Marquette Academy is a

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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 ...

high 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., ...

Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the confluence of the navigable Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River and Illinois River, the latter being a conduit for river barges and ...

. It is located in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria The Diocese of Peoria () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the north central region of Illinois in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese within the ecclesiastical province of the metropolit ...

History

Marquette High School was originally known as St. Joseph's. It began teaching grade school and high school level courses in 1859. The name was later changed to St. Xavier Academy in 1900 when the school became an all-girls high school. In 1946, the school became a co-ed facility known as Ottawa Catholic High School. This only lasted three years, when the name was changed to Marquette High School in honor of Fr. Jacques Marquette. The original St. Xavier's building served as the high school facility until 1991, when it was torn down. A new addition was built after the demolition to replace the original building and was connected to the wing that was built in 1949 when the school became a co-ed high school. In the Fall of 2010, Marquette High School combined with the two privately funded Catholic Grade Schools in Ottawa, St. Patrick and St. Columba, and formed Marquette Academy, which house Pre-K through twelfth grades in three separate buildings. The high school campus remained the same, kindergarten through eighth grades are in the former St. Columba building, while preschool is in the early childhood center at St. Patrick's. In the Fall of 2015, the early childhood and elementary combined into one building. They are now both housed at the former St. Columba building.

Supporting parishes

The following parishes are feeder parishes to Marquette Academy. Their pastors serve as members of the Pastor's Board. St. Columba, Ottawa; St. Patrick's, Ottawa; St. Francis, Ottawa; St. Mary's, Grand Ridge; St. Michael's, Streator; St. Joseph's, Marseilles; St. Patrick's, Seneca; St. Patrick's, Ransom; St. Theresa's, Earlville; St. Joseph's, Wedron

Athletics

Marquette Academy High School is a member of the Tri-County Conference and the Northeastern Athletic Conference for football, and currently competes in 12 sports. The Marquette football team recently went undefeated in their new conference (9-0). They won the first round of the IHSA playoffs against Chicago Luther North (44-8). In the second round the crusaders lost to Forreston in overtime (35-34). Boys Sports - Football, Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Track & Field, Golf, Bowling, Wrestling Girls Sports - Volleyball, Softball, Basketball, Cross Country, Track & Field, Poms, Bowling, Cheerleading

Notable alumni

Bob McGrath Robert Emmett McGrath (June 13, 1932 – December 4, 2022) was an American actor, singer, and children's author best known for playing original human character and music teacher Bob Johnson on the educational television series ''Sesame Street' ...

is an actor and singer best known for his portrayal of Bob on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

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Guy Hoffman Guy Hoffman (born May 20, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is a drummer and vocalist, formerly of such bands as Oil Tasters, BoDeans, Violent Femmes, Absinthe and Radio Romeo. He is a composer for films such as ''Field Day''. Life Hoffman began ...

is a former professional baseball player. *

Bob Guyette Robert "Bob" Guyette (born August 29, 1953, in Ottawa, Illinois) is an American former professional basketball player, who played five seasons in the Spanish League. At a height of 6' 9", he played at the power forward position. After his playi ...

is a former pro basketball player.

References

http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id193.html

External links

School Website

Athletics Website
{{authority control Ottawa, Illinois Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria Catholic secondary schools in Illinois Educational institutions established in 1859 Schools in LaSalle County, Illinois 1859 establishments in Illinois