Catholic Central School is a private

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

, Roman Catholic school in Springfield, Ohio

Springfield, Ohio

Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northeast of Dayton. Springfield is home to Wittenberg...

. Part of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati covers the southwest region of the U.S. state of Ohio, including the greater Cincinnati and Dayton metropolitan areas. The Archbishop of Cincinnati is Most Rev...

, Catholic Central provides education for grades PreK-12 at three campuses. It was recently ranked as one of the Top 50 Catholic Schools in the Nation. The school's sports teams are known as the Fighting Irish.

Academics

Students are taught basic courses in mathematics, sciences, religion, language arts, foreign language and social studies. AP courses are available as an option for advanced students. The school also offers various electives, including various music and theater classes, as well as many arts classes, like digital photography and scrapbooking.

The school's mission statement reads:

We are a Catholic educational community where all members are challenged to grow and perform to their highest potential and to lead lives of honor, compassion, and justice for the greater glory of God.

January Term

As a semester in January, Catholic Central High School has "J-Term," or January Term. Students take two elective courses a day (class times last for three hours, as opposed to the normal fifty minutes). Freshman students are required to take physical education and health courses as a means to fulfill to graduation requirement. Sophomore students also take physical education, and may choose to take either an Ohio Graduation Test preparation course or an upperclass elective. Junior and senior students are able to complete any class they wish, assuming they have completed their gym and health credits.

Popular courses offered during J-Term have included Comparative Anatomy and Physiology: Dissection, History Through Film or Song, International Arts and Crafts, Drama, and Shakespeare: Beyond the Written Word, among others. Upperclass students have the opportunity to complete an independent study and seniors may go on a class trip to Ireland.

The term has been nationally recognized, and in 2005, Catholic Central was ranked as one of the Top 50 Catholic Schools in the Nation because of the semester.

Campus

The school is at 1200 E. High Street in Springfield, Ohio. Students from grades 7-12 attend classes at the Catholic Central High School campus. Preschool through 6th grade classes are taught at two feeder campuses located in Springfield.

Consolidation

In 2004, the seventh and eighth grade classes at the local Catholic elementary schools began being taught at the main high school campus. As the consolidation was considered successful by Catholic Central and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, plans began to circulate about Catholic Central potentionally finding one location to teach all grades Pre-K through 12. While a fund would have made the purchase of the former site of Springfield South High School available for Catholic Central, they eventually declined the offer.

As of 2010, no official plans have been announced about a complete consolidation, though the high school site continues to be home to the junior high classes. While the school has expressed interest in building an addition to school at the East High campus, it seems that the final consolidation of the schools may not be in the near future. The Catholic Central consolidation received both positive and negative remarks and views throughout the Springfield and Catholic Central communities.

Feeder campuses

Prior to the consolidation in 2004, four feeder schools, named after their parishes, taught grades Kindergarten through Grade 8. Some of the schools offered pre-school, as well. After the transition of seventh and eighth graders to the East High campus, the schools (St. Teresa in Springfield, St. Bernard's in Springfield, Holy Trinity in Springfield, and St. Mary's in Urbana) taught up to 6th Grade. In Fall 2005, a year following the consolidation, all of the feeder schools renamed themselves to Catholic Central Elementary School and Holy Trinity officially closed. Due to low attendance, Catholic Central announced the closure of the Urbana campus in Spring of 2008. The schools located at the St. Teresa and St. Bernard's parish sites remain open.

Athletics

Since 2001, Catholic Central High School's athletic teams have participated in the Ohio Heritage Conference (OHC).

Students can participate in the following sports:

• Fall: Cheerleading, Boys'/Girls' Cross Country, Football
  American football
  American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
  
  , Girls' Tennis, Boys'/ Girls' Golf, Boys'/Girls' Soccer, and Volleyball
• Winter: Cheerleading, Boys'/Girls' Basketball, and Boys'/Girls' Swimming, Bowling, and Wrestling
• Spring: Baseball, Softball, Boys' Tennis, and Track

Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships

Catholic Central High School has won the state championship in the following sports:

• Boys Basketball
  Basketball
  Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
  
   – 1996
• Boys Soccer - 2001, 2007

Notable alumni

Arts

• David Herzog – West End
  West End theatre
  West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
  
   actor

Athletics

• Jason Collier
  Jason Collier
  Jason Jeffrey Collier was an American professional basketball player in the NBA. At death, the tall center Collier weighed...
  
   – professional basketball player
• Jim Paxson, Sr.
  Jim Paxson, Sr.
  James Edward Paxson is a retired American professional basketball player.A 6'6" guard/forward, Paxson attended the University of Dayton during the mid-1950s, averaging 10.9 points per game in his collegiate career. He helped the Flyers attain two consecutive second place finishes in the National...
  
   – professional basketball player

Hall of Honor

In 2008, Catholic Central inducted the first class into its "Hall of Honor," which was established to recognize the school's distinguished alumni. There are two categories of inductees: the "Distinguished Hall of Honor" is for alumni who have made significant contributions to their professions and the school, while being active in their community; the "Athletic Hall of Honor" recognizes alumni who have made significant contributions to the school's athletic program. According to the school, inductees stand as representatives of the school's "Legacy of Leadership."

Notable faculty

• Darlene Tempelton, Campus Minister and religion/history professor. Author of 'Women in Yorkist England' and various articles.