Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas
| Jesuit College Preparatory School | |
|---|---|
| Jesuit School Seal | |
| Location | |
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| , | |
| Information | |
| Type | Jesuit, Private, Catholic, Single-Sex |
| Motto | Men for Others |
| Established | 1942 |
| President | Rev. Philip S. Postell, S.J. |
| Principal | Mr. Michael A. Earsing |
| Faculty | 153 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Number of students | 1,020 boys |
| Color(s) | Blue and Gold |
| Athletics | 18 sports |
| Mascot | Ranger |
| Campus | 27 acres |
| Website | www.jesuitcp.org |
Jesuit College Preparatory School (commonly referred to as simply "Jesuit" or "Jesuit Dallas") has a 27 acre (109,000 m²) campus located on Inwood Road in north Dallas, Texas, adjacent to St. Rita's Catholic Church, south-west of the intersection of the Dallas North Tollway and Interstate 635 (LBJ Freeway). It is a Jesuit institution that is a part of the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus. Jesuit Dallas is an all-male school but shares close ties with its sister school, Ursuline Academy.
The 2005-2006 student body is composed of 1,020 young men in grades 9 through 12. Eighty percent of the student body is Catholic.
Each student is assigned a counselor whose role is to oversee the academic, personal, and social development of the individual student. Further, the counselor assists in the spiritual growth of the student by serving as a retreat coordinator.
The campus of Jesuit Dallas is also home to the renowned Jesuit Dallas Museum.
History
Timeline
- 1942: Jesuit High School opened its doors to 195 students on September 14, 1942 on the former grounds of Holy Trinity College on 3812 Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas, Texas. For US$100 a year, students could receive a Catholic high school education from 12 Jesuit priests.
- 1955: Jesuit High School was the first school in Dallas to integrate in the fall of 1955, when sophomore Charles Edmond and freshman Arthur Allen enrolled.
- 1961: In the fall of 1961, Jesuit High School mandated school blazers, which caused uproar among the students. The blazer, however, set Jesuit High School apart from other schools in Dallas.
- 1963: In the autumn of 1963, Jesuit High School opened its current campus at 12345 Inwood Road. After spending three years at the Oak Lawn campus, the transition was described as difficult by many of the seniors who had an attachment to the old building. But the new school's drastically improved facilities, including closed circuit television, pristine laboratories, and an immaculate gym, helped to ease that transition.
- 1969: Jesuit High School became Jesuit College Preparatory School in 1969. The new name was meant to more accurately describe the school's rigorous curriculum.
- 1970: In 1970, the seniors went on the first Community Weekend, now knows as Community Days. The idea came from the seniors themselves. Ever since that first year, the events of each Community Days have been kept secret.
- 1983: The Jesuit Dallas Museum was established in 1983, and Jesuit Dallas became one of a few secondary schools in the country to house an art museum. The museum featured works from such artists as Miro, Braque, and Moore.
- 1987: The "Profile of the Graduate of Jesuit College Preparatory School at Graduation," which embodies the goals and qualities that should characterize a Jesuit Dallas graduate, was finalized in 1987. These qualities include being open to growth, intellectually competent, physically fit, loving, religious, and committed to working for justice.
- 1986: The "Leaders of Dallas" wing of the school opened in 1986 and added 25% more square footage to the school. It included a lecture hall, computer labs, and departmental offices.
- 1992: 1992 marked the 50th anniversary of Jesuit Dallas. The golden anniversary was celebrated with masses and dedications at the Inwood campus and at the site of the former Oak Lawn Avenue campus.
- 2000: The Science and Counseling Wing was opened in 2000 and featured separate grade level commons in addition to new science laboratories.
- 2001: The Arts, Assembly, and Athletic Building (AAA) was dedicated in 2001, offering a gathering place for the school community, band and choral halls, and art studios.
