Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School
Encyclopedia
Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School is an all-girl, Catholic
high school located in the Mount Greenwood
neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois at 3737 West 99th Street. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago
. Mother McAuley is the largest all girls high school in the country.
arrived in Chicago in 1846, led by Frances Warde, Catherine McAuley
's closest friend. Within weeks, they opened a "select school" that became St. Francis Xavier Academy for Females, the first school chartered in the city of Chicago. The course of study covered primary, secondary and collegiate levels. The first building was located on Wabash Avenue between Madison and Monroe Streets. In 1871, the Chicago Fire
destroyed the original building. St. Francis Academy relocated to 29th and Wabash for a short time, then to a larger location at 49th and Cottage Grove in 1900.
In the 1950s, the southwest side of Chicago needed a Catholic girls' school to serve a fast-growing population. In 1956 "the Academy" relocated once again. Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School and St. Xavier College
opened in the fall of 1956 to serve secondary and post secondary women students respectively. McAuley opened with 523 students, 300 of which were first year students. That same year, the Archdiocese of Chicago purchased 22 adjacent acres from the Mercy Sisters
to sell to the Christian Brothers of Ireland to open their second all male high school in Chicago Brother Rice High School which is one of largest all male high schools in the United States.
McAuley continues to expand. Today, approximately 1410 young women and 95 faculty and staff members form the McAuley community.
. It combines the symbol of charity and caring together, symbols that represent Mother Mary Catherine McAuley
. The final two symbols, the Cross and the Flame, are said to represent sacrifice and charity, combine together to represent the pattern of Christian living that Mother Mcauley High School instills in its students.
(IHSA), which governs most of the athletic and comepetitive activities in Illinois. The teams are styled as the Mighty Macs.
The Athletic Department sponsors interscholastic teams in basketball, cross country
, golf, soccer, softball
, swimming & diving
, tennis, track & field, volleyball, lacrosse
and water polo
.
The following teams have finished in the top four of their IHSA sponsored state tournament or meet:
The volleyball team holds the state records for regional, sectional, and state championships, in addition to appearances at the state tournament and top four finishes.
As of 2009, the water polo team holds the state record for appearances in the state tournament and top four finishes.
. Shows in the last ten years have included Carousel
, Footloose
, and Babes in Arms
. This year's show is 42nd Street. The show is traditionally put on during the week before Thanksgiving.
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
high school located in the Mount Greenwood
Mount Greenwood, Chicago
Mount Greenwood is one of 77 well-defined Chicago community areas. It is a predominantly Irish-Catholic neighborhood on the Southwest Side of Chicago. It neighbors the Chicago neighborhoods of Beverly and Morgan Park to the east, the suburb of Evergreen Park to the north, the suburb of Oak Lawn...
neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois at 3737 West 99th Street. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago
The Archdiocese of Chicago was established as a diocese in 1843 and as an Archdiocese in 1880. It serves more than 2.3 million Catholics in Cook and Lake counties in Northeastern Illinois, a geographic area of 1,411 square miles. The Archdiocese is divided into six vicariates and 31 deaneries...
. Mother McAuley is the largest all girls high school in the country.
History
A small group of Mercy SistersSisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
arrived in Chicago in 1846, led by Frances Warde, Catherine McAuley
Catherine McAuley
The Venerable Mother Catherine Elizabeth McAuley was an Irish nun, who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831...
's closest friend. Within weeks, they opened a "select school" that became St. Francis Xavier Academy for Females, the first school chartered in the city of Chicago. The course of study covered primary, secondary and collegiate levels. The first building was located on Wabash Avenue between Madison and Monroe Streets. In 1871, the Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...
destroyed the original building. St. Francis Academy relocated to 29th and Wabash for a short time, then to a larger location at 49th and Cottage Grove in 1900.
In the 1950s, the southwest side of Chicago needed a Catholic girls' school to serve a fast-growing population. In 1956 "the Academy" relocated once again. Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School and St. Xavier College
St. Xavier University
Saint Xavier University is a four-year, coeducational institution of higher learning located in the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois.- History :...
opened in the fall of 1956 to serve secondary and post secondary women students respectively. McAuley opened with 523 students, 300 of which were first year students. That same year, the Archdiocese of Chicago purchased 22 adjacent acres from the Mercy Sisters
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
to sell to the Christian Brothers of Ireland to open their second all male high school in Chicago Brother Rice High School which is one of largest all male high schools in the United States.
