Archbishop Molloy High School

Infobox Private School
name = Archbishop Molloy High School


"(Not For School, But For Life)"
established = 1892
type = Catholic
religion = Marist
head_name = President
head = John Sherry
city = Briarwood, Queens
state = NY
country = USA
campus = 6 acres
enrollment = 1561
faculty = 83
class = 30 students
ratio = 30:1
year = 2008
SAT = 1250
athletics = 14 Interscholastic Sports
46 Interscholastic Teams
colors = Blue/White
mascot = Lion
homepage = [http://molloyhs.org/ www.molloyhs.org]

Archbishop Molloy High School (also called Molloy, Archbishop Molloy, or AMHS) is a co-educational Catholic school for grades 9-12, located on 6 acres in the Briarwood section of Queens in New York City, thirty minutes east of Manhattan. Molloy currently has an endowment of about $6,000,000 (as of February 26, 2007). The school's current principal is Br. Roy George. Molloy's motto is "Non Scholae Sed Vitae," which is Latin for "Not For School, But For Life." It is located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.

chool's origins and philosophy

, was assigned as assistant pastor to the town of LaValla. His parish included sixty-one mountain hamlets, each home to four or five families. One day, Fr. Champagnat was called to the bedside of a dying fifteen-year old boy. Because of the absence of schooling of any kind, the lad could neither read nor write, and was completely ignorant of the faith he had been baptized into. As Fr. Champagnat prepared the young man to meet God, he knew he had to do something to improve the lot of these children, trapped by their isolation and poverty in a lifetime of ignorance and want. cite web|url=http://molloyhs.org/history/|title=Archbishop Molloy High School History|accessdate=2007-08-01|publisher=Archbishop Molloy High School website|author=AMHS]

Although he had no money, no buildings, no approval from Church or State, no books and no teachers, Fr. Champagnat entrusted his mission to God, knowing that, if it were God's work, nothing could prevent its success. In 1817, he recruited two young men who became the first Marist Brothers. He trained them as catechists, and sent them into the hamlets to begin a simple program of education. Despite the hardships and privations of this early group, many others were soon attracted to the idealistic and charismatic Fr. Champagnat.

Soon other parishes were clamoring for the help of the Brothers. Exhausted by his efforts, Fr. Champagnat died at age 51 in 1840. Despite all the difficulties, there were over 20 Marist Brothers at the time of the Founder's death, and within ten more years, there were over 200! Today, over 500 Marist Brothers work in 73 countries around the world, laboring for the Christian education of youth.

In 1885, the Marist Brothers opened their first North American schools in Canada, and the following year started their first U.S. parish school in Lewiston, Maine. They quickly spread to a number of New England cities, serving the French-speaking immigrants. cite web|url=http://molloyhs.org/history/|title=Archbishop Molloy High School History|accessdate=2007-08-01|publisher=Archbishop Molloy High School website|author=AMHS]

In 1892, Br. Zephiriny opened St. Ann's Academy in two brownstone buildings at East 76 Street and Lexington Avenue. Initially a parish elementary school, the program soon expanded to include a two-year commercial course and then a full four-year high school program. Initially conducted entirely in French, the school gradually moved to English-language instruction, and by the turn of the century, the Brothers anglicized the name to St. Ann's.

During the Teddy Roosevelt era, the school briefly took on a military air, with uniforms and a marching band. Boarding facilities were added, and the phenomenal growth of the school began. When the original parish church was replaced in 1912 with the huge present-day Church, the Brothers acquired the old building and converted it as a gymnasium. A purpose-built five story school building was then constructed, and other neighboring buildings were acquired. cite web|url=http://molloyhs.org/history/|title=Archbishop Molloy High School History|accessdate=2007-08-01|publisher=Archbishop Molloy High School website|author=AMHS]

Sixty-five years after its foundation, the school enrollment had swelled to 800 in grades one through twelve, and all available buildings were bursting at the seams. Moreover, some of the earliest buildings had deteriorated structurally, and required replacement.

Archbishop Molloy, the Ordinary of the neighboring diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, offered the Marist Brothers a six-acre site he had purchased in central Queens County. In 1957, the Brothers moved to the new site, naming the building in honor of Archbishop Molloy. The expanded facilities enabled the school to nearly double its enrollment, meeting the urgent needs of the post World War II baby-boom generation.

Despite the move, many of the hallowed St. Ann's traditions continued as the faculty and students moved en masse to the new site. Today, students are still known as Stanners (St. Anner's), and the school newspaper is the Stanner.