Dress Code
- Shirt
- A dress shirt must be worn with a four in hand necktie. Long or short sleeve shirts must be made of broadcloth or an oxford material. Denim is explicitly forbidden. Shirts must be a solid blue, yellow, pink, or white in color. Monograms on these shirts must be small and in accordance with the Profile of the Graduate. Proper wear is the shirt tucked fully in, sleeves down, buttoned, tie at the peak of the collar, buttoned as well. Seniors may wear the regulation polo on Wednesdays.
- Pants
- Must be similar in style to Haggar Dockers or Savane Pants. May be pleated or flat front in nature. Hems and cuffs must be properly sewn and clean, not shredded or frayed. Pockets are only allowed inside the pants. They may be navy, khaki, grey, black, or olive. Freshmen must wear khaki. Pants must have belt-loops and be worn with either a belt or suspenders. The following are not regulation: denim, cords, patch pockets, decorative seams, elastic waistbands, baggy pants, excessive buttons or studs. Any visible chains must not hang from pockets.
- Shoes
- Cap toe, wing tip, tassel loafer. Solid black, brown, or cordovan. Must have leather, rubber, or vibram soles. Must be made of polishable leather. The shoes must be polished and in good condition. Socks must be worn.
- Blazers
- During the school's second and third academic quarters, all students must wear blazers. Seniors are permitted to wear any sport coat consistent with modern dress standards. All others must wear navy blazers. Seniors are permitted to wear suits consistent with a modern standard of dress.
Retreats
Throughout their 4-year Jesuit experience, students will experience 4 retreats, one during each year. These retreats are meant to build community within a class as well as to foster the spiritual growth of the individual.
- Freshman Retreat
- Midpoint (Sophomore) Retreat
- Junior Retreat
- Senior Retreats - seniors sign up for the retreat that will best enable their spiritual growth
- Jesuit Retreat Experience - largest, most popular session; a basic retreat
- Kairos - created in 2002, a more intense, entirely student-directed affair adapted from Boston College's Kairos retreat
- Silent Directed Retreat - requiring an application essay, a demanding introspective retreat where the silence of retreatants is only broken when conversing with spiritual directors
Traditions
- Freshmen must wear khaki slacks while other classes may wear slacks of any color
- Freshmen must wear nametags during the first half of the first semester
- Freshmen, during prayer services and liturgies, must sit in the uncomfortable bleachers of the Arts, Athletics, and Assembly (AAA) building where such school functions are held.
- Freshmen enjoy lunch on the days of football home games. This means that, during their lunch period, the senior members of the football team enter the cafeteria, and the freshmen are prompted to stand up on the tables and sing the school fight song.
- Sophomores must stack chairs after prayer services and liturgies.
- Sophomores usually win Ranger Day, which many upperclassmen say is due to the fact that Mr. Moretta, a sophomore counselor, is in charge of the scoring.
- Underclassmen who enter the Senior Courtyard are apprehended by seniors and forced to ride a stone bison statue, referred to as "the bull," within the courtyard.
- Seniors get to wear creative blazers or a matching suit ranging from red velvet to snakeskin.
Rivalries
The school enjoys a lively, spirited rivalry with cross-town Bishop Lynch Catholic High School--something many may see as ironic is the fact that Bishop Lynch is named after the Most Reverend Joseph P. Lynch, who commissioned the Society of Jesus to found Jesuit College Preparatory School.
Homecoming
Ranger Day
Widely regarded as the best day to be a Jesuit student, Ranger Day is always celebrated on the Friday of homecoming weekend on the day of the homecoming game, typically around the end of October. In essence, Ranger Day is Jesuit's spirit day where students are pitted against each other in interclass competitions. Ranger Day is characterized by:
- Body painting
- Colors, often blue and gold, the school colors, are applied in creative patterns and letters. Typically tempera paint is used.
- Cross dressing
- Wearing of skirts, belonging to Ursuline Academy peers, is not uncommon. Though full drag is not approved of, those who wear women's clothing are well respected by their classmates. Some misguided underclassmen believe that the face-painting and skirt wearing relates to the release of the movie Braveheart, in reality, there is no correlation.
