St. Viator High School
Encyclopedia
St. Viator High School is a Roman Catholic
co-educational secondary school in Arlington Heights
, Illinois
. It serves as a college preparatory school with approximately eleven-hundred students from the mid- and outer-northwest suburbs of Chicago
. Part of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the school is run by the Clerics of Saint Viator
.
reallocated some land it had already owned — tentatively designated for a future cemetery — for educational purposes, and assigned the Clerics of St. Viator to build and run a boys' secondary school
. It opened in 1961 to a small class of freshmen
and a few sophomore
s, graduating its first class in 1965.
Enrollments waxed and waned over the next few decades. Faced with declining numbers in 1987, the choice was made to merge with Sacred Heart of Mary High School of Rolling Meadows
, with which St. Viator already had a sister-school relationship. The merger was effected in the summer of 1987; St. Viator absorbed the faculty, staff, and student body of Sacred Heart beginning with the 1987–88 school year, and admitted a co-educational freshman class (the class of 1991).
The physical plant remained largely unchanged from its original 1961 footprint. A co—educational student population required the construction of a girls' locker room. This kicked off a string of renovations to occur throughout the 1990s, including a renovation of the boys' locker room, the chapel
, and science labs. After a major capital campaign, the school constructed a multipurpose athletic addition, and the Boler Center was dedicated in summer of 2005.
In 2011 a senior prank played by the departing class made headlines in the area, after a student used school stationery and envelopes to mail letters to all senior parents and claiming that mandatory body cavity searches would be performed at prom. The letter caused outrage among parents until it was revealed to be nothing more than a prank. Nonetheless, the story made its way to the local papers and later the Chicago Tribune and nationally broadcast on WGN News. As of May 11, the culprit has not been found.
curriculum. Students are required to take classes from a breadth of areas, including math
, English
, fine arts, science
, social science, and religion
; a foreign language is required for a minimum of two years. Instruction in the Spanish
, French
, and Italian
languages is offered. German
is no longer offered since 2008.
13 Advanced Placement courses are offered in English Language, English Literature, Calculus
(AB & BC), Spanish Language
, French Language
, Biology
, Chemistry
, Physics
(C), U.S. History, European History
, and Comparative Government and Politics
The school requires students to complete a fixed number of community service hours in order to graduate. Starting with the class of 2010, students are required to complete 25 hours of community service-per-year, for a total of 100 hours prior to graduation. Prior classes required only 75 hours of community service.
In 2008 St. Viator was named a blue ribbon school by the U.S. Department of Education. It is one of only three private high schools in the country to be recognized as blue ribbon schools.
; for swimming and water polo
, the Metro Catholic Aquatic Conference; and for lacrosse
, the Mid-Suburban Conference of the Illinois High School Lacrosse Association. The St. Viator varsity hockey team plays in both the Chicago Catholic Hockey League and the Metro North Conference.
The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective sports in state tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association
:
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
co-educational secondary school in Arlington Heights
Arlington Heights, Illinois
Arlington Heights is a village in Cook and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about 25 miles northwest of the city's downtown. The population was 75,101 at the 2010 census....
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. It serves as a college preparatory school with approximately eleven-hundred students from the mid- and outer-northwest suburbs of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Part of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the school is run by the Clerics of Saint Viator
Clerics of Saint Viator
The Viatorians, or Clerics of Saint Viator , are a Roman Catholic religious order founded in Lyon, France in 1831 by Father Louis Querbes. Its patron, Saint Viator, had been a 4th century catechist in Lyon...
.
History
The Archdiocese of ChicagoRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago
The Archdiocese of Chicago was established as a diocese in 1843 and as an Archdiocese in 1880. It serves more than 2.3 million Catholics in Cook and Lake counties in Northeastern Illinois, a geographic area of 1,411 square miles. The Archdiocese is divided into six vicariates and 31 deaneries...
reallocated some land it had already owned — tentatively designated for a future cemetery — for educational purposes, and assigned the Clerics of St. Viator to build and run a boys' secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
. It opened in 1961 to a small class of freshmen
Freshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...
and a few sophomore
Sophomore
Sophomore is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the second year of study at high school or university.The word is also used as a synonym for "second", for the second album or EP released by a musician or group, the second movie of a director, or the second season of a...
s, graduating its first class in 1965.
