Peoria Notre Dame High School

For other schools of the same name, see Notre Dame High School (disambiguation).

Peoria Notre Dame High School
Address
5105 North Sheridan Road Peoria, Illinois, 61614 United States
Coordinates	40°44′58″N 89°36′15″W / 40.74944°N 89.60417°W / 40.74944; -89.60417Coordinates: 40°44′58″N 89°36′15″W / 40.74944°N 89.60417°W / 40.74944; -89.60417
Information
Type	Parochial, Catholic, Coeducational high school
Established	1988 (1863 roots)
School district	Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria
President	Reverend Monsignor William A. Watson
Principal	Mr. Charlie Roy
Chaplain	Reverend Father Paul Carlson
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	813  (2006-2007)
Color(s)	blue      white      green (trim)
Accreditation(s)	North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
Publication	Gael (literary magazine)
Newspaper	'Acclaim'
Yearbook	'Irish Odyssey'
Tuition	$4,230
Website	peorianotredame.com

Peoria Notre Dame High School is a Catholic parochial high school in Peoria, Illinois. It is the largest parochial school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria with approximately 815 students and has a college preparatory curriculum. According to the school, more than 99% of students graduating in the years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 went on to four year colleges.^[2] The school uses an academy system with a trustee committee, oversight board, pastor's board, president, and principal. The school's team name is the "Irish", like the University of Notre Dame, but uses the cloverleaf as its team symbol.

History

The school traces its roots back to 1863, when Father Abram Ryan and seven Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet founded a parochial school in Peoria. Notre Dame was created at the beginning of the 1988–1989 school year by the consolidation of the two Peoria area Catholic high schools, Spalding Institute/Academy of Our Lady (itself from the 1970s consolidation of two schools with histories back to around 1900) and Bergan High School (formed in the 1960s). The Spalding Institute/Academy of Our Lady facility was closed while the Bergan facility was expanded, and both schools were consolidated together as Notre Dame at the site of the Bergan facility.

Recent events

In 2006, the school's Education Commission, in conjunction with the Peoria Area Pastors' Board and the Diocesan Office of Catholic Schools, hired The Reid Group of Bellevue, Washington, to develop and conduct a campus location study. In June 2008, it was announced that the Reid Group had advised the Commission to build a new school, an athletic facility/pool, and new sports fields on a 40-acre (160,000 m²) campus north of the present Peoria Academy near the intersection of Willow Knolls Road and Allen Road in outlying Peoria.^[3] The estimated $60 million required would be funded largely through a capital campaign and private donations, the diocese, and potentially other parishes in nearby counties. As of November 2009, no definitive timeline was in place for construction of the new school.

Beginning in the 2010-2011 school year many changes were implemented to enhance the schools academic curriculum. A trimester schedule was implemented,along with house system, and a one to one laptop program. The trimester system lowers the number of students the average teacher sees to around 80 a semester from the usual average of 130-150. Longer class periods enable a more engaged approach to education with more time for labs and project based instruction. Every freshman and sophomore student will be required to purchase and use a Macintosh laptop; payments will be spread out over three or four years until graduation. Peoria Notre Dame High School is the first high school in the state of Illinois to partner with Apple in implementing a one to one laptop environment. More course content, including AP and college-credit courses and computer coursework, will be done on-line and in a dual online/lecture form. More electives will be offered, and the school intends to eventually offer dual credit courses.^[4]

In the winter of 2010 the school was the first high school in the country to offer an online learning day in lieu of a typical weather related closure garnering local, regional, and national attention.^{[citation needed][5]}

The Peoria Notre Dame High School Fighting Irish were the Illinois State Class 2A Champions in men's soccer and women's cross country at the state finals at North Central College in Naperville and Detwiller Park. Notre Dame's teams are members of the Mid-State 6 Conference.

Notable alumni

• Wayne A. Downing (1940–2007) – General, U.S. Army, namesake of the Peoria International Airport, former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, 1993-1996.
• Joseph E. Girardi – Current manager of the New York Yankees and former Major League Baseball catcher.
• Ray LaHood – Current U.S. Secretary of Transportation and former U.S. Congressman.
• Brian Randle – Former basketball player, University of Illinois, 2003-2007.
• Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) – Catholic Archbishop (Titular Archbishop of Newport, Wales; Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester; Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York) and sainthood candidate, former host of The Catholic Hour on radio and the television program Life is Worth Living.

See also

• Quincy Notre Dame High School — so named since 1928; also in Illinois

External links

• Peoria Notre Dame High School - official site

References

1. ^ NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". http://www.advanc-ed.org/schools_districts/school_district_listings/?. Retrieved 2009-07-28. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Notre Dame High School website: Quick Facts. Retrieved 2010-11-20
3. ^ Notre Dame aims to build anew. Peoria Journal Star, 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
4. ^ Notre Dame looks to high-tech future. Peoria Journal Star, 2009-11-22. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
5. ^ http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1530316201/Notre-Dame-High-School-holds-first-live-Web-class