- Wearing of scanty clothing
- Individuals often wear Speedo style swim-suits in combination with body paint. Those who follow this practice are typically those who should never wear a Speedo in public. Note: the temperatures at Ranger Day sometimes hover around 60 degrees.
- Senior parade
- Ranger Day begins in the gymnasium. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are seated in the bleachers of the gym. The senior class then processes into the gym. Though methods and themes vary from year to year, the seniors always process in a grandiose fashion, with themes ranging from Roman Times to Superheros. They are often fraught with inside jokes. Parents are forbidden from witnessing this event. This is mainly due to the fact that some seniors wear just Speedos during the parade.
- Competitive games
- Games are run for students, by students. Occurring throughout the day, they range from Trivial Pursuit to Hot Dog Eating and can be very entertaining to watch.
- Music
- During the day, faculty and student bands constantly play on the steps of the Arts, Athletics, and Assembly (AAA) building.
- Senior "advantages"
- During the competitions, especially the basketball shooting and paper airplane contests, seniors are allowed to be "creative" in their quest to win the competitions.
- Chariot races
- The climax of Ranger Day, the chariot races are truly a sight. Each freshman homeroom, consisting of roughly twenty students, designs and builds a chariot. This chariot must be made entirely by the students, must be propelled by student runners, and must carry a senior student aboard. Many chariots crash or otherwise fall apart on the track over the 200 meter race.
Homecoming game
In the evening after Ranger Day, students and their dates will attend the homecoming football game. Usually, students and their dates will form dinner groups to eat before the game. Dinner commonly occurs at the house of a member of the group. In addition, mums are traditionally exchanged before the game to be worn during the game. Mums are plastic flower-like ornaments with an extensive amount of decoration placed on them. Mums can either be bought for a high price or made using materials from an arts & crafts store. Girls receive long mums which are to be pinned on the chest while boys receive garter mums.
Homecoming dance
The night on the day after Ranger Day, the homecoming dance takes place from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. Though all classes usually attend the same dance, seniors and juniors were separated from sophomores and freshmen for the 2005 dance due to inadequate planning by the Student Council. Seniors and Juniors had their homecoming dance at the Dallas World Trade Center. Sophomores and freshmen had their homecoming dance in the gym of Ursuline Academy. Before heading to the dance, tradition is that the boys go to the girls' houses and give them a corsage and then take them to dinner, which is also usually organized in groups. After the dance, many students attend after-parties.
Extracurricular activities
Sports
Jesuit Dallas is widely considered as one of the, if not the most, competitive private schools, sports wise. Jesuit does not participate in TAPPS, the usual chosen league of Catholic private schools. Instead, it participates the University Interscholastic League (UIL)as a member of Class 5A (for schools with an enrollment of 1985 students or more). Jesuit and her brother school, Houston Strake Jesuit, are the only private schools to compete in the UIL, which until 2004 was restricted to Texas' public schools. However, as a result of participating in a public school league, Jesuit has been accused of recruiting and offering scholarships to student athletes at other schools. Jesuit has never given an athletic scholarship as of the 2005-06 year. Jesuit also participates in non-UIL sports such as lacrosse, rugby union, ice hockey, and fencing.
Publications
Jesuit Dallas prides itself on its publications. All are produced with the latest technologies in layout, design, digital photography, and printing. Each publication is student-run and moderated by a faculty member. Though the writers can choose any topic for their articles and fine literature, all must be submitted to both the Vice Principal of Student Affairs and the Principal for approval before final printing may occur. Jesuit Dallas publications include The Roundup, the school newspaper which is published several times annually; The Last Roundup, the school yearbook which is distributed at the commencement of each new school year to all students; The Reform, which is the multicultural voice of Jesuit Dallas; and The Jesuit Journal, a literary magazine that is distributed quarterly.
