East Catholic High School

East Catholic High School is a Catholic, college preparatory high school located in Manchester, Connecticut and under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Hartford. The parochial school was founded in 1961 and is inspired by the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. East Catholic is the only school in the Archdiocese of Hartford that has had the continued presence of its founding order throughout its history. During the 2011–2012 school year, East has 690 students in grades 9–12, with 47 teachers.^[2] Students are representatives of 36 towns and cities in the Greater Hartford/Springfield area as well as northeastern Connecticut. In athletics, it competes in the Central Connecticut Conference.

Mission Statement

According to the school website, East Catholic's mission statement reads as follows:

East Catholic High School is a regional college-preparatory school of the Archdiocese of Hartford. Building on Catholic tradition and teaching, and inspired by the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, we educate young men and women according to the Gospel and the life of Jesus Christ. We seek to develop the whole person and to prepare students to become lifelong learners and responsible citizens with a strong moral foundation, an appreciation for diversity, and a dedication to service, justice, and peace.^[3]

Awards and recognition

During the 1988–89 school year, East Catholic High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,^[4] the highest award an American school can receive from the United States Department of Education.^[5][6]

East Catholic is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and the State of Connecticut and is a member of the National Catholic Educational Association, the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, the Connecticut Association of Schools and the Schools of the Archdiocese of Hartford.^[3]

In 2014, the Archdiocese recognized 23 students from its high schools as Summa Scholars.^[7] The Summa Scholar Award provides an opportunity for Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Dale R. Hoyt, to personally recognize students from Northwest Catholic, Saint Paul Catholic, Sacred Heart, and East Catholic High Schools who have achieved academic excellence, as well as the Catholic school teachers they identify as having been most influential to their success. In the past, to qualify for a Summa Scholar honor, a student must have, at minimum, an overall 4.3 grade point average, or a 98% average for grades 9 through the first two quarters of grade 12. 15 of the 23 students recognized in 2014 were students from East Catholic High School. In the 2015 school year, the requirements for Summa Scholar's were changed to encourage more equal representation from the diocesan schools and so now the top ten students in the senior class are collectively recognized as Summa Scholars.

Leadership

^[8] Over its history, East Catholic has been led by eight different principals.

Rev. Charles Shaw, Founding Principal (1961–1970) (deceased in 2011)

Rev. Robert Saunders, Principal (1970–1981) (deceased in 1997)

Rev. William Charbonneau '65, Principal (1981–1986) - President (1987–1996) (deceased in 2010)

Peg Siegmund, Principal and Chief Administrator (1986–2005)

Sr. Bette Gould, SSJ, Interim Principal (2005–2006) (deceased in 2015)

Christian J. Cashman, Principal & Chief Administrator (2006–2010)

Dr. Karen Juliano, Ed.D., Interim Principal (2010–2011)

Jason S. Hartling, Principal & Chief Administrator (2011-2016)

Fine Arts

The Fine Arts Department at East Catholic is led by department chair and band conductor Mr. David Brudz. The department offers 7 instrumental groups (Concert Band, the competing Jazz East Big Band, String Orchestra, Pep Band, Pit Orchestra, Jazz Combo, and Stage Band) as well as 7 choral groups (Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, Jazz Choir, Liturgical Choir, Men's Choir, Women's Choir, and the East Catholic Choral Ensemble known as ECCE).^[9]

In addition to music, 10 art classes are offered through the Fine Arts department including AP Studio Art: 2-D Design and Drawing Portfolio.^[9]

Stage East, the acting and theatre department within the Fine Arts Department is well regarded in the community and has puts on two shows a year: a drama in the fall and a musical in the spring. The 2014-2015 school year included performances of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" in the fall and "Anything Goes" in the spring. Starting off the beginning of the 'Stage East' 2015-2016 performing season, the house opened on October 23 and 24 for the Greek tragedy "Antigone".^[10]

A full year in review (2014-2015) for the East Catholic music department can be found on this link.