In 1987, the Ralph DiChiaro Center for Arts and Sciences was dedicated, giving the school new, state of the art, facilities, including a theater, computer labs and a biology lab. cite web|url=http://molloyhs.org/history/|title=Archbishop Molloy High School History|accessdate=2007-08-01|publisher=Archbishop Molloy High School website|author=AMHS]

In 2000, Molloy became co-educational and opened the doors to women for the first time. It graduated its first female in 2004.In 2006, two Molloy alumni, John Faso (1975), and Andrew Cuomo (1975) ran for two top offices in New York State, Faso running for governor as a Republican, and Cuomo for Attorney General as the Democratic nominee. This is the first time in New York State that two of the candidates running for the two most powerful positions in the government graduated from the same high school. While Faso was beaten in a landslide by Eliot Spitzer, Cuomo won in his race and is the current Attorney General of New York State.

The current school President is John Sherry.

Academics

A variety of honors classes and ten Advanced Placement Program (AP) classes are offered by Molloy. The school's Science Olympiad team is consistently among the top three schools in the city, recently taking first place. Amongst Catholic schools, Molloy has the highest percentage of its graduates earning Regents diplomas. The U.S. Department of Education recognized the school as a "National School of Excellence." Molloy was named as the most "Outstanding American High School" by U.S. News and World Report, as well as an "Exemplary School" by the United States Department of Education. These honors do not take into account the "fail out system" used by the Marist brothers in which any student who fails three courses in one year is asked to leave and not given an educational or life skills assesment. Thus all failures are in effect hidden. 100% of Molloy's graduates attend college. Admission is based on a competitive entrance examination (TACHS) and a review of 6th, 7th, and early 8th grade records.

Molloy's current teaching staff includes teachers who have exemplified the spirit of Molloy spanning generations. One example is the "legendary" John Diorio, an American History and Political Science teacher (now teaching Business Law and American Government) who formerly worked for the Federal Government and has taught tens of thousands of Molloy students, including current New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and Republican candidate for New York Governor John Faso and current school president John Sherry. He just completed his 46th year teaching at Molloy, having begun his teaching career at the school in 1960.

In 2006, one of Molloy's seniors, Mary Catherine Wen, along with her partner Jenny Yeh, were national finalists in the "Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology." Their project, "Proliferation and Alignment of Osteoblasts on Oriented Magnetic Nanocomposites," won them $20,000 in college scholarships. [http://www.siemens-foundation.org/documents/2006-07NationalWinnersReleaseFINAL.pdf]

Athletics

Molloy is nationally known as a sports powerhouse, particularly in basketball. Molloy's basketball team is coached by the legendary Jack Curran, the winningest coach in New York City and New York State history. After taking over as coach for Lou Carnesecca in 1958, Curran has led Molloy basketball to over 870 wins and 5 city titles. He has also produced 5 NBA players. Curran has also coached Molloy's baseball team since 1958, leading them to more than 1,300 wins and 17 CHSAA titles. In 1966, Curran coached Molloy baseball to win 68 consecutive games, a national record which would stand until April 2, 2005. Curran is the only coach to be named National Coach of the Year in two different sports: basketball in 1990 and baseball in 1988. He has been named CHSAA Coach of the Year 25 times in baseball, 22 times in basketball, won city championships in three different decades and has been elected into seven different Hall of Fames, including the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.

Molloy's track team has also been a powerhouse, winning 24 CHSAA indoor track titles since its inception. Tom Farrell, a Molloy graduate, won a bronze medal at the 1968 Olympics in the 800m run. Chris Lopez (1991) currently has the New York High School indoor state record in the triple jump, set on March 2, 1991 with a mark of 50' 7.25". Molloy's dominant track and field program has more CHSAA team titles than any other CHSAA school.

Activities

Molloy also boasts a variety of extracurricular activities, including an array of cultural clubs, a pipe and drum band, service opportunities, a newspaper, The Stanner, and its own literary magazine, Out of the Box, and the Daily McSherry.

tanner

Stanner is a word created by Archbishop Molloy High School.

Before modern-day Molloy was built in Briarwood, New York, the school was named St. Ann's Academy. The students were known as "St. Ann-ers," a nickname which, over time, simply became "Stanners." All of Molloy's students, current and alumni, are known as Stanners.

