Rockhurst High School

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Rockhurst High School

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Established	1910
School type	Private, male only
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic, Jesuit
President	Fr. Terrence Baum, S.J.
Location	Kansas City, MO, USA
Campus	Suburban
Enrollment	Approx. 1,035
Faculty	84 total
Average class size	~20 students
Student:teacher ratio	12:1
Average SAT scores (2006)	Critical Reading: 621; Math: 620; Writing: 611
Average ACT scores (2006)	26
Homepage	http://www.rockhursths.edu/

Rockhurst High School (usually referred to simply as Rockhurst) is a private, Roman Catholic, Jesuit, preparatory school for boys located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, on the Missouri-Kansas border along State Line Road. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph. Rockhurst enrolls approximately 1,000 students in ninth grade through twelfth grade.

The tuition for 2006-2007 is $8,950. About 33 percent of students received financial aid, totaling over $850,000. The school has an endowment of approximately $4.5 million, which is mostly used to fund scholarships.

Rockhurst is accredited by the North Central Education Association, and is a member of the North Central Education Association of Independent College Preparatory Schools, the Jesuit Secondary Education Association and the National Association for College Admission Counseling (and its regional affiliates).

History

Rockhurst was established by the Society of Jesus and chartered by the State of Missouri as part of Rockhurst College in August of 1910. Classes began in the fall of 1914. It changed its name to Rockhurst High School in 1923. The high school shared a campus and corporate umbrella with the college until it moved onto its present campus, The Greenlease Campus, in 1962. In 1988 and 1998, respectively, Rockhurst undertook multi-million dollar capital improvement campaigns that greatly improved its campus facilities.

Athletics

Rockhurst has claimed eight Missouri state titles and 36 district championships in the last ten years while competing with the largest schools in the state, as well as schools across the midwest.

State Results and Championships:

Baseball: 2nd Place- 2004,2005

Basketball: 1st Place-1932,1987,1989; 2nd Place-1949,1970,1986,2007; 3rd Place-1971,2000,2005

Football: 1st Place-1971,1981,1983,1986,1987,2000,2002; 2nd Place-1969,1973,1982,1989,1999

Golf: 1st Place-1974,1976,1984,1991,1998,1999,2000,2005,2006; 2nd Place-1978,1996,1997,2004; 3rd Place-1977,1979,2002,2003

Hockey (KCMAHSHL): 2nd Place-2007

Lacrosse: 1st Place-2003,2006 2nd Place-2001,2007

Soccer: 1st Place-1998,1999; 2nd Place-1988,1989,2004; 3rd Place-1987,1991,1994,2001,2003,2005,2006

Swimming: 1st Place-2005,2006,2006; 3rd Place-1982,1989,1995 (In 2006, Swimming and Diving was changed from a winter sport into a fall sport; hence, the two titles in 2006).

Tennis: 1st Place-1975,1976,1983,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2007; 2nd Place-1986; 3rd Place-1982,1989,1995

Track and Field: 1st Place-1975,1976

In 1987, Rockhurst became the only institution in the history of Missouri high school athletics to win a football and basketball state championship in the same year. Since 1998, the athletic program has dominated, winning 22 state championships and finishing second or third several other times. In both 1998 and 1999, the Hawklets won 3 state championships.

Because the institution itself is independent, Rockhurst is not affiliated with any local high school athletic conferences, and because it is not a public school, its student make-up is not geographically restricted. Its biggest rival in the Kansas City area is arguably Blue Springs High School. They also have a basketball rival in cross-border public school Shawnee Mission East. Rockhurst has lost three straight times(as of 2007) However, several St. Louis schools (namely Jesuit, all-boys high schools Saint Louis University High School and De Smet Jesuit High School) also have an intense rivalry with Rockhurst both as a result of the schools' frequent run-ins during state competitions and because they are each other's cross-state, Jesuit counterparts. The rivalry between Rockhurst and De Smet took an ironic turn during the 2005-2006 school year, with the upstart De Smet football team upsetting the heavily favored Hawklets in a state semifinal game in the fall, and Rockhurst returning the favor by defeating De Smet's perennially strong lacrosse team in the state semifinals in the spring. Both teams captured the respective state titles in the subsequent championship games.

Swimming and Diving

The Rockhurst Swimming and Diving team won 3 Missouri State Championship titles in a row (2005, 2006, 2006)under Head Swimming coach Paul Winkler and Diving coach Margaret Winkler.

Soccer

The soccer team won two state championships in the late 1990s with national talents like Jason Cole, Matt Darby (who now teaches English at Rockhurst and is the assistant athletic director), Ryan Raybould, and Will John. 1998's championship came after winning a close semifinal game in which Dan Watson scored a golden goal. In the final, Cole scored an early goal, and the Hawklets held on for a 1-0 victory. 1999 was exactly the opposite. Rockhurst clung tightly to a one goal lead in the semifinal. Then, in the finals, they beat St. Louis University High in overtime on a header by Joe Burns, off a corner kick by Lance Snodgrass. The team also won thanks to a shut-out by Jamie Brecheisen. Every year since 1997, Rockhurst has made the state final four in soccer, with several second and third place finishes, including a triple overtime loss in the 2004 state championship. Recently though, the team has been rebuilding stages but has still gone deep in the state tournament.

