Strake Jesuit College Preparatory

Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (properly referred to as "Strake Jesuit" or "Jesuit" but often informally called "Strake" by students and alumni) is a Jesuit, college-preparatory school for boys, grades 9–12, in the Chinatown area and in the Greater Sharpstown district of Houston, Texas, United States.[5] It is near Alief.[6]

Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
Address
8900 Bellaire Boulevard

Houston
,
Texas
77036-4699

United States
Coordinates29°42′29″N 95°32′23″W
Information
TypePrivate independent college-preparatory school
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Jesuit
Patron saint(s)Stanislaus Kostka
EstablishedJune 21, 1960 (June 21, 1960)
FounderMichael Kenelley
PresidentJeff Johnson
PrincipalKen Lojo
ChaplainMichael Wegenka
Teaching staff104.8 (FTE) (2017–18)[1]
Grades9–12[1]
GenderAll male
Enrollment1,108 (2017–18)[1]
Student to teacher ratio9.7:1 (2017–18)[1]
CampusUrban[1]
Color(s)  Green
  White
Slogan"Magis"
Athletics conferenceUIL 6A–District 23[2][3]
NicknameCrusaders
AccreditationSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools [4]
PublicationInkwell (literary magazine)
NewspaperMagis
YearbookThe Crusader
Websitewww.strakejesuit.org
Carlos Setien's Untitled on Strake campus

With over 1,200 students, it is the largest Catholic high school in Houston. It has a full-time curator for its art collection; the City of Houston has classified the campus as an art museum.[7] The school is located within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. It is one of only two private schools in Texas that are members of the University Interscholastic League (the other being Dallas Jesuit), which allows it to compete athletically against the largest public schools.

History

The school was founded by Father Michael Kenelley, S.J.,[8][9] on June 21, 1960, in what was then the undeveloped, west side of Houston. The school's patron saint is Stanislaus Kostka, a Polish Jesuit who serves as a patron of students; additionally, as a Jesuit institution, Ignatius of Loyola is invoked as an unofficial patron saint.[10]

In 1971, the school asked to declare Chapter 10 bankruptcy as it lost money in the Sharpstown scandal.[11] The school surrendered seven acres of its original property to pay its debts and emerge from bankruptcy protection. The seven-acre tract was repurchased by the school in 2012 for $3.3 million.[12]

From 1990 to 1993, the number of applications submitted to Strake Jesuit doubled. Fr. Brian Zinnamon, the school president, said during the year that there were twice as many applicants as available spots. At the time, tuition was $4,700 per year, described by the Houston Chronicle as steep.[6] Father Zinnamon said, "Certainly what is going on in the public schools is a factor. Parents are choosing a safe environment where they know their children are getting Christian values."[6]

In 2005, before Hurricane Katrina, the school had 899 students. An additional 410 enrolled at Strake after the hurricane.[13]

Athletics

The "Fighting Crusaders" were one of many Catholic high schools that originally competed in the now defunct T.C.I.L. (Texas Christian Interscholastic League).[14] The league began in 1935 under the direction of Albert Mitchell (then principal of Central Catholic, San Antonio). Strake Jesuit's last year of competition in the T.C.I.L. concluded when the league came to a close in the 1999–2000 athletic season with the baseball team capturing the final T.C.I.L. State Championship in any sport. After T.C.I.L. merged with TAPPS, both Strake Jesuit and Dallas Jesuit were not permitted to join as TAPPS believed those two schools were too powerful.[14] From the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2003, the Crusaders competed as an independent in all sports.

They were admitted into the University Interscholastic League (U.I.L.), the public school athletic league, partly due to the efforts of Joe Nixon, a member of the Texas House of Representatives.[14] Texas Senate Bill 1943 opened the UIL to Strake and Dallas Jesuit, which established rules to put those two schools on equal footing with public schools.[15] After its admission into the U.I.L., Strake Jesuit began competing in its listed district of 19-5A in the fall of 2003. The Crusaders have won several district and regional championships along with a state championship, state runners-up, and state semi-finalists within the past eight years in the U.I.L. The "Fighting Crusaders" athletic department provides 13 different programs which include: baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, water polo, and wrestling.

The Houston Press ranked the U.I.L. realignment as the "Best Way to Break In to the Big Time" in 2003.[14]

Rivalry

Despite moving to the U.I.L., Strake Jesuit had a storied rivalry with Saint Thomas High School (STH). Since its beginning in 1964, Strake Jesuit had a record of 24–29–1 against STH. However, as of 2020, both schools have announced the end of the annual competition and Strake Jesuit will now compete with Dallas Jesuit instead. This decision however was disliked by students and alumni from both schools.[16][17][18]

Notable alumni
Entrance to Strake Jesuit

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
    2. Coleman, Adam (February 3, 2020). "A look at UIL's district realignment for next two school years". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
    3. "2020-22 Official District Alignment Football and 2020-21 Basketball Conference 6A" (PDF). UIL. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
    4. SACS-CASI. "SACS-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Retrieved September 30, 2010.
    5. "Chinatown." (Archive) Greater Sharpstown Management District. Retrieved on December 4, 2012. Map image, Archive
    6. Asin, Stephanie. "GOING BY DIFFERENT BOOKS/More private institutions get the call". Houston Chronicle. August 8, 1993. Section C, Page 1. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
    7. "Art Museum". Strake Jesuit College Preparatory. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
    8. Pope, John (January 11, 2011). "The Rev. Michael Kennelly, former Loyola University president, dies at age 96". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
    9. "Past president of Loyola dies at age 96". Loyola University New Orleans. January 5, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
    10. "About - Strake Jesuit". www.strakejesuit.org. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
    11. "Strake Jesuit asks Bankruptcy". The Texas Catholic. 19 (22). Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas. February 20, 1971. p. 1.
    12. "School buys tract lost in 1971". Houston Chronicle. July 17, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
    13. Abram. Lynwood (July 8, 2007). "'Sally' Landram, 72, superintendent of Catholic schools". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
    14. "Best of Houston® /// Sports & Recreation /// 2003 Strake Jesuit joining the UIL Best Way to Break In to the Big Time". Houston Press. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
    15. "Private schools must play by same rules as public schools". Houston Chronicle. May 15, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
    16. Coleman, Adam. "Longtime Strake Jesuit-St. Thomas rivalry game canceled for 2020 football season". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
    17. Jenkins, Jeff (August 19, 2010). "Game of the Week Strake to host rivalry game Crusaders favored over historic foes in opener of school's 50th". Houston Chronicle.
    18. McKenna, Carter (September 2019). "Strake Jesuit Wins Football Opener vs. St. Thomas". The Buzz Magazines. Strake Jesuit and St. Thomas, who have been high school football rivals for five and a half decades now, ...
    19. Sondheimer, Eric (May 12, 2019). "Matthew Boling sets national record in the 100 meters in Texas". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 23, 2019 – via latimes.com.
    20. "How chatter and conservative anger upended a White House staffing search". POLITICO. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
    21. Texas House Bio https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=133
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