The school always makes it a point that students should act "Stannerly," though the definition of "Stannerly" is not explicitly known. One assumption is that it means "like Jesus," but that definition was called into question in the 2003-2004 school year when Brother Roy George called Jesus "the ultimate non-conformist." The school's administration, as the students know, praises conformity to the school's rules. It is generally acknowledged, however, that to act Stannerly is to show respect for yourself and others; be a friend, show good will towards others regardless of race, color or creed, and to follow the rules set forth by the school administration.

Several things in the school have this name, including the school newspaper, "The Stanner," and one of the two basketball courts, "Stanner Court." In addition, the school's athletic teams are known as the Stanners.

Notable alumni

*Xavier Rescigno (1930) - Former Major League baseball player.
*Edward Head (1936) - 11th Bishop of Buffalo
*Lou Carnesecca (1943) - St. John's University basketball coach
*Charles J. Hynes (1952) - Brooklyn District Attorney
*Tommy Kearns (1954) - Former NBA Player
*York Larese (1956) - Former NBA Player
*Raymond W. Kelly (1959) - New York City Police Commissioner
*Peter Vecsey (1961) - Sports columnist & television analyst
*Louis Willett (1963) - War Hero and Medal of Honor recipient
*Jim Larranaga (1967) - College men's basketball coach at George Mason University
*Robert F. Duncan (1968) - Rear Admiral and Commander of the Eight Coast Guard District & Maritime Defense
*Kevin Joyce (1969) - NBA player and Captain of the 1972 USA Olympic Basketball Team
*John Sherry (1961) - Current school president.
*Charles Camarda (1970) - Astronaut, NASA Space Shuttle Discovery
*John Faso (1975) - Politician, Republican candidate for Governor of New York . [Herszenhorn, David M. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/nyregion/02schools.html "In the Race for Governor, a Big Divide on School Aid"] , "The New York Times", November 2, 2006. Accessed December 6, 2007. "Mr. Faso, whose father worked as a janitor in the Catholic grammar school that he attended on Long Island, went on to Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens and the State University of New York at Brockport."]
*Robert M. Hayes (1970) - Founder of the Coalition for the Homeless
*Brian Winters (1970) - Former NBA All-Star and Coach
*Vitas Gerulaitis (1971) - Professional tennis player & champion
*Edward Kurpiel (1971) - Former Major League Baseball player
*David Caruso (1974) - Actor, film and television
*Andrew Cuomo (1975) - Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and current New York State Attorney General
*Ray Romano (1975) - American actor and comedian
*Christopher McCann (1979) - President of 1-800-Flowers
*Vincent DeVeau (1970) - Writer and editor
*Tom Westman (1982) - Winner of
*Frank Frisari (1983) - Illustrator
*Kenny Smith (1983) - Former NBA All-Star and two-time NBA Champion and current television sports host and analyst
*Brian McNamee (1986) - Former strength and conditioning coach for the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. [Kovaleski, Serge F. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/sports/baseball/15mcnamee.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22Brian+McNamee%22+molloy&st=nyt&oref=slogin "A Baseball Lover, Key to Tarnishing a Yankee Era"] , "The New York Times", December 15, 2007. Accessed February 19, 2008. "As a youngster, Mr. McNamee was drawn to baseball and became a catcher, playing at Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens and then at St. John’s University, which he attended from 1986 through 1989, majoring in athletic administration, according to a spokesman for the university, Dominic Sianna."]
*Robert Werdann (1988) - Former NBA Player
*Kenny Anderson (1989) - Former NBA All-Star and three-time parade All-American, the first prep to achieve that feat since Lew Alcindor. Held the New York State High School Scoring Record for 18 years, with 2,621 points.
*Kerry Keating (1989) - Head Coach, Santa Clara University Broncos and former UCLA Bruins' assistant coach. [ [http://santaclarabroncos.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/keating_kerry00.html Kerry Keating] , CSTV. Accessed November 17, 2007. "Keating was born on July 15, 1971 in Stoughton, Mass., and was raised in Rockville Centre, N.Y. He attended high school at Archbishop Molloy and graduated from Seton Hall Prep."]
*Anthony Scelta (1989)- Author & inspirational speaker
* Marc Landas (1990) - Author (Wiley 2004) and film maker
*Mike Jerzembeck (1991) - Former Major League Pitcher
*Steve Mannino (1991) - Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Furman University [ [http://furmanpaladins.cstv.com/staffdir/furm-staffdir.html Official Athletic Site of Furman University - Staff Directory ] ]
*Brian Scolaro (1991) - Comedian and television actor
*Parry Shen (1991) - Actor
*Uka Agbai (1999) - Assistant Men's Basketball coach at Northeastern University

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.molloyhs.org Archbishop Molloy High School web site]