Saint Lawrence Academy was a college-preparatory

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 in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...

, United States, founded in 1975. The school was marketed for its small size with close interaction among students, administration, faculty, and counselors. It was affiliated with the Diocese of San Jose. It closed in 2016.

Academics

As a college preparatory school, Saint Lawrence Academy's graduation requirements included coursework in English,

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

social studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, foreign language,

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ('' computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as ''programs'', ...

and

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

. The school also offered

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

and various honors courses. Languages included French,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

Athletics

Approximately 70% of Saint Lawrence Academy students participated in athletics. The Celtics fielded 14 teams in 11 sports, including

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, cross country,

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

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, and

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 Summ ...

. Saint Lawrence Academy's Cross Country team began in 1988 and competed in the Private School Athletic League (PSAL). The school earned 10 individual qualifications to the Division 5 CIF State Cross Country Championships. Celtics runners competed in State Championship races nine times since 2000. Three former athletes finished runner-up in the Division 5 Central Coast Section (CCS): Omar Ahmad, 2nd place, 2001 and 2002; Amina Ahmad, 2nd place, 2004 (3rd place in 2003); and Carlos Chavez, 2nd place, 2007. Omar Ahmad competed in cross country and track and field for

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

. In 2010, the cross country team went undefeated during the regular league season and were co-league champions of the PSAL, representing the best overall team effort on the largest team in school history (33 athletes). The 2010 team also broke numerous school records, including overall team size, earning a perfect score in a league meet (JV league finals with a score of 15), two first place race finishers in two league meet races in the same meet (varsity and JV boys individual champions) and many more. One very important school record was established by the girls—having five girls stay together all season to finish with the first ever girls team in school history. Saint Lawrence Academy Track and Field also began in 1998, and competed as a supplemental member of the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL). The Celtics earned a total of 11 CCS trials qualifications. Celtics athletes have competed in the CCS trials in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and qualified two athletes at the end of the 2011 season. The 2011 track & field team had a roster of 58 athletes and 4 student managers, representing 25% of the student body. One former student is the 11th best pole vaulter in CCS history and later member of the

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Big Red track & field team, Josh Cusick. During his time at St. Lawrence, Cusick earned All-American status twice: in the decathlon at the 2007 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships in Walnut, California, and in the pentathlon at the 2008 National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York City. During his junior year, Cusick finished 6th in the state of California at the State Championships in the pole vault. During his senior year he jumped a school record of 16–00.75 and became the 11th best all-time pole vaulter in the CCS. He finished his high school career with a total of 16 school records (400m, 800m, 1000m, 60m/65m/110m/300m/400m hurdles, long jump, high jump, discus, pole vault, 4 × 400m relay, javelin, pentathlon, and decathlon). In February and May 2011, as a sophomore at Cornell, he became the Ivy League's reigning men's heptathlon runner-up and men's decathlon runner-up at the indoor and outdoor Heptagonal Championships, respectively. Saint Lawrence Academy's Baseball team has also been invited, perennially, to the CIF-CCS championships. The soccer team from the 1995–96 school year made the CCS playoffs for the first time in school history.

History

In , Saint Lawrence Academy was founded.

Closure

On , the Diocese of San Jose announced the closure of Saint Lawrence Academy at the conclusion of the school year due to "a significant accumulated deficit, declining enrollment levels, and the inability to raise funds to stabilize and sustain operations".

References

External links

* {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1975 1975 establishments in California Educational institutions disestablished in 2016 2016 disestablishments in California Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in California Catholic secondary schools in California Education in Santa Clara, California High schools in Santa Clara County, California