St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Kansas)

Saint Thomas Aquinas High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Overland Park, Kansas, United States, serving students in grades 9-12. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. The current chaplain is Fr. Daniel Weger, the president is Paul Fallon, and the principals are Brian Schenck, Craig Moss, and Mike Sullivan. Saint Thomas Aquinas is one of several private high schools located in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The school colors are navy blue and old gold. The average annual enrollment is approximately 950 students.

Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
Address
11411 Pflumm Road

Overland Park
,
Kansas
66215

United States
Coordinates38°55′20″N 94°44′24″W
Information
TypePrivate, Coeducational
MottoAmor Vincit Omnia
(Love Will Conquer All)
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1988
PresidentPaul Fallon
PrincipalMike Sullivan,
Craig Moss,
Brian Schenck
ChaplainDaniel Weger
Grades9-12
Enrollment965
Color(s)Navy Blue and Old Gold    
Athletics conferenceEastern Kansas League
NicknameSaints
RivalSt. James Academy, Bishop Miege
AccreditationNorth Central Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
NewspaperThe Shield
YearbookMedallion
Websitehttp://www.stasaints.net

The school was established in 1988 in order to accommodate the growing Roman Catholic population in south Johnson County. It is the successor to St. Joseph/Aquinas High School, which was originally located in the present-day Saint Joseph Early Education Center in Shawnee, Kansas.

Saint Thomas Aquinas is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 5A division and are known as the "Saints". The boys' soccer program has been named National Champions twice.[2][3] Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.

History

Saint Thomas Aquinas High School was established in 1988 by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas in order to accommodate the growing Roman Catholic population in Overland Park. It is successor to Saint Joseph/Aquinas High School, which was originally located in the present-day Saint Joseph Early Education Center in Shawnee, Kansas.

Academics
St. Thomas Aquinas High School was designated a Blue Ribbon School in 2012.[4]

In 2012, Aquinas was awarded the Blue Ribbon Award for excellence in education by the US Department of Education.[5] For the 2008–09 and 2009-2010 school years, St. Thomas Aquinas was recognized by the Kansas State Board of Education for achieving excellence in reading, writing and mathematics.[6]

For classes beginning in 2011, 27 credits are required for graduation.[7]

Extracurricular activities

Choir Program

Saint Thomas Aquinas has a total of five choirs. The Swingin' Saints (Mixed Show Choir), Saintsations (Girls Show Choir), girls chorale, concert choir, and chamber choir. Concert choir, chamber, and chorale have received multiple "One" ratings at the KSHSAA Large Group Contest. The two show choirs compete at competitions in Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska.

Debate/Forensics

The school offers debate and forensics programs for students. The debate program has won several state championships in its history.[8]

  • The debate team won KSHSAA state championships in 2006, 2008 and 2011.[8]

Athletics

Saint Thomas Aquinas athletic teams are known as the Saints. They compete in the Eastern Kansas League and are members of the Kansas State High School Activities Association. The Saints have won two National Championships (boys soccer, 1994 and 2009), 105 KSHSAA state championships, 56 state runner-up championships, and 265 league/district/regional/sub-state championships. That includes a record eight KSHSAA championships during the 2006–2007 school year.[9]

Soccer

The Saints have won a combined 32 state championships in boys' and girls' soccer, which includes eight straight state titles for boys from 2003 to 2010 and seven straight state titles for the girls from 2010 to 2016. Additionally, the boys' team won the National Championship in 1994 and 2009 according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.[2][3] After winning the National Championship in 2009, head coach Craig Ewing was honored as the NSCAA national boys coach of the year for private and parochial schools by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.[10] Ewing had twice previously been selected as the NSCAA's girls soccer coach of the year.[10]

Cross country
The girls' cross country team repeated as state champs in 2009.

The cross country program has been a state championship contender since the very first season. The girls team placed second at the 1988 4A championship and second in 5A in 1991.

In 2006, both teams won the state title. The Saints have repeated the state sweep in 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018.

The 2013 Aquinas girls team set an unbreakable record at the championship with a perfect score of 15 as all five Aquinas runners finished in the top five spots.

In 2015 the boys set the state meet record with a score of 22 points Aquinas runners taking the top four spots.

Golf

The girls' golf team were the first Saints to win a KSHSAA championship, in the fall of 1992. They won again in 1996 and 1997. The Saints won in 2002, placed second in 2003 and 2004, then won six consecutive championships from 2007 to 2012 and have had multiple individual champions as well. The girls golf team won the school's 100th state championship in 2017, then repeated in 2018.

The boys' golf team placed second seven times from 1995 to 2006. The Saints finally won in 2007, repeated in 2008, won again in 2011, 2016, 2017 and has also produced individual state champions.[11]

State championships
State championships
SeasonSportTitlesYears won
FallBoys soccer161992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014
Boys cross country101994, 1996, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Girls cross country102004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Girls golf131992, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019
Girls volleyball61995, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2019
Football12018
Girls tennis22008, 2009
WinterWrestling22005, 2007
Girls basketball82001, 2004, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Debate32006, 2008, 2011
Scholars Bowl12003
SpringBoys golf62007, 2008, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018
Girls soccer161993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Boys track and field32003, 2016, 2017
Girls track and field42006, 2008, 2012, 2014
Baseball32007, 2014, 2016
Softball21997, 2008
Boys tennis22011, 2012
Girls swimming and diving12010, 2018
Total110

Exchange programs

The school has an exchange program with Yonago High School in Yonago, Japan.[12]

Notable alumni

References
  1. NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
  2. National Soccer Coaches Association of America June 13, 2006
  3. "That was one fine '09". Archived from the original (English) on 2011-01-05. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  4. "Blue Ribbon Schools" (English). Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  5. "2012 National Blue Ribbon Schools All Public and Private" (PDF). p. 11. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  6. "2008-09 Standard of Excellence" (English). Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  7. "Graduation Requirements". Archived from the original (English) on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  8. "State Debate Champions" (English). Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  9. "School Championships". Archived from the original (English) on 2011-04-17. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  10. "St. Thomas Aquinas soccer coach Craig Ewing receives national honor" (English). Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  11. "SM East, St. Thomas Aquinas win boys golf state titles". kansascity. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  12. Esfeld, Jill Ragard. "The Japanese Connection" (Archive)
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