Bellarmine College Preparatory
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| Bellarmine College Preparatory | |
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| Address | |
|---|---|
| 960 West Hedding Street San Jose, California, Santa Clara County, 95126 USA |
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| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Information | |
| Religious Affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic, Jesuit |
| Founder | Father John Nobili, S.J.[1] |
| President | Father Paul Sheridan, S.J.[1] |
| Principal | Mark Pierotti[1] |
| Vice principal | Chris Meyercord[1] |
| Dean | Matt Oelkers[1] |
| Enrollment |
1,570[2] |
| Faculty | 145 lay, 20 Jesuits |
| CEEB Code | 053080 |
| Average class size | 22.5[2] |
| Student:teacher ratio | 12.5:1[2] |
| Average SAT scores | 1,820 (2007)[3] |
| Gender | Males |
| School type | Tuition, endowment, and donations, Private |
| Tuition | US$12,800[2] |
| Endowment | US$57.6 million[4] |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Language | English |
| Campus | Urban |
| Campus size | 19+ acres[2] |
| Hours in school day | 6 |
| Athletics | 34 teams in 13 sports[5] |
| Athletics conference | West Catholic Athletic League, Peninsula Athletic League (in lacrosse)[6] |
| Rival | Saint Francis High School |
| Mascot | Bellarmine Bell |
| Patron saint(s) | Robert Bellarmine |
| Nickname | Bells |
| School Colour(s) | Blue and white |
| Yearbook | The Carillon |
| Newspaper | The Cardinal |
| Established | 1851 |
| Status | Open |
| Homepage | http://www.bcp.org/ |
Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-male, private secondary school located in San Jose, California, USA. Founded in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school in California. The school is a Roman Catholic school in the tradition of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. While under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of San Jose, the school is sponsored by the Society of Jesus. It is home to successful baseball, soccer, swimming, water polo, forensic, quiz bowl, and FIRST robotics teams and has high graduation and college attendance rates.
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[edit] History
Bellarmine has its origin in 1851 when Father John Nobili, S.J. founded Santa Clara College for elementary, secondary and college age students. This structure continued until 1903 when the elementary grades were discontinued.
In 1912 Santa Clara College became Santa Clara University and the high school division became Santa Clara Prep. For five years Santa Clara and the College of the Pacific—as it was known then—deliberated over the sale of the Emory and Elm property behind the historic College Park train station (immortalized in Jack Kerouac and Jack London's works) [1]. Finally in November of 1925 the decision was made to purchase the campus for $77,500 and the high school moved from the Santa Clara campus to its new location. The change also saw a change in school colors from the red and white of Santa Clara to blue and white, to honor Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In 1926 the school opened its doors with only 200 registered students, and the name was changed to Bellarmine at the prompting of Archbishop of San Francisco Edward Joseph Hanna. He suggested, while visiting the school in its early days, that the school honor Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, a Jesuit of the sixteenth century, who had recently been canonized a saint and declared a Doctor of the Church. The Jesuits accepted his suggestion and the name Bellarmine became synonymous with the school at Emory and Elm Streets.
For almost 20 years the number of students remained at 200 until the school needed to increase its student population and improve its campus buildings. Fr. Gerald Sugrue, S.J. was given this task and began the process which would lead the school into the post-war era. The old College of the Pacific buildings were replaced by new classroom buildings, the Schott Academic Center, a library, St. Robert's Jesuit Residence Hall, Vincent O'Donnell Residence Hall, Samuel A. Liccardo Center, Wayne Valley Memorial Gymnasium, Carney Science Center, the Leontyne Chapel and Matthewson Hall. Bellarmine was a boarding school until the 1984-1985 academic year, when the O'Donnell dormitory was converted to classroom and administrative functions. From an enrollment of 200 Bellarmine has grown to more than 1,400 students from all parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2001, Bellarmine celebrated 150 years of educating young men in the Jesuit tradition. The latest addition to Bellarmine's campus is the Emory Fitness Center.
