History
Providence Catholic High School began as St. Mary Academy for Girls, a commercial school in Joliet, Illinois run by the Sisters of Loretto. The school opened in 1880, though the original building was not opened until 1883. Eventually, academic classes were added. In 1918, the Diocese of Joliet invited the Sisters of Providence to take over the school. On October 22 of that year, the school's name was changed to "Providence High School". In 1931, the academic classes were stopped as the Great Depression took its toll on the school. In 1932, the school was reverted to a two-year commercial school, with a four-year secretarial program opened in 1938. Though the academic courses were reinstated after the Depression, the school building was condemned as a fire hazard in 1959. From 1959 through 1962, the school met at St. Mary's Parish. A popular story in the school community is that students would visit the site of the demolished school and scavenge undamaged bricks to sell in order to raise funds for a new school which was already in development.
In 1962, the modern Providence High School was opened. The most obvious change was location: the school had left Joliet, and was now located a few miles to the east in New Lenox. The other major change was the shift to a coed school. Though a relatively brand new school, the area of New Lenox, at the time was not heavily populated. Enrollment dropped, and the school began suffering financially. Father Roger Kaffer (later Bishop R. Kaffer) was named the new principal and arrived in 1970 and began a campaign to improve the academic standing of the school, and to improve transportation options for students traveling great distances. It was his practice to visit every family who had a child enrolled in the school. The 1971 enrollment of 490 reached 785 by 1975. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the need for additions to be built on to the school.
The Order of Saint Augustine was invited by the Diocese to take control of the school after the 1984–85 school year. An addition of a college preparatory curriculum was one initiative, as was a refocus on the spiritual mission of the school. Attention was made to upgrading the religious studies course work, and a retreat program was started. The name of the school was changed to "Providence Catholic High School" to reflect these changes. In 1998, the school decided to limit enrollment in order to retain a more personal atmosphere with students. Since 1998, the enrollment has hovered between 1,000 and 1,200.
Read more about this topic: Providence Catholic High School
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Don’t give your opinions about Art and the Purpose of Life. They are of little interest and, anyway, you can’t express them. Don’t analyse yourself. Give the relevant facts and let your readers make their own judgments. Stick to your story. It is not the most important subject in history but it is one about which you are uniquely qualified to speak.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind.”
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)