St. Patrick High School is an all-boys college preparatory

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

high school located in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood on the northwest side of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. Opened in 1861, it is among the oldest continuously open high schools in the Chicago area.History of St. Patrick HS

History

The original school, St. Patrick Academy, was opened by the Christian Brothers near Adams Street and Des Plaines. In 1953, the school moved to its current site, on Belmont and Austin avenues. The student population was bigger than anticipated, which required almost immediate addition to the new structure; a construction project completed for the 1956—57 school year. In 1991, one floor of the school was redeveloped as a computer center. After a long term fundraising effort, further addition and remodeling took place with the addition of an atrium, theater, music facilities, media center, and a second smaller gymnasium.

Academics

St. Patrick offers three levels of education to its students: the Phoenix Program for students who need additional academic support, the College Prep Program, and the Honors Program.

Student life

Non-Athletic Activities

The school also has an academic team, a

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

team, band,

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that weig ...

, and dance. The chess team finished second in the IHSA state chess tournament in 1977 and tied for third in 2008. The chess team has had multiple state tournament appearances, and has developed a friendly rivalry with St. Ignatius College Prep. The

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

squad is composed of girls from nearby all-girls schools who choose to try out.

Theatre Department

The school's Theatre Department stages one play in the fall, one student play in the winter, one musical in the spring, and one miscellaneous play in the summer as part of its Community Theater Initiative. The school’s theatre, the Stahl Family Theatre, is partnered with the Chicago Kids Theatre Company for it being one of the most technologically advanced theaters in the Chicago area.

Athletics

St. Patrick's athletic teams are named the Shamrocks. The school participates in the

East Suburban Catholic Conference The East Suburban Catholic Conference (ESCC) is an athletic conference consisting of 9 Catholic high schools in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois (though despite its name, two schools are located in the city itself). The conference became indepe ...

(ESCC) for most of their sports, which include

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, bowling, cross country, football,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, soccer, swimming & diving,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

, water polo, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. The school also sponsors teams in

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

, and

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

which are not sponsored by the ESCC. All of these sports have state tournaments sponsored by the

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fe ...

(IHSA). The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournaments: *Baseball: 2nd (2005–2006) *Water Polo: 2nd (2002–2003) *Volleyball: 4th (2008–2009) *Soccer: 4th (2017-2018) *Soccer: 4th (2019-2020) *Bowling: 4th (2019-2020)

Basketball

In 1932 St. Patrick (at the time called St. Patrick Academy) won the National Catholic Interscholastic Basketball Tournament. The tournament was hosted by Loyola University, and it invited high schools from across the country, including top teams in New York,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, all of which were considered powerhouse states for basketball at the high school level. St. Patrick was originally not invited to play in the tournament, but was called in last minute as a substitute when an originally schedule team could not make the tournament. The national champion Shamrocks defeated the now closed St. Mel (Chicago) Knights 22-20. A young

Ray Meyer Raymond Joseph Meyer (December 18, 1913 – March 17, 2006) was an American men's collegiate basketball coach from Chicago, Illinois. He was well known for coaching at DePaul University from 1942 to 1984, compiling a 724–354 record. Meye ...

, famous DePaul University men’s basketball coach, lead the Shamrocks with 12 points. In 1949 St. Patrick captured the Chicago City Championship crown, which had the Chicago Public League champion against the Chicago Catholic League champion. St. Patrick defeated Leo High School 47-35 securing them their first Chicago Catholic League title. St. Patrick had to play Tilden High School, the Chicago Public League champion, for the City Championship. At

Chicago Stadium Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. ...

the Shamrocks upset Tilden 54-53. The Shamrocks trailed throughout the majority of the game, but were able to take the lead in the final minute, and completed the historic upset.

Water Polo

The 90’s and early 2000’s treated the Shamrocks well in terms of water polo. The team won multiple competitions, with dominate winning seasons. The Shamrocks had multiple state finals appearances, and one state title. The water polo team won the ISA (Illinois Swimming Association) state title in 1997, going 28–0. This was not an IHSA sponsored title, as water polo only became an IHSA sponsored sport in 2001.

Notable alumni and attendees

* Xavier Pinson (2014-2017) is a college basketball player for

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

. He previously played for the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

. * Bill Keating (1963), trial attorney and former defensive tackle and guard for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

and

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

* Raymond J. Leopold, Ph.D. (1963) Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel; Former

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...

Vice President and Chief Technical Officer; and

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

Professor of Aerospace Systems. Holder of 27 patents, he served on a team of three engineers who conceived, developed and implemented the Iridium Satellite-Based Telecommunications System, honored in an exhibit in the

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Na ...

. *

Tim McGarigle Timothy J. McGarigle (born October 25, 1983) is a former professional American football linebacker in the National Football League. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at N ...

(2002) Former NFL Player for the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

. Former linebacker for the

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...

(1933) was DePaul men's basketball coach (1942–84) and 1979 inductee to the Basketball Hall of Fame * John G. Mulroe (1977), lawyer and

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Illinois state senator The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the I ...

* Joe Rau, international level Greco-Roman wrestler * New Colony Six (1964): 5 of the 6 founding members of the band are 1964 graduates: Chic James (James Chitkowski), Ray Graffia, Wally Kemp, Pat McBride and Gerry Van Kollenberg. * Dan Santucci (2002) is a former offensive lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals. Former offensive lineman for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

. * Jacob Zachar (2004) is an actor (Rusty on the TV series

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Notable faculty

Robert Halperin Robert Sherman "Bob" Halperin (January 26, 1908 – May 8, 1985), nicknamed "Buck", was an American Star class sailor, and Olympic bronze medalist and Pan American Games gold medalist. He was also a college and National Football League (NFL) fo ...

coached football at St. Patrick. He was an Olympic (bronze) and Pan American Games (gold) yachting medalist, Wisconsin and Notre Dame and NFL football player, one of Chicago's most-decorated World War II heroes, and Chairman of Commercial Light Co.

References

External links

St. Patrick High School
(official site)

(news website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patrick High School, Chicago Lasallian schools in the United States Catholic schools in Chicago Private high schools in Chicago Educational institutions established in 1861 Catholic secondary schools in Illinois Boys' schools in Illinois 1861 establishments in Illinois