Aquinas High School (Wisconsin)

Aquinas High School is a Roman Catholic high school located in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Aquinas High School
Address
315 11th Street South

La Crosse
,
(La Crosse County)
,
Wisconsin
54601

United States
Coordinates43°48′29″N 91°14′24″W
Information
TypePrivate, Parochial, Coeducational
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1928
PrincipalDenise Ring
ChaplainFather Matthew Marshall
Grades9–12
Enrollment338 [1] (2013-2014 school year)
Color(s)Navy blue and old gold   
Athletics conferenceMississippi Valley Conference
Team nameBlugolds
AccreditationNorth Central Association of Colleges and Schools[2]
Athletic DirectorKevin Schreiner
Websitehttp://www.AquinasCatholicSchools.org

History

The high school was dedicated on September 2, 1928, in honor of Thomas Aquinas by Bishop Alexander Joseph McGavick of the Diocese of La Crosse. The first graduating class of 1929 consisted of four girls. The high school was originally staffed by diocesan clergy and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.

Diocesan Bishop John Joseph Paul, an Aquinas alumnus of the class of 1935, set aside some rooms at Aquinas High School for the Aquinas Middle School in 1992. In 1997, the Bishop Burke Hall addition to Aquinas High School was dedicated in honor of Bishop Raymond Leo Burke, now the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the Vatican City and a former religion teacher at Aquinas High School.[3] In 2008, Aquinas High School was named a national Blue Ribbon School.[4]

Aquinas High School is part of the La Crosse Aquinas Catholic Schools.

School crest

The Aquinas High School crest, designed in 1942, first appeared in the yearbook, the Trumpet, and on the 1943 class rings. It features the cross, which holds the central and most prominent position on the crest, reflecting the importance of the faith and redemption of which it is a symbol; ΧΡ, the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ, signifying that the life of a Christian should be centered around Christ; the fleur-de-lis, the symbol of sanctity and virtue, symbolizing God, man's final end, and the Blessed Virgin, model of virtue; a lamp of learning and books, as symbols of knowledge and learning; a laurel, symbolizing reward; and lilies of the valley, symbolizing humility.[3]

Sports

The school took the Division III state championship in boys' basketball in 2008 and again in 2011, 2013[5][6] and the Division II state title in boys' basketball in 2003.[7] In 2007 it won the Division III state championship in boys' spring baseball,[8] Division III state championship in cross country,[9] and the Division 5 state championship in football.[10] The girls' soccer team was Division III state runner-up in 2005. In 2015 the Blugolds were State Champions beating Lake Country Lutheran in a shootout. They made their second straight WIAA State tournament appearance in 2016 finishing as runner up to The Prairie School. In 2017 the girls soccer team made a 3rd straight WIAA State soccer appearance in 2017 after winning the MVC title with an undefeated record for the 2nd year in a row.[11] The girls' tennis team was runner up in 2000[12] and the boys' was runner up in 2002.[13] In 2000, the boys' alpine ski team won the state championship. In 2016, the Aquinas girls volleyball team won the MVC title, losing only one set (36-1), cementing themselves as the best team in the MVC. The team went on to win a regional title, sectional title and was the schools first volleyball team to make the Wisconsin State Volleyball Tournament as part of the WIAA. In 2018 the girls basketball team won their first WIAA division 4 state championship. In 2019, they went back to back winning a second D4 title.[14] In 2019 they also won the title for State Champions in Cross Country in D3.

Affiliation
  • Aquinas Catholic Schools (formerly Coulee Catholic School)
  • National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA)
  • Greater La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Mississippi Valley Conference (MVC)
  • Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA)
  • Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association (WISAA)
  • Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference (CWCC)
  • North Central Accrediting Association[15]

Principals
  • Father Hilary Leuther, 1928–1936
  • Father Joseph Kundinger, 1936–1940, 1946–1951
  • Father John Prizl, 1940–1946
  • Father Alfred Hebert, 1951–1952
  • Father Robert Hansen, 1952–1960
  • Father Richard Rossiter, 1960–1964
  • Father James O'Connell, 1964–1972
  • Father Robert Altmann, 1972–1990
  • James Vail, 1990–1997
  • Jeffrey Brengman, 1997–2001
  • Father John McHugh, 2001–2002
  • Joan Leonard, 2002–2004
  • Philip Hahn, 2004–2006
  • Patrick Burkhart, 2006–2007
  • Ted Knutson, 2007–2016
  • Denise Ring, 2016–present

Notable faculty

Notable alumni

See also

References
  1. http://www.wisconsintrackonline.com/features14/division14/2013-14_ENROLLMENT_NUMBERS_FROM_WIAA.pdf
  2. NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  3. Aquinas High School .:History: Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Link no longer valid
  4. "Catholic Schools Earn 43 of 50 Private School Blue Ribbon School Honors – National Catholic Educational Association". Ncea.org. October 17, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  5. http://wiaawi.org/index.php?id=65%5B%5D
  6. "AQUINAS vs RACINE SAINT CATHERINE'S (03/19/11 at Kohl Center – Madison, Wisconsin)". Wiaawi.org. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  7. http://wiaawi.org/results/basketballboys/2003/stateresults.html%5B%5D
  8. http://wiaawi.org/results/baseballspring/2007/stateresults.html%5B%5D
  9. http://www.wiaawi.org/results/crosscountry/2007/bd3results.pdf%5B%5D
  10. http://wiaawi.org/index.php?id=92%5B%5D
  11. http://wiaawi.org/results/soccergirls/2010/d3game1.htm%5B%5D
  12. http://www.wiaawi.org/results/tennisgirls/2000/stateteampairings.html%5B%5D
  13. http://www.wiaawi.org/results/tennisboys/2002/teamstateresults.html%5B%5D
  14. http://lacrossetribune.com/sports/local/preps/wiaa-girls-state-tournament-la-crosse-aquinas-tops-mel-min/article_ae1f25d4-3770-58c7-8e9f-0925a99dcd59.html
  15. Aquinas High School .:Information: Archived July 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Link no longer valid
  16. Robert E. Kreutz
  17. 'Obituary-Paul Henry Marcotte,' La Crosse Tribune, December 8, 2012, C8
  18. Idaho Legislature-Rep. John Rusche
  19. Statistics Archived September 9, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  • Aquinas High School 2003 Alumni Directory 75th Anniversary 1928–2003
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