Gabriel Richard Catholic High School, usually referred to as Gabriel Richard or simply GR, is a Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

, coed high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 in Riverview

Riverview, Michigan

Riverview is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 12,486 at the time of the 2010 census.The city is a suburb in the Metro Detroit area, located along the shore of the Detroit River. Riverview incorporated as a village in 1922 and as a city in 1959...

, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, United States, south of Detroit. Named after Father Gabriel Richard

Gabriel Richard

Father Gabriel Richard was a French Roman Catholic priest who became a Delegate from Michigan Territory to the U.S. House of Representatives....

, the school was established in 1965, with the first class graduating in 1969. It currently has approximately 460 students and approximately 30 full-time teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

s, giving a student-to-teacher ratio of approximately 15:1. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church covering the Michigan counties of Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne...

, Gabriel Richard Catholic High School has also been fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools , also known as the North Central Association, is a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states, that is engaged in educational accreditation...

 since the 1993-94 school year.

History

Unlike many other Catholic schools (for example Cabrini High School in nearby Allen Park, Michigan

Allen Park, Michigan

Allen Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,210. The suburb of Detroit was recognized in Money Magazine's list of America's Best Small Cities. Allen Park is part of the collection of communities known as DownriverFord Motor...

) Gabriel Richard is not tied to a specific parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

. In the early 1960s, a group of parish priests from the Downriver

Downriver

Downriver is the unofficial name for a collection of 18 suburban cities and townships in Wayne County, Michigan south of Detroit along the western shore of the Detroit River....

 area decided that a new Catholic high school needed to be built. The school was to be built in Wyandotte

Wyandotte, Michigan

Wyandotte is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,883 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 7.6% from 2000. Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and is part of the collection of communities known as...

 but no suitable site could be found and the school was built at its current location in Riverview. The building was completed in 1965 and the school began accepting students for the 9th grade.

Coed status

The school was designed to be a coed school. However, the original plans called for the separation of the male and female students. The males would use one wing of the building (the east) and the females would use the other (the west). The cafeteria

Cafeteria

A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...

, gym

Gym

The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

nasium, band

School band

A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conductors...

 room, library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

, and chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 were to be shared, but used at different times by the boys and girls. However, due to scheduling problems, the school was never operated in the way it was originally planned. Evidence of the original design can still be seen in the building though. The men's restrooms are all in the east wing, while the women's restrooms are all in the west.

Notable alumni

• Brooke Elliott
  Brooke Elliott
  Brooke Elliott is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role as Jane Bingum on Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva.- Life and career :...
  
   - Television/film/stage actress and singer
• Andrew Arena - Director of the Detroit FBI field office.
• Gregory Loselle - Poet and local educator.
• Terry Hayden - Former pitcher for the Sarasota Red Sox.

Clubs and groups

The following is a partial list of student clubs at Gabriel Richard:

• Art Club
• Band
  School band
  A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conductors...
  
  
• Drama/Theater Group
• Diversity Club
• French Club
• History Club
• National Honor Society
  National Honor Society
  The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
  
  
• Recycling Club
• S.A.D.D.
• Spanish Club
• Student Ambassadors
• Student Government
• Varsity Club
  Varsity Club
  The Varsity Club was a professional wrestling heel stable in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling. The stable was formed in 1987 and lasted until 1989...
  
  
• Yearbook
  Yearbook
  A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
  
  

Sports

Boys	Girls
Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...	Softball Softball Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
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...	Basketball
Bowling Bowling Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...	Bowling
Cross Country Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...	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...	Cheerleading Cheerleading Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
Golf Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....	Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
Hockey Hockey Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...	Figure skating Figure skating Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
Soccer	Soccer
Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...	Tennis
Track & Field	Track & Field
Wrestling Scholastic wrestling Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...

Gabriel Richard in the media

Gabriel Richard was cited by many newspapers, including the Washington Post, as one of many schools cracking down on sexual dancing at school sponsored dances such as prom

Prom

In the United States and Canada, a prom, short for promenade, is a formal dance, or gathering of high school students. It is typically held near the end of the senior year. It figures greatly in popular culture and is a major event among high school students...

 and homecoming

Homecoming

Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...

. Students are required to pass a "dance quiz" before they can attend any school dances.