Malden Catholic High School

Malden Catholic High School
Address
99 Crystal Street
Malden, Massachusetts
United States
Coordinates 42°25′37″N 71°02′49″W / 42.427°N 71.047°W / 42.427; -71.047Coordinates: 42°25′37″N 71°02′49″W / 42.427°N 71.047°W / 42.427; -71.047
Information
Type Private, All-Boys
Motto Plus Ultra
(More Beyond)
Denomination Roman Catholic
Established 1932
Principal Br. Thomas Puccio, C.F.X.
Headmaster Thomas J. Doherty, III
Faculty 53
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 600
Average class size 23
Student to teacher ratio 13:1[1]
Campus type Urban
Color(s) Blue and Gold         
Mascot Lancer
Accreditation NEASC[2]
Newspaper Crystal 99
Yearbook The Lance
Tuition $15,500 (2016-2017)
Affiliation Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools
Website Official website

Malden Catholic High School is a private, Catholic secondary school for young men located in Malden, Massachusetts. The school was founded by the Congregation of the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier, an international congregation of religious brothers. It is a member of the Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools[3] and the National Catholic Educational Association.[4]

History

Highland Ave. (1932–1968)

In 1932, work began on a new school, officially called Boys' Catholic High School, located on Highland Avenue in Malden, near the Immaculate Conception School. The project was established by the Richard Neagle, then pastor of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Malden, Massachusetts.

Reverend Neagle turned to the Xaverian Brothers to lead the new school. In 1936, Boys' Catholic officially opened. The school's first headmaster was Brother Gilbert. Boys' Catholic, colloquially referred to as "Malden Catholic", was a highly successful school, and for several decades it served as a major academic institution, educating boys from Malden and numerous greater Boston cities and towns such as Somerville, Medford, Melrose, Charlestown and Everett. The school was also a major athletic competitor in football (playing home games at Brother Gilbert Stadium), hockey and other sports. Boys' Catholic went through seven headmasters including Brother Lambert and Brother Charles Borromeo before it closed in 1968 with thousands of greater Boston young men having benefited from the devotion of the Xaverian Brothers.[5]

After 1968, the building became a junior high school for the Immaculate Conception School. The lab classrooms were used by Girls Catholic High School, (the sister school to Boys' Catholic) until 1992, when that school closed. While both schools were opened, because of their close proximity, and conservative administration, the boys were released from school earlier than the girls so they would not converge in the neighborhood at the same time. Immaculate Conception School closed its doors in 2006 after 125 years of service.

Crystal St. (1968–present)

After the school closed, Richard Cushing, Cardinal Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, requested that it be re-established. The Xaverian Brothers created a much larger, more regional high school on Crystal Street. The new building contained two floors and 30 classrooms, along with an auditorium and gymnasium, among other things.[5] The loan given to Malden Catholic by the Archdiocese to build the new complex was later forgiven by Cardinal Cushing.

Malden Catholic gained fame in January 1999 when U.S. News & World Report profiled it in its examination of 96 "Outstanding American High Schools".[6] The school's first lay headmaster, Mr. Thomas Arria, Jr., took over in 2005.

In recent years, renovation has started on the Crystal Street complex. The $1 million sports field has recently been completed, as well as a new cafeteria.

Religious affiliation

Malden Catholic High School is sponsored by the Congregation of St. Francis Xavier, known more commonly as the Xaverian Brothers, and for many years the Brothers formed a large part of its faculty. In recent years, its faculty has been made up primarily of lay people, but the school still has the highest number of Xaverian Brothers of any school on the East Coast.

The school wears its Catholic affiliation proudly. Students take four full years of Catholic Theology courses and take part in many forms of charity drive and Christian service.

Christian service

The school places a strong emphasis on "Christian service", volunteer community service inspired by the teachings of Christ. Such service can take place in many forms. Students are required to perform a minimum number of hours of service each year. Freshmen are to perform at least 10 hours, sophomores are to perform at least 20, and juniors are to perform at least 30.

Seniors take part in a unique Christian service program at the end of the year. Senior classes end in mid-April, and for three weeks after this point, seniors are required to visit a designated service site to do volunteer work for about six hours per day, for a total of 90 hours of Christian service. (Students with Advanced Placement classes continue taking these classes through this interval, and are given a reduced number of hours to complete.) The goal of this project is to give students a sizable amount of experience and practice using Christian principles of mutual service outside of school.

Athletics

Malden Catholic is a Division 1 member of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). It is a member of the highly competitive Catholic Conference, a five-school athletics league, alongside competitors St. John's Preparatory School, Boston College High School, Xaverian Brothers High School, and Catholic Memorial School. St. John's is an occasional sixth team in some sports. The school colors are blue and gold, and the team mascot is the Lancer.

Malden Catholic students have a long-standing rivalry with St. John's Prep and a rivalry with Xaverian is increasing.

Stadium

Malden Catholic's main athletic facility was opened in 1988 as Brother Gilbert Stadium and was set with natural grass. The stadium was constructed so that Malden Catholic teams would no longer have to use the public Roosevelt Park, down the street and off campus. It was found that the stadium could not grow grass well and, after a decade or so, it needed heavy repairs.

