Leo Catholic High School is a private all-male,

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

high school in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood of

Chicago, Illinois 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 ...

, United States. It is located in 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 home to a predominantly African–American student body. The school is named in honor of

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

History

Established in 1926 by the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...

, their first school in Chicago, Leo Catholic High School has educated thousands of boys from Chicago's South Side and suburbs.

Athletics

Since its founding in 1926, Leo has competed in the

Chicago Catholic League The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some ...

. The school also competes in state championship 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 F ...

(IHSA). These teams have finished in the top four of their respective IHSA state tournament: *basketball: 4th place (1997–98); State Champions (2003–04); 2nd place (2015–16) *track & field: 3rd place (1982–83, 2000–01, 2004–05); 2nd place (1999–2000, 2003–04); State Champions (1980–81, 1994–95, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2010–11, 2011–12) The school was initially known for its football team, which made 8 appearances in Chicago's Prep Bowl, which pitted the champion of the Catholic League against the winner from the

Chicago Public League The Chicago Public High School Athletic Association, commonly known as the Chicago Public League (CPL), is the interscholastic competition arm of the Chicago Public Schools. The governance of the CPL is set through the Department of Sports Admi ...

from 1934 to 1956. The 1941, 42 and 56 teams won Prep Bowl city championships at

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

. Leo High School is also recognized as the 1941 high school football national champion. In particular, the 1937 and 1941 Prep Bowls are recognized as holding the state of Illinois' all-time records for attendance at a football game. The 1937 attendance was estimated at 110,000 spectators, which saw Leo lose to Austin High School, 26–0. The 1941 game saw 95,000 spectators watch Leo defeat Tilden High School, 46–13. The 1940 and 42 games each had 75,000 fans, meaning Leo has played in front of four of the 11 largest crowds in Illinois high school history.

Heads of School

Principal # Shaka Rawls '93 (2016–present) Presidents # Robert W. Foster (1991–2010) # Dan McGrath '68 (2010–present)

Notable alumni

* John Boles (class of 1966),

Major League Baseball 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 ...

manager and executive * Andre Brown (class of 2000),

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

forward (2006–2009) * Thomas R. Fitzgerald (class of 1959), retired chief justice of the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the fiv ...

* John P. Fardy (class of 1940), U.S. Marine who received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

posthumously for heroic actions at the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

. * John R. Gorman, auxiliary bishop of Chicago * John J. Houlihan. Illinois state representatives and businessman * Jason Jefferson (class of 1998), NFL

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

(2005–08) * Edward Maloney, politician * Andrew J. McKenna (class of 1947), businessman (chairman of McDonald's, 2004–16; director of the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

) * Thomas Murphy, Chairman and CEO of

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

Corporation (1974–80) * Jim O'Toole (class of 1955), Major League Baseball pitcher, starter for National League in 1963 All-Star Game * Matthew "Big Child" Keane (Class of 1988), Inventor of Flameless lunch bag. * Stan Patrick (class of 1940), professional basketball player * Ryan Shields (born 1983), Jamaican sprinter * William J. Walker, Major General

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, commanding general,

District of Columbia National Guard The District of Columbia National Guard is the branch of the United States National Guard, National Guard of the United States based in the District of Columbia. It comprises both the District of Columbia Army National Guard, D.C. Army National ...

(class of 1975) *

Chris Watson John Christian Watson (born Johan Cristian Tanck; 9 April 186718 November 1941) was an Australian politician who served as the third prime minister of Australia from April to August 1904. He held office as the inaugural federal leader of the Au ...

(class of 1995),

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

(1999–2003)

References

External links

Leo High School

GreatSchools, Inc
{{authority control Catholic schools in Chicago Catholic secondary schools in Illinois Educational institutions established in 1926 Boys' schools in the United States Private high schools in Chicago 1926 establishments in Illinois Congregation of Christian Brothers secondary schools African-American Roman Catholic schools