Football

Rockhurst is the only school to win a championship in each major state championship venue: Busch Stadium, Arrowhead Stadium, the University of Missouri, and the Edward Jones Dome. It also won a championship in a "non-championship" venue: its first championship, in 1971, at Columbia Hickman High School, against St. Louis Beaumont. Its seven football championships are second only to Jefferson City High School's ten in Missouri big boy athletics. The team has been to more state championships (12) than any other school, and it is the all-time leader in state playoff appearances and state playoff wins. Three Rockhurst teams have won the State Championship with perfect records: 1971, 2000, and 2002. The latter two teams finished the season nationally ranked 14th and 7th respectively (after finishing 14-0 and 13-0). The back-to-back state championship teams of 1986 and 1987 also finished nationally ranked, 14th and 13th respectively (after finishing 11-1 and 12-1).

Additionally, the last three head coaches of Rockhurst's football team, Al Davis, Jr., Jerry Culver, and Tony Severino, are all members of Missouri's High School Coaches Hall of Fame, and all won State Championships. Davis was a two-time recipient of the Knute Rockne Award, and Severino was named USA Today's National Coach of the Year after a 14-0 season in 2000.

Tennis

Ron Geldhof has coached what has become a tennis dynasty at Rockhurst, leading the Hawklets to 10 consecutive big class state titles from 1996-2005. After rebuilding in 2006, the Hawklets again won the State Championship in 2007

Chess

Though its classification as an "athletics team" is debatable, the Rockhurst Chess Team has been one of the school's most successful extracurricular programs in recent years. One can also get a lettermans jacket in chess. In 2004, after a nearly perfect season, the team went on to tie for first in the Under 1200 rating division of the High School Chess National Championships in Dallas, Texas. In 2006, the team won third place in the more competitive Under 1500 division, missing first place by only one win. Dr. Michael Cusick, the school's Greek and Latin teacher, oversees the club. Recently in the 2005-2006 season Dr. Michael Cusick joined with Mr. Owsley, the math club, juggling club, and now chess club moderator. Together they are preparing the team for the 2007 state and nationals tournaments. The chess club meets nearly everyday during and after school.

Varsity Letter

The school awards varsity letters in a variety of activities, both athletic and academic (including music, choir, band, and theatre). The letter is a blue "R", with white trim. One letter is awarded per activity per individual, along with its corresponding pin, and one bar (some activities only award a pin for the first letter); subsequent letters in that respective activity do not yield a letter or pin, but instead, the letter winners receive a bar. When a student who would have lettered wins a state championship in his respective activity, in addition to what he would have received, that student is also awarded a special letter: a white "R", with blue trim. The symbol representing the activity in which the student earned the "white letter" is sewn onto the top portion of the "R" (i.e. a football for football, a winged shoe for track, etc.). Unlike the "blue letters", there is no limit to the number a "white letters" an individual may receive in a given activity. Much of this is at the discretion of the coach/faculty advisor in charge of the activity. Some coaches award regular "blue letters" to junior varsity individuals who otherwise would not have lettered, in the event of a state championship. Others award "white letters" to the entire squad regardless. In individual/team sports such as Swimming/Diving, Tennis, Golf, and Wrestling, in the event of a team championship, a coach may choose to award all varsity lettermen with white letters, while another may only award those who competed in the state tournament. Moreover, in the event that a student wins an individual championship and is part of that same activity's team championship during the same season, it is the discretion of the coach whether that student would receive one or two white letters for his accomplishment (instances of both have occurred).

Notable alumni

Arts/Entertainment/Media

Robert Altman, filmmaker (attended but graduated Southwest High School)
Stephen Barackman, WWW.BIBOFCA.COM Los Angeles Business Tycoon
Jeff East, actor
Edward Kerr, actor
Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka, operator of humor website "Something Awful"[1]
Jason Sudeikis, Saturday Night Live cast member
Spencer Tracy, actor, Greatest Male Stars of All Time ranking at No. 9. - attended, did not graduate

Athletics

Raymond Chang, minor league baseball player for the San Diego Padres,
Steve Murphy, minor league baseball player for the Texas Rangers,
John Mayberry, minor league baseball player for the Texas Rangers,
Mark Alexander, major league baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers,
Brad Budde, former offensive guard for the University of Southern California and the Kansas City Chiefs
David Cone, former All-Star Major League Baseball player
Will John, professional soccer player for Kansas City Wizards
Ken Klee, NHL defenseman for the New Jersey Devils
Ryan Raybould, professional soccer player for Kansas City Wizards
Bob Saunders, former offensive coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, current offensive coach for the Washington Redskins. Son of former Chiefs Offensive Coordinator and current Redskins offensive coordinator/assistant head coach Al Saunders. [2]

Business

Stephen Barackman, President of BIBofCA.com Los Angeles, CA
Thomas McDonnell, CEO of DST Systems Inc.
Philip M. Singleton, Former President and Chief Operating Officer of AMC Theatres
Peter C. Brown, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of AMC Theatres