Loyola College Prep
Encyclopedia
Loyola College Prep http://www.loyolaprep.org/ is a private Catholic coeducational high school in Shreveport, Louisiana
operated by the Diocese of Shreveport
http://www.dioshpt.org/.
(Jesuits). O'Connor was invited by Bishop Anthony Durier of the Diocese of Natchitoches to establish a new church and a high school for boys in Shreveport. The school was first located on the north side of the 1500 block of Texas Avenue, and moved to its present location on Jordan Street in 1938 as St. John’s High School.
St. John's was a full time military school during the World War II years. In 1960 the school's name was changed to Jesuit High School. In 1973 the Board of Trustees hired the first lay principal, Robert Henry Ernst, who served until 1985 (12 years), which has been the longest tenure by a principal in the school's history. The Jesuits relinquished control of the school in 1982 to the Diocese of Alexandria-Shreveport, and the school took on its present name in honor of Ignatius of Loyola
, the founder of the Jesuits. Girls were admitted to Loyola for the first time in 1987. St. Vincent's Academy, a Catholic high school for girls, closed in 1988. In 2005, Loyola temporarily admitted nearly 200 displaced students from several Catholic high schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina
in south Louisiana.
The current faculty member with the longest service is Mike Mawhinney, who has taught at the school since 1976. However, Gerald W. Johnson has had the longest tenure in the school's history with a notable 46 years of service before his retirement in 2009. Johnson also served as Prefect of Discipline, assistant principal and as principal from 1986 to 1989. The previous record of 45 years of teaching was held by Frank J. Cicero, who retired in 1995. Cicero also coached football for 16 years and baseball for 27 years. The current Flyer baseball field is named Frank Cicero Field in his honor.
The 24 acres (97,124.6 m²) Loyola Athletic Complex opened in 2002. It is located on Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway and includes Messmer Stadium (football, soccer and lacrosse), Cicero Field (baseball), St. Vincent’s Field (softball) and the Flyer Field House.
Loyola won the Sweepstakes Award for Division III schools participating in the 2007 Northwest Louisiana High School Literary Rally, held at Northwestern State University on March 17. Eleven students won awards (including two first-place awards) at the Louisiana State Rally held April 21 at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. http://www.nsula.edu/news/rally21.htm
Loyola was named on the Acton Institute's first Catholic High School Honor Roll (2004). Membership is limited to the top 50 Catholic schools in the United States. This honor roll recognizes those schools that best maintain high academic standards, uphold their Catholic identities, and prepare students to actively engage the world.http://www.chshonor.org/index.php
Loyola graduation requirements include the completion of 100 hours of community service with an approved non-profit organization or project dedicated to helping individuals with special needs.http://www.loyolaprep.org/service.htm
Regular student print publications are the newspaper, The Flyer, and the annual yearbook, Flight. The development office produces the electronic E-Flyer and ParentFlyer.
from the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz
. Loyola received permission in 1966 by Schulz to use Snoopy as its mascot and remains the only school so honored http://www.loyolaprep.org/alumni/eflyer/eflyer48.htm
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
operated by the Diocese of Shreveport
Roman Catholic Diocese of Shreveport
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Shreveport is a Roman Catholic diocese located in northwestern Louisiana, and a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It is under the governance of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and belongs to Conference Region V...
http://www.dioshpt.org/.
History
Originally a high school for boys, St. John Berchman's College opened on November 3, 1902, by the Rev. John Francis O'Connor, S.J., of the New Orleans Province http://www.norprov.org/ of the Society of JesusSociety of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
(Jesuits). O'Connor was invited by Bishop Anthony Durier of the Diocese of Natchitoches to establish a new church and a high school for boys in Shreveport. The school was first located on the north side of the 1500 block of Texas Avenue, and moved to its present location on Jordan Street in 1938 as St. John’s High School.
St. John's was a full time military school during the World War II years. In 1960 the school's name was changed to Jesuit High School. In 1973 the Board of Trustees hired the first lay principal, Robert Henry Ernst, who served until 1985 (12 years), which has been the longest tenure by a principal in the school's history. The Jesuits relinquished control of the school in 1982 to the Diocese of Alexandria-Shreveport, and the school took on its present name in honor of Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus and was its first Superior General. Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation...
, the founder of the Jesuits. Girls were admitted to Loyola for the first time in 1987. St. Vincent's Academy, a Catholic high school for girls, closed in 1988. In 2005, Loyola temporarily admitted nearly 200 displaced students from several Catholic high schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
in south Louisiana.
