area * A new sports hall in the 'spinney' (a wooded area on the school site) * A new playground in front of the school's largest teaching block, the 'B Block' * A new car park to help deal with local parking issues, which will take up the remainder of the current tennis court area The school has minimised the impact on the local environment by avoiding significant loss of trees. The project also involved the planting of new trees, and using trees which are required to be cut down as wood-chip paths and for the construction of the gazebo-type structure in the so-called 'spinney'. Previously a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

administered by Hertfordshire County Council, in June 2023 John F Kennedy Catholic School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the All Saints Catholic Academy Trust, but continues to be under the jurisdiction of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster The Archdiocese of Westminster (Latin: ''Dioecesis Vestmonasteriensis'') is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in England. The diocese consists of most of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Speltho ...

Achievements and recognition

The school gained Technology College status in 1998, has received

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

inspection reports describing it as "outstanding", and appeared on Ofsted's "honours list". It has also received the following special recognitions: * Schools Curriculum Award 2000 * Investor in People

Alumni

* Luke O'Nien (b. 1994) - professional footballer, Sunderland A.F.C.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control 1967 establishments in England Monuments and memorials to presidents of the United States in the United Kingdom Educational institutions established in 1967 Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Westminster Schools in Hemel Hempstead Secondary schools in Hertfordshire Academies in Hertfordshire