Athletics

Athletic Director and Varsity Soccer Coach Tom Malin led the Boys' Soccer team to his 300th career win against Middletown on October 17, 2007.^[11] In 2011, now-retired baseball coach Jim Penders won his 600th career victory in a state semifinal game against Wamogo High.^[12] The current track and field coach at East Catholic, Bill Baron, was named National Track Coach of the Year in 1988 while coaching at East Hartford High School and celebrated his 50th year of coaching during the 2015 season.^[13]

East Catholic has 49 athletic teams in that compete in 26 sports.

Baseball — V, JV, Freshman

Boys' Basketball – V, JV, Freshman

Girls' Basketball — V, JV, Freshman

Cheerleading – V

Boys' Cross Country — V, JV

Girls' Cross Country – V, JV

Girls' Field Hockey - V

Football — V, JV, Freshman

Boys' Golf – V, JV

Girls' Golf — V, JV

Boys' Indoor Track – V, JV

Girls' Indoor Track — V, JV

Boys' Ice Hockey — V, JV

Girls' Ice Hockey - V

Boys' Lacrosse – V, JV

Girls' Lacrosse — V, JV, Freshman

Boys' Outdoor Track — V, JV

Girls' Outdoor Track – V, JV

Boys' Soccer — V, JV, Freshman

Girls' Soccer – V, JV, Freshman

Girls' Softball – V, JV

Boys' Swimming & Diving – V

Girls' Swimming & Diving — V

Boys' Tennis – V

Girls' Tennis — V

Girls' Volleyball – V, JV, Freshman

Wrestling – V, JV

Since 1961, East Catholic has won 56 state championships.^[14]

Social Media

East Catholic has made a recent push to expand their presence on social media.^[15] Links to East Catholic's social media pages can be found below:

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/EastCatholicHighSchool

Twitter- https://twitter.com/eastcatholichs

Vimeo- https://vimeo.com/user37360766/videos

The school also launched an Instagram account, @EastCatholicSpirit, over the summer of 2015 by releasing a parody video.^[16]

Notable alumni

• Michael Donnelly - veteran
• Kim Zolciak - reality television star and recording artist
• Mary Cadorette - dancer and television star who played Vicky on Three's a Crowd, a spin-off of Three's Company
• Ralph Brancaccio - artist
• Oliver Topitzer

References

External links

• East Catholic High School website
• East Catholic High School at privateschoolreview.com.
• Andy Baylock Retires as UConn Head Baseball Coach; Will Remain with Husky Football Program
• St. Edward’s University names Rob Penders Head Baseball Coach
• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford

Archdiocese of Hartford
Ordinaries	Bishops William Tyler Bernard O'Reilly Francis Patrick McFarland Thomas Galberry, O.S.A. Lawrence S. McMahon Michael Tierney John J. Nilan Maurice F. McAuliffe Archishops Henry J. O'Brien John Francis Whealon Daniel Anthony Cronin Henry J. Mansell Leonard P. Blair
Auxiliary bishops	Joseph Francis Donnelly John Francis Hackett Paul Loverde Christie Macaluso John Gregory Murray Henry Joseph O'Brien Peter A. Rosazza
Churches	Cathedral Cathedral of St. Joseph, Hartford Basilica Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Waterbury Parishes St. Joseph Church, Ansonia St. Stanislaus Church, Bristol St. Michael the Archangel Church, Derby St. Adalbert Church, Enfield SS. Cyril and Methodius Church, Hartford St. Stanislaus Church, Meriden Holy Cross Church, New Britain Sacred Heart Church, New Britain St. Stanislaus Church, New Haven St. Mary Church, Newington Church of the Immaculate Conception, Norfolk Immaculate Conception Church, Southington St. Joseph Church, Suffield St. Casimir Church, Terryville St. Mary Church, Torrington St. Hedwig Church, Union City SS. Peter and Paul Church, Wallingford St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Waterbury
Education	Seminaries St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield High Schools Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall, Milford Canterbury School, New Milford East Catholic High School, Manchester Holy Cross High School, Waterbury Northwest Catholic High School, West Hartford Notre Dame High School, West Haven Sacred Heart Academy, Hamden Sacred Heart High School, Waterbury St. Paul Catholic High School, Bristol
Priests	Peter Leo Gerety Francis Patrick Keough
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