History
The school opened in a very small building on the grounds of St. Stanislaus Church in Lansdale in September 1949 with only a freshman class. It was named Little Flower Catholic High School, after its patron Saint, Therese of Lisieux. That building is still functioning on the property of St. Stanislaus and today is called Little Flower Hall. Each succeeding year, another class/year was added and in 1953, commencement exercises were held for the first graduating class of 33 students.
Probably the main, if not the only, driving force to bring about the establishment of the school was Monsignor Joseph Schade, who was the Pastor of St. Stanislaus at that time. He was aided in his efforts by the willingness of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi of Philadelphia who initially staffed the school, with Sister Theresa Clare being the first principal (and one of the teachers).
In September 1960, the present facility opened at 7th Street and Lansdale Avenue on a property that consisted of approximately 79 acres (320,000 m2) of land, and the first class graduated from there in 1961. Although the sports teams had long been referred to as Lansdale Catholic, it was with the opening of the new facility that the name of the school was "officially" changed to Lansdale Catholic High School.
The school continued as a "parish" high school until the mid-80's when control of the school was taken over by the Archdiocese.
In 1988, there was the dedication of a major addition to the school. It was made possible primarily through the support of the Business Leaders Organized for Catholic Schools.
In more recent years, other improvements were added including another on-site parking facility, baseball field, window replacements, air-conditioning in the gymnasium, reconditioning of the football and lacrosse fields. Over the Summer of 2012, the gymnasium was completely refurbished with new floors and bleachers.
On January 28, 2008, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced the school will move following the 2012 graduation pending funding. A new school, Lansdale Catholic Regional High School, in Hilltown Township, Bucks County will be built to replace the school in Lansdale. The name of the new school was voted by the students, parents, and alumni. That project is no longer going to take place because of financial reasons.
Read more about this topic: Lansdale Catholic High School
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