Enrollments waxed and waned over the next few decades. Faced with declining numbers in 1987, the choice was made to merge with Sacred Heart of Mary High School of Rolling Meadows
Rolling Meadows, Illinois
Rolling Meadows is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 24,607 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Rolling Meadows is located at ....
, with which St. Viator already had a sister-school relationship. The merger was effected in the summer of 1987; St. Viator absorbed the faculty, staff, and student body of Sacred Heart beginning with the 1987–88 school year, and admitted a co-educational freshman class (the class of 1991).
The physical plant remained largely unchanged from its original 1961 footprint. A co—educational student population required the construction of a girls' locker room. This kicked off a string of renovations to occur throughout the 1990s, including a renovation of the boys' locker room, the chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, and science labs. After a major capital campaign, the school constructed a multipurpose athletic addition, and the Boler Center was dedicated in summer of 2005.
In 2011 a senior prank played by the departing class made headlines in the area, after a student used school stationery and envelopes to mail letters to all senior parents and claiming that mandatory body cavity searches would be performed at prom. The letter caused outrage among parents until it was revealed to be nothing more than a prank. Nonetheless, the story made its way to the local papers and later the Chicago Tribune and nationally broadcast on WGN News. As of May 11, the culprit has not been found.
Academics
St. Viator follows a college preparatoryUniversity-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
curriculum. Students are required to take classes from a breadth of areas, including math
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
, fine arts, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, social science, and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
; a foreign language is required for a minimum of two years. Instruction in the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
languages is offered. German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
is no longer offered since 2008.
13 Advanced Placement courses are offered in English Language, English Literature, Calculus
AP Calculus
Advanced Placement Calculus is used to indicate one of two distinct Advanced Placement courses and examinations offered by the College Board, AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC....
(AB & BC), Spanish Language
AP Spanish Language
Advanced Placement Spanish Language is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program.-The course:...
, French Language
AP French Language
Advanced Placement French Language and Culture is a course offered by the College Board to high school students in the United States as an opportunity to earn placement credit for a college-level French course...
, Biology
AP Biology
In the United States, Advanced Placement Biology , is a course and examination offered by the College Board to high school students as an opportunity to earn placement credit for a college-level biology course....
, Chemistry
AP Chemistry
Advanced Placement Chemistry is a course and examination offered by the College Board as a part of the Advanced Placement Program to give American and Canadian high school students the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and earn college-level credit.-The course:AP Chemistry is a course...
, Physics
AP Physics C
Part of the College Board's Advanced Placement Program, consisting of two separate courses:*AP Physics C: Mechanics*AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism...
(C), U.S. History, European History
AP European History
Advanced Placement European History is a course and examination offered by the College Board through the Advanced Placement Program...
, and Comparative Government and Politics
AP Comparative Government and Politics
Advanced Placement Comparative Government and Politics is an examination given by the College Board through the Advanced Placement Program...
The school requires students to complete a fixed number of community service hours in order to graduate. Starting with the class of 2010, students are required to complete 25 hours of community service-per-year, for a total of 100 hours prior to graduation. Prior classes required only 75 hours of community service.
In 2008 St. Viator was named a blue ribbon school by the U.S. Department of Education. It is one of only three private high schools in the country to be recognized as blue ribbon schools.
Extra-curricular activities
Saint Viator offers various academic and leadership societies, such as the National Honor Society, Ambassador's Club, Viatribe, Computer Club, Ski Team, Student Action Tribe, Math Club, Chess Club, Outdoor Adventure Club, Anime Club (new), SADD-Students Against Destructive Decisions, French Club, Yearbook, Recycling Corps, Link Crew, Tech Crew and Student Council; student activism groups, like the Student Action Tribe; foreign language clubs, and Scholastic Bowl. There are also many performing ensembles offered: Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Pep Band, Musical Pit Orchestra, Show Choir, Concert Choir, Men's a Capella, and Orchesis.Athletics
For most sports, St. Viator plays in the East Suburban Catholic ConferenceEast Suburban Catholic Conference
The East Suburban Catholic Conference is an athletic conference consisting of 13 Catholic high schools in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois . The conference became independent in 1974....