McAuley continues to expand. Today, approximately 1410 young women and 95 faculty and staff members form the McAuley community.
School Shield
The official insignia of Mother Mcauley High School, the shield, takes elements of the Mercy Shield, the shield of the founding Mercy SistersSisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
. It combines the symbol of charity and caring together, symbols that represent Mother Mary Catherine McAuley
Catherine McAuley
The Venerable Mother Catherine Elizabeth McAuley was an Irish nun, who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831...
. The final two symbols, the Cross and the Flame, are said to represent sacrifice and charity, combine together to represent the pattern of Christian living that Mother Mcauley High School instills in its students.
Athletics
Mother McAuley competes in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference (GCAC). Mother McAuley is also a member of the Illinois High School AssociationIllinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...
(IHSA), which governs most of the athletic and comepetitive activities in Illinois. The teams are styled as the Mighty Macs.
The Athletic Department sponsors interscholastic teams in basketball, 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...
, golf, soccer, 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...
, swimming & diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, tennis, track & field, volleyball, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
and water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
.
The following teams have finished in the top four of their IHSA sponsored state tournament or meet:
- Basketball: 4th place (1989–90, 93–94); 2nd place (1994–95); State Champions (1990–91)
- Cross Country: 4th place (2006–07)
- Volleyball: 4th place (1991–92); 3rd place (1990–91, 2005–06, 08–09); 2nd place (1983–84, 96–97, 2007–08); State Champions (1977–78, 80–81, 81–82, 82–83, 84–85, 85–86, 87–88, 92–93, 94–95, 95–96, 97–98, 2000–01, 04–05)
- Water Polo: 4th place (2004–05, 05–06); 2nd place (2003–04, 07–08); State Champions (2001–02, 02–03, 06–07)
The volleyball team holds the state records for regional, sectional, and state championships, in addition to appearances at the state tournament and top four finishes.
As of 2009, the water polo team holds the state record for appearances in the state tournament and top four finishes.
Alumnae
- Jenny McCarthyJenny McCarthyJennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy is an American model, comedian, actress, author, activist, and game show host. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then parlayed her Playboy fame into a successful television and...
(class of 1990) is a model, Playboy PlaymatePlaymateA Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month . The PMOM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, as well as a short biography and the "Playmate Data Sheet", which lists her birthdate, measurements, turn-ons, and...
, and actress. - Joanne McCarthyJoanne McCarthyJoanne McCarthy is former female professional basketball player. She set the University of Illinois-Chicago career scoring and assists records in 1997. These records still both stood as of 2007. She was drafted with the first pick of the fifth round of the 1998 American Basketball League draft...
(class of 1992) was a professional basketball player (1998) with the ABL Chicago CondorsChicago CondorsThe Chicago Condors was a very short-lived member of the American Basketball League . Its hometown was much larger than usual for the ABL, which mainly targeted mid-market cities, and initial team merchandising was successful....
. - Alex MenesesAlex MenesesAlexandra Estella DeAnna "Alex" Meneses is an American television and film actress and model.She was born in Chicago of Mexican American descent on her father's side and Ukrainian American descent on her mother's. Meneses studied acting at Chicago's The Second City Improvisational Theater during...
is an actress. - Erin O'Connor (class of 2006) was Miss IllinoisMiss IllinoisThe Miss Illinois competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Illinois in the Miss America pageant. The Miss Illinois pageant started in 1927, several years after the initial Miss America pageant. The first "Miss Illinois" sent to the national pageant, Lois Delander,...
2009. - Emily McAseyEmily McAseyEmily McAsey is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives. A lawyer and teacher, she defeated Brent Hassert in November 2008 to become the state representative from Illinois's 85th House District. The district serves a suburban area north of Joliet along Illinois's Interstate...
- State Representative
All-School Show
During the fall of each year, the school sponsors a major musical productionMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. Shows in the last ten years have included Carousel
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
, Footloose
Footloose (musical)
Footloose is a 1998 musical based on the 1984 film of the same name. The music is by Tom Snow , the lyrics by Dean Pitchford , and the book by Pitchford and Walter Bobbie.-Act 1:...
, and Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms is a 1937 musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a teen-age boy who puts on a show with his friends to avoid being sent to a work farm.- Production history:...
. This year's show is 42nd Street. The show is traditionally put on during the week before Thanksgiving.