Technology
Jesuit has 6 computer lab facilities for student use during or outside of class. 4 of the labs are located in the '86 wing with 3 of these located downstairs and 1 of them located upstairs. The remaining 2 computer labs reside in the Library.
Each classroom is equipped with smartboards, large, projection, touch-responsive computer interfaces.
All of Jesuit's computers run Windows XP. To prevent improper use, all computers have a "white list" policy, allowing only certain programs to be executed on the machine. It was added in the 2005-2006 year due to computers being used to run game emulators and other games.
Prior to 2006, Jesuit maintained no web filtering across its network and prided itself on the restraint of the student body, without censorship. Due to rampant abuses against the acceptable use policy each student agrees to, a filtering system was implemented on 3 April 2006 to block non-academic sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Xanga.
A recent technology development for the 2005-2006 school year is the greater incorporation of the Internet into the school system. This school year saw the beginning of the use of Moodle, software which extends the classroom to the Internet for home access. Furthermore, this year grades are available for students and parents to view online through K12Planet.
Ranger Connection
The Ranger Connection is the official school store of Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. The store sells a limited selection of school supplies including combination locks for athletic lockers, graphing calculators, planners, selected books, pens, and pencils. In addition to these items, the store also features a variety of Jesuit Dallas branded apparel and spirit gear including hats, T-shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, and other merchandise. In the weeks nearing homecoming, the store sells tickets for the student homecoming dance. The store, located near the school cafeteria, is open while school is in session during student lunch periods and near the end of the school day. In recent years, the Ranger Connection added an online store with e-commerce capabilities.
Jesuit Dallas Museum
The Jesuit Dallas Museum is a separately chartered, fully functional gallery and museum residing entirely within Jesuit Dallas. Its collections cover the visual arts including ceramics, painting, prints, kinetic and stationary sculpture and feature, among others, such well-known artists as Salvador Dali and Dale Chihuly.
The museum is open to the public for tours of the permanent collection and special exhibitions. Volunteer docents guide visitors through the Jesuit Dallas Museum; admission is free. Tours are available between 09:00 and 14:00, when school is in session.
Presidents
- Rev. D. Ross Druhan, S.J. 1945-1951
- Rev. J. A. Sweeney, S.J. 1952-1953
- Rev. Thomas J. Shields, S.J. 1953-1959
- Rev. Robert A. Tynan, S.J. 1959-1965
- Rev. Paul W. Schott, S.J. 1965-1973
- Rev. Thomas J. Naughton, S.J. 1973-1979
- Rev. Patrick H. Koch, S.J. 1979-1980
- Rev. Larion J. Elliot, S.J. 1980-1981
- Rev. Clyde LeBlanc, S.J. 1982-1986
- Rev. Michael Alchediak, S.J. 1987-1992
- Rev. Philip S. Postell, S.J. 1992—
Principals
- Rev. Joseph C. Mulhern, S.J. 1942-1945
- Rev. D. Ross Druhan, S.J. 1945-1951
- Rev. Edward P. Curry, S.J. 1951-1954
- Rev. Michael P. Kammer, S.J. 1954-1959
- Rev. Walter C. McCauley, S.J. 1959-1963
- Rev. Albert C. Louapre, S.J. 1963-1970
- Rev. Joseph. B. Leininger, S.J. 1970-1972
- Rev. Patrick H. Koch, S.J. 1972-1979
- Rev. Brian F. Zinnamon, S.J. 1979-1985
- Rev. Geoffrey R. Dillon, S.J. 1985-1993
- Rev. Paul Deutsch, S.J. 1993-1997
- Mr. Michael A. Earsing 1997—
Notable alumni
- Pat Schnitzius 1945 - Current proprietor of Bartush-Schnitzius Foods Company, Prominent Dallas business leader
- Jan Collmer 1952 - Nationally recognized aerobatics pilot and President of the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field Airport.
- Ryan Cabrera 2000 - Musician
- Kenny Cooper 2003 - Professional soccer player signed by Manchester United out of high-school and currently playing for FC Dallas
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