The current faculty member with the longest service is Mike Mawhinney, who has taught at the school since 1976. However, Gerald W. Johnson has had the longest tenure in the school's history with a notable 46 years of service before his retirement in 2009. Johnson also served as Prefect of Discipline, assistant principal and as principal from 1986 to 1989. The previous record of 45 years of teaching was held by Frank J. Cicero, who retired in 1995. Cicero also coached football for 16 years and baseball for 27 years. The current Flyer baseball field is named Frank Cicero Field in his honor.
Facilities
The major structures on the Jordan Street campus are a three level classroom building constructed in two phases - the first (western) half of the high school, including a cafeteria, was completed in 1938, and the second (eastern) half was completed in 1949 http://www.caddohistory.com/saint_john_cathedral.html; a four level classroom building that opened in 1929 as a residence hall for Jesuit priests; a gymnasium (built in 1952 and extensively renovated in 2011, it is the oldest school gymnasium in the city) including boys' dressing rooms; a girls' dressing room building (1987); and the single story Anderson building used for various administrative offices. Under construction in 2011 behind the Residence building is a new Cafeteria/Community Center, to be opened in 2012.The 24 acres (97,124.6 m²) Loyola Athletic Complex opened in 2002. It is located on Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway and includes Messmer Stadium (football, soccer and lacrosse), Cicero Field (baseball), St. Vincent’s Field (softball) and the Flyer Field House.
Academics
Loyola announced in 2008 that eight juniors were named as National Merit Scholars, the highest number in the school's history. http://www.loyolaprep.org/parentflyer/Apr24_08.pdf Ten students won awards (including three first-place awards) at the 2008 Louisiana State Rally held April 19 at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. http://appl003.lsu.edu/slas/recruitweb.nsf/$Content/State+Rally+Results?OpenDocumentLoyola won the Sweepstakes Award for Division III schools participating in the 2007 Northwest Louisiana High School Literary Rally, held at Northwestern State University on March 17. Eleven students won awards (including two first-place awards) at the Louisiana State Rally held April 21 at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. http://www.nsula.edu/news/rally21.htm
Loyola was named on the Acton Institute's first Catholic High School Honor Roll (2004). Membership is limited to the top 50 Catholic schools in the United States. This honor roll recognizes those schools that best maintain high academic standards, uphold their Catholic identities, and prepare students to actively engage the world.http://www.chshonor.org/index.php
Loyola graduation requirements include the completion of 100 hours of community service with an approved non-profit organization or project dedicated to helping individuals with special needs.http://www.loyolaprep.org/service.htm
Regular student print publications are the newspaper, The Flyer, and the annual yearbook, Flight. The development office produces the electronic E-Flyer and ParentFlyer.
Sports
The school has won Louisiana state athletic championships in boy's lacrosse (2009 and 2010), inline hockey (2009 and 2011), baseball (1964 and 1974), soccer (1996), football (1967 and 1976) and girls softball (1996). Boys athletic teams are known as the Flyers, girls teams are the Lady Flyers, and the mascot is SnoopySnoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
from the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz
Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.-Early life and education:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul...
. Loyola received permission in 1966 by Schulz to use Snoopy as its mascot and remains the only school so honored http://www.loyolaprep.org/alumni/eflyer/eflyer48.htm
Notable alumni
| Tony Sardisco Tony Sardisco Anthony Guy "Tony" Sardisco was an American football guard/linebacker. He played in the National Football League for the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins in 1956. Sardisco then served in the U.S. Air Force for two years, although he continued to play football, making All-Air Force in... |
1952 | Professional Football Player - San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, Boston Patriots | x |
| Max Messmer | 1963 | CEO- Robert Half International | |
| H. Alston Johnson III | 1964 | Former federal judicial nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | x |
| Michael C. Burda Michael C. Burda Michael Christopher Burda is an American macroeconomist and professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin.Since 1993 he has served as director of the Institute for Economic Theory II and since 2007 visiting professor at the European School of Management and Technology . He has also taught at... |
1977 | Macroeconomist and professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin | x |
| Michael Tanner | 1977 | NASA Associate Director, Program Planning and Development Division in the Office of Earth Science | x |
| Jim Wells | 1978 | University of Alabama head baseball coach | x |
| Steve Merkle | 1992 | Real Estate Mogul | x |
| Billy Thomas | 1994 | Professional Basketball Player - New Jersey Nets | http://www.nba.com/nets/news/thomas_billy.html |
| Jon Alston | 2001 | Professional Football Player - Tampa Bay Buccaneers | http://www.loyolaprep.org/sports/football/flyers%20in%20nfl%20college.pdf |
| Art Carmody Art Carmody Arthur Carmody IV is an Arena football Kicker for the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings of af2. He played college football at Louisville.-High school:... |
2003 | College Football Player - Louisville Cardinals. 2006 Lou Groza Award Winner | http://www.loyolaprep.org/sports/football/flyers%20in%20nfl%20college.pdf |