Following the 2002 football season, the school received a $1,000,000 donation to completely renovate the stadium from James Donovan, a Natick resident. Four other alumni together donated an additional $800,000 toward the project, and reconstruction began.

The natural grass in the field was replaced with FieldTurf, and a new track and lighting system was added. In 2004, the field was reopened as Donovan Field at Brother Gilbert Stadium, with the new track reopened as Brother Myles MacManus Track . The field was named in memory of Donovan's father, James R. Donovan, a Malden Catholic alumnus who later worked as a custodian at the school.[7]

Extracurricular activities

Malden Catholic High School maintains many clubs and extracurricular activities. Each is moderated by a member of the faculty. Extracurricular activities are considered a crucial element of social and academic development, and students are consistently encouraged to join.

Chess Club

The Chess Club consists of a group of students who play chess with the other schools in the North Shore Interscholastic Chess League. In the 2012-2013 season, Malden Catholic was first in its division. They were runner-up in the NSICL championship. They also won the blitz tournament.

Student government

Malden Catholic has a Student Council which organizes many of the school's events and charity drives. The council consists of an executive board of six officers, as well as seven committee chairs.[8]

Student newspaper

Crystal 99 logo

The Crystal 99, Malden Catholic's official newspaper, is a student-written and student-run publication that has been the recipient of many regional awards, including 11 straight all-New England awards from the New England Scholastic Press Association.[9] Founded in 1943, the paper has a long history and has helped the school establish a strong sense of identity, bringing together its many different social groups and events.

National Honor Society

Malden Catholic maintains a chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS), a national organization designed to recognize students' academic achievements. Malden Catholic's chapter, known as the Brother Gilbert Chapter, currently holds 52 tenth grade sophomores, 43 juniors and 41 seniors. The chapter is open to all juniors and seniors who either have a percentage grade of 88 or higher, or who are in the top 15 percent of their class, gradewise.

Math Team

The Math Team meets six times each year to compete in the New England Mathematics League (NEML), the New England division of the Math League. Math League contests consist of six challenging mathematics problems. Students are given a grade from 0 to 6. The top five scores from each school are submitted to the Math League, with a maximum of 30 points per contest. There are six contests a year, with a maximum school score of 180.[10]

In addition to the NEML contests, students also take part in a parallel intramural tournament, the Lancers Intramural Mathematics Organization (LIMO). These contests are similar to NEML's, and take place in between the national contests. LIMO contests consist of an Individual Round, in which students score between 0 and 6, and a Team Round, in which students split into groups to work on problems together, with a maximum score of 3.

Robotics Club

The Robotics Club was founded by Patrick Napier, along with the help of Patrick Devito, both of the graduating class of 2006. Dennis Gleason of the mathematics department is the moderator of the club. In the contest, students build a team of robots that enter the international BotBall competition. The New England Regional Tournament is held annually at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. In 2006, students won first place for the Documentation part of the judging for the New England Division. In 2008, the MC Robotics team was the winner of the New England Regional Botball Tournament. They finished first in the seeding round, second in double-elimination, and third in documentation. These scores were good enough to win the overall championship. They also received a judges' choice award. The team performed admirably at the International championships at the University of Oklahoma, again winning a judges' choice award. In the 2008-2009 season, the Malden Catholic Robotics Team again won the New England Regional Tournament, sweeping all three categories of seeding, double elimination, and documentation. At the 2009 Global Conference on Educational Robotics, Malden Catholic placed third in the world.

Model UN

Malden Catholic's Model UN Club began in the early 1990s to increase awareness of the United Nations system, international relations, as well as foster debate, diplomacy and understanding of different peoples and cultures. In that time MC Delegates have participated in numerous Model UN simulations throughout New England, including conferences at Harvard and Brown Universities, Bentley College, and other conferences hosted by area high schools.

Malden Catholic's MUN Club has also hosted several Malden Catholic Model United Nations Conferences (MCMUNC) throughout the years, for other MUN Clubs throughout Massachusetts and New England.

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Malden Catholic High School." Private School Review. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
  2. ↑ NEASC-CIS. "NEASC-Commission on Independent Schools". Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  3. ↑ "Schools." Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools. Retrieved September 30, 2006.
  4. ↑ "Malden Catholic High School." Private School Review. Retrieved September 30, 2006.
  5. 1 2 "History." Malden Catholic High School. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  6. ↑ Oliviera, Ric (January 8, 1999). "Durfee named as outstanding high school." SouthCoastToday.com. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  7. ↑ Tracy, Donis (March 3, 2006). "Natick man honored for support of Catholic schools." The Pilot. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  8. ↑ "Student Council." Malden Catholic High School. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  9. ↑ "Student Newspaper Receives Accolades." Malden Catholic High School. Press release (March 18, 2005). Retrieved February 26, 2006.
  10. ↑ "Contests." New England Mathematics League. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
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