[edit] Graduate at Graduation
The Graduate at Graduation, which is known to most as the "Grad at Grad," is a statement that outlines the goals of a Bellarmine education. It emphasizes academic growth as well as spiritual and leadership growth.[2] It includes six overall attributes of the perfect graduate:
- Open to Growth
- Intellectually Competent
- Religious
- Loving
- Committed to Doing Justice
- Pursuing Leadership Growth
Many teachers include variations of the statement in their course summaries, which are given to students at the beginning of the school year. The teacher will often use the six overall attributes to list various course outcomes. For example, under the attribute of "Open to Growth," Mr. Scott C. Benson writes that a student of his Literature of the Counterculture class will "become aware of alternatives to current cultural, political, and literary models."
[edit] Student body
Most of Bellarmine's 1,577 students come from the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties, with some students commuting for hours each day to attend the school in the South Bay. Although the racial composition of classes varies year to year, the student population in the 2000s has usually been approximately 55% Caucasian, 20% Asian/Pacific Islander, 15% Hispanic, 5% African American, 2% Middle Eastern, 2% South Asian and 1% Native American. In terms of religious affiliation, 85% of the students are Christian (69% Catholic, 15% Protestant). Approximately one in five students receive partial or full scholarships. Additionally, one in five students have a father or brother who attended Bellarmine.
[edit] Academics
Graduation requirements require coursework in English, mathematics, social studies, science, foreign language, fine arts, physical education, and theology with additional courses in computer science available. With its emphasis on college preparation, Bellarmine also provides an honors and Advanced Placement program, preparing students to take more than 24 AP tests, with 87% of test scores qualifying for college credit, as of 2007.[3] In 2007, 95.2% of the graduates chose to attend four-year institutions throughout the United States and abroad, both public and private, including the University of California system, the Big Ten, the Big East, the Ivy League and the United States military academies.[4]
[edit] Athletics
The Bellarmine Bells field 34 teams in 13 sports over three seasons in the West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL), one of the most intense athletic leagues in California. Sports include football, basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, water polo, swimming, lacrosse, tennis, cross country, golf, wrestling, track and field, roller hockey, and as of 2007, Bellarmine formed its first ice hockey team, which has been recognized by the San Jose Sharks. Athletic facilities on campus include an outdoor swimming pool, a new all-weather track, new soccer field, baseball diamond, new football field, a gymnasium and a weight-lifting room. Since 1981, Bellarmine has won more than 111 Central Coast Section (CCS) Division 1 team titles. The 2007 football and cross-country team were the most recent WCAL champions.
Swimming, baseball, soccer and water polo are four of Bellarmine's most notable sports. Under the direction of Coach Larry Rogers, the swim team has won every CCS championship since 1985 and the water polo team has won 14 of the last 15 CCS championships. The swim team title streak caught the eye of The San Francisco Chronicle’s Mitch Stevens who wrote, "That put [Bellarmine Coach Larry] Rogers...and the Bells...above such storied high school programs as Poway of San Diego wrestling, Mission Viejo swimming and yes, even De La Salle football."
[edit] Spirituality and service
Central to Bellarmine's mission is its Campus Ministry and Christian Service Program. Campus Ministry, in the tradition of Jesuit spirituality, offers the Freshmen Retreat, one day Sophomore Breakaways, three day Junior Search, and the four day Senior Kairos, the capstone of the Bellarmine retreat experience. The Freshmen Retreat used to include an overnight stay in a classroom on campus, but that was dropped in 2004. Other retreats also include weekend Mother/Son and Father/Son retreats, the Silent Retreat, and the 4th Day Retreat. Campus Ministry also provides personal counseling, assists in student sponsored monthly liturgies, guides the Student Campus Ministry Team, leads Christian Life Communities, sets up daily Mass and morning prayer, and fosters spirituality among Bellarmine's staff and faculty.
Campus Ministry's partner, The Christian Service Program (CSP) provides each student opportunities to engage directly with groups that are often marginalized including youth, the physically and mentally disabled, and the socio-economically disadvantaged. Students are required to complete 75 hours of service before graduation, including an extensive senior service project. CSP also oversees service learning in the school curriculum, administers service projects for alumni and faculty and staff, and guides the student run CSP Corps. Emphasizing direct experience and compassionate human interactions, Bellarmine sponsors Immersion trips to Guaymas, Tijuana, Uruguay, downtown San Jose, rural Salinas, and El Salvador in order to directly experience the lives of the poor.
