History
The concept of the first all-boys Catholic high school in Queens was born on the campus of Notre Dame University in the early 1940s out of a friendship between Msgr. Edmund Reilly, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church (Flatlands) and Rev. Frederick Schulte, CSC. The Brothers of Holy Cross were invited to staff the Boys' Department of St. Thomas Aquinas in 1944 and St. Francis of Assisi in 1947. Within two months after coming to St. Thomas Aquinas, the Brothers were invited to establish a high school in the Bayside West section of Queens.
In September 1955, ten years after the initial plans were drawn, Holy Cross High School officially opened in the still incomplete building. The support of interested parents and friends contributed greatly to the success of the school. With the first graduating class of 460 in June, 1959, the school was well on its way to becoming the fine institution it is today.
One of Holy Cross' first storied athletic teams was their inaugural 1955 football team created by Coaches Gerry Begley and Bill Stetter. Coach Begley was a standout high school QB and was the back-up QB for the 1947 Notre Dame Heisman Award winning QB John Lujack. While at Notre Dame, Begley played under legendary Coach Frank Leahy in the late 1940s winning 3 National Championships. This 1955 HC football team was only the beginning of a football program that would quickly reach nationally-recognized prominence and produce many highly touted college recruits. Coach Begley was succeeded by the highly respected and successful football Coach Robert Griffin who would guide HC to their 1963 and 1965 New York City championships before becoming the head coach for Idaho State, the University of Rhode Island, and QBs Coach/Offensive Coordinator of the College of the Holy Cross.
Holy Cross began as a comprehensive high school offering college preparatory courses in addition to conducting programs in industrial arts and general studies. It is now entirely college prep, with about 98% of our graduates continuing their higher education in schools throughout the country.
In 2009, Holy Cross hired Merritt Engineering Consultants, P.C. to conduct a restoration of the school's façades and roofs. The project has undergone several phases and cost $311,000.
Read more about this topic: Holy Cross High School (Flushing)
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