St. John Paul II Catholic High School is a Catholic high school in Avondale, Arizona.

History

In 1998, the pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas parish lobbied the diocese to buy land for a future elementary and high school. The diocese tapped the

Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia The Congregation of St. Cecilia, commonly known as the Nashville Dominicans, is a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a member of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, one of the ...

, known colloquially as the "Nashville Dominicans", to establish a presence in Phoenix and operate the new high school. Sr. Mary Jordan Hoover, O.P., previously the founding principal when the order built

Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School is a private school, private, college preparatory, coeducational Catholic school, Catholic high school in Dumfries, Virginia led by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. As a diocesan school of the ...

in northern Virginia, serves as the principal of JP2. On April 21, 2015, the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix The Diocese of Phoenix ( la, Dioecesis Phoenicensis; es, Diócesis de Phoenix) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory or diocese in the state of Arizona in the United States. It was established on December 2, 1969, when it was split off ...

announced plans to construct St. John Paul II Catholic High School in Avondale on diocesan property next to St. Thomas Aquinas parish. Ground was broken for the new school at a ceremony on January 21, 2017. Later in the year, the diocese launched a $100 million capital campaign, "Together Let Us Go Forth". The largest grant of the funds to be raised from the program, $23 million, was earmarked for the new high school. The first phase, consisting of a three-story academic building and gymnasium, opened in August 2018, accepting 150 freshmen and sophomores, with about 40% of students coming from public schools. It was the second diocesan high school to open west of

Interstate 17 Interstate 17 (I-17) is a north–south Interstate Highway entirely within the US state of Arizona. I-17's southern terminus lies in Phoenix, at I-10, and its northern terminus is in Flagstaff, at Milton Road north of I-40. Most of I-17 ...

. John Paul II was the second Catholic high school in the diocese to use a "house" system, in which each student is assigned to one of six houses. In March 2019, Bishop

Thomas Olmsted Thomas James Olmsted (born January 21, 1947) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix in Arizona from 2003 to 2022. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Wichita in Kansas from 200 ...

dedicated the new chapel altar, which features a relic: a lock of hair of Saint John Paul II.

Athletics

The JP2 girls basketball team won the

Canyon Athletic Association The Canyon Athletic Association (CAA), previously known as the Arizona Charter Athletic Association, is an American non-profit regulatory organization for athletic competition among secondary schools located in Arizona. The CAA serves small non-tr ...

state title in its first year, with the school moving into the larger

Arizona Interscholastic Association The Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) is one of two regulatory bodies for high school athletics and activities in the state of Arizona. It comprises all of the state's public district high schools (except Ajo High School, Beaver Dam High S ...

for 2019–20.

References

{{authority control Schools in Maricopa County, Arizona Catholic secondary schools in Arizona 2018 establishments in Arizona Catholic Church in Arizona Educational institutions established in 2018 Avondale, Arizona