; for swimming and water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
, the Metro Catholic Aquatic Conference; and for lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, the Mid-Suburban Conference of the Illinois High School Lacrosse Association. The St. Viator varsity hockey team plays in both the Chicago Catholic Hockey League and the Metro North Conference.
The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective sports in state tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...
:
- Baseball: 2nd place (1964–65)
- Golf (boys): 3rd place (1983–84); 2nd place (2006–07); State Champions (2007–08, 08-09, 09-10)
- Soccer (boys): 4th place (2001–02); 3rd place (1996–97, 97–98, 2004–05); 2nd place (2000–01); State Champions (2003–04, 2009–10)
- Soccer (girls): 2nd place (09-10),State Champions (2001–02, 02–03, 04–05);
- Swimming & Diving (boys): 4th place (1973–74)
- Water Polo (boys): 4th place (2001–02)
Notable alumni
- Brett BasanezBrett BasanezBrett Stephen Basanez is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Northwestern....
(class of 2001) — record breaking quarterbackQuarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
for Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
; formerly of the Carolina PanthersCarolina PanthersThe Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
and Chicago BearsChicago BearsThe Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... - Rob EiterRob EiterRob Eiter is an American Olympic wrestler. He competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he wrestled in the 48 kilogram weight class. He wrestled for Sunkist Wrestling Club and attended Arizona State University, where he wrestled under Bobby Douglass...
(class of 1985) — 1996 Olympic wrestlerWrestling at the 1996 Summer OlympicsAt the 1996 Summer Olympics, 2 different wrestling disciplines were contested: freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling. The freestyle category was notable as it featured the gold medal performance of Kurt Angle, who later became a notable professional wrestler.-Freestyle:-Greco-Roman:-Medal... - Ted NugentTed NugentTheodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
— rock star of The Amboy DukesThe Amboy DukesThe Amboy Dukes were an American rock music band of the late 1960s and early 1970s from Detroit, Michigan, best remembered for their hit single "Journey to the Center of the Mind", and for launching the career of Ted Nugent...
and Damn YankeesDamn Yankees (band)Damn Yankees was an American hard rock supergroup.-History:The band was formed in 1989, consisting of Tommy Shaw of Styx, Jack Blades of Night Ranger, Ted Nugent of The Amboy Dukes and a successful solo career, and Michael Cartellone...
as well as an accomplished solo career. Best known for conservativeConservatismConservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
and pro-hunting views - Jarrett PaytonJarrett PaytonJarrett Walter Payton is a professional American and Canadian football running back. He is the son of Walter Payton. Payton was previously signed as an undrafted free agent by the NFL Tennessee Titans....
(class of 1999) — CFLCanadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
running backRunning backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
for the Montreal AlouettesMontreal AlouettesThe Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...
and son of Walter PaytonWalter PaytonWalter Jerry Payton was an American football running back who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League for thirteen seasons. Walter Payton was known around the NFL as "Sweetness". He is remembered as one of the most prolific running backs in the history of American football... - Jonathan SpectorJonathan SpectorJonathan Michael Paul Spector is an American soccer player who plays as a defender for Birmingham City. He started his professional career in England when he was signed by Manchester United as a teenager, but rarely appeared for the club...
(class of 2004) soccer player, defender for West Ham United (Premier League) & U. S. national teamUnited States men's national soccer teamThe United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF... - Brian StackBrian StackBrian Stack is an American actor, writer and comedian best known for his sketch comedy work on all three Conan O'Brien late-night talk shows, previously working on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, and currently on O'Brien's newest show, Conan on TBS.-Early...
(class of 1982) — performer and writer on Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
Notable staff
- Ron FeiereiselRon FeiereiselRonald E. Feiereisel was an American basketball player and coach.A 6'3" guard, Feiereisel starred at DePaul Academy in Chicago before playing for Ray Meyer at DePaul University from 1950 to 1953...
was a former professional basketball player for the Minneapolis LakersLos Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
. In between coaching jobs at DePaul UniversityDePaul UniversityDePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
, he was the school's first basketball coach.
External links
- St. Viator High School — official site
- Alumni network on Egonest
- http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northnorthwest/ct-talk-senior-prank-0511-20110510,0,3983734.story Chicago Tribune story on the 2011 Senior Prank