History
It opened in 1954 at a different site in the city of Chandler, as just Seton Catholic High School or Seton High School. A fire destroyed the old campus in September 1980. Looking to be more centrally located to serve the growing cities of Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler, the Diocese of Phoenix moved the school site to a location at Dobson and Ray roads, referred to when it opened as the "Seton Catholic High School Tri-City Campus". (For a time in the 1980s, the school even took the full name Seton Catholic Tri-City High School, though it was short-lived.) The school office at the site was completed in March 1983. That fall, the school reached a then-all-time high for enrollment, 259 students.
The 1990s saw stunning growth at Seton. Though Seton entered the 1990s at enrollment levels lower than any seen since the new campus, it jumped to 343 students in 1994 (when it broke ground on a new gymnasium) and to 493 students – the highest in its history – by 1999. In the 1990s, the school also built six new science classrooms.
The 1990s and 2000s were times of similarly prolific growth in the East Valley. As the only Catholic high school located central enough to serve the area (though it by no means is centrally located given the sprawl and rise of towns like Gilbert and Queen Creek), Seton continued to reap rewards in enrollment growth, and at its height, in the fall of 2004, Seton had 604 students.
In 2007, two things happened: although being promised to be finished years prior to secure funds for the construction, the school completed its new, copper-domed chapel, and Seton was placed into 4A Division II athletics by the Arizona Interscholastic Association. Since then, the school has won three girls' volleyball state titles, three softball state titles, and two girls' basketball state titles. In May 2009, the school officially renamed to Seton Catholic Preparatory High School. In February 2010, the school broke ground on a new, two-story academic building and black box theater complex. In October 2010, the school was the only school in Arizona and one of fifty in the United States chosen by the Catholic High School Honor Roll project to be on its honor roll. This will last for the next two years.
Read more about this topic: Seton Catholic Preparatory High School
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