[edit] Co-curricular program
Bellarmine's co-curricular program offers nearly 90 different student groups and clubs emphasizing the arts, athletics, hobbies, diversity, leadership, service, scholastics and student government. Bellarmine also features an intramural athletic program that features touch football, dodgeball, basketball and softball.
[edit] Speech and Debate
This program is one of the more popular and successful programs at Bellarmine with over 170 participants and it regularly captures both state and national championships via the National Forensic League. In 1995, Bellarmine won the team speech and debate National Championship in Kansas City, MO. In both 2003 and 2004, the Speech and Debate program were back to back California State Champions. In 2005, the team took second in the state and received an honorary award as one of the top two teams in the nation. In 2006, its policy debate team captured the National Championship. Over the last three years, (2006, 2007, and 2008) Bellarmine's Speech and Debate program has been the California State Champions.[5][6][7] Bellarmine also competes against local schools in the Coast Forensic League.[8]
[edit] Robotics
Another national championship winning program is the FIRST Robotics Team 254. It has captured the Chairman's Award (the highest award in FIRST), second place at the national championships twice, and has won the Silicon Valley Regional for eight years straight (1999-2006 and 2008), until 2007. among other achievements.[9] No other FIRST team has won a regional for more than 3 years in a row.[citation needed]
[edit] Journalism
Bellarmine also has a student run newspaper, The Cardinal, and nationally recognized yearbook, The Carillon. The articles of The Cardinal are written by student journalists from a neutral standpoint, where the objective is to inform. There is also a student group at Bellarmine known as the Writers Guild, who publishes a biyearly publication called the Written Echo' 'which contains poetry, short stories, and art.
[edit] Fine arts
In addition to course electives in painting, ceramics, art history, sculpture, drawing and graphic design, Bellarmine also supports various student groups including acapella and improvisational humor groups. Music electives include symphonic band, lab band, jazz ensemble, percussion ensemble, wind ensemble, music appreciation, and choir. Student concerts are held often to showcase these groups effort along with that of outside student bands. Over 100 students also participate in the Theater Arts program which produces a fall drama, a winter musical, and spring comedy. Students also get a chance to display their film talents in the Bellarmine Film Festival which occurs between the months of April and May.
[edit] Freshman Experience Program
Established during the 2006-07 school year, Bellarmine's Freshman Experience program is composed of the Big Brother program and the yearly Freshman Retreat, both of which had existed separately long before they were combined under the "Freshman Experience" name. The Big Brother program is made up of upperclassmen who are selected to act as guides and advisers (hence the name "Big Brother") to the incoming freshman class each year. Though there are many activities in which Big Brothers partake with their freshmen, the Freshman Retreat is the most prominent. Each year (usually in October), a day-long retreat is scheduled solely for freshmen and their big brothers that allows freshmen to be introduced to the retreat experience while learning about Bellarmine's emphasis on "brotherhood." Each year, a select group of Big Brothers is chosen to make up the Freshman Retreat Cadre, which works directly with faculty members to plan and schedule the retreat. In addition, a small group of big brothers are chosen each year to act as Big Brother Commissioners. The commissioners work directly with the director of the Freshman Experience program to plan and schedule various activities throughout the school year.
[edit] Knowledge Masters Open
Bellarmine fields a Knowledge Masters Open team as part of a club. In the Spring 2008 competition, the team placed third in California and 16th in the nation.[7]
[edit] Publications
- Connections - A magazine published for the alumni, friends of the school, and parents of current students, replacing the parent magazine called "The Bell News"
- The Family Newsletter - produced by the Bellarmine Mothers' Guild, offers news of interest to the current students and their families
- The Cardinal - The Official Student Newspaper, produced by students
- The Carillon - The Yearbook, produced by students
- The Written Echo - A semestral collection of various prose and poetry works from students. Plans have been made to publish a joint edition with sister school Presentation High School.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Joe Albanese: MLB (1958) [10]
- Sunkrish Bala '02: Actor, plays Eric on ABC's Notes from the Underbelly[citation needed]
- Justin Baughman: MLB (1998-2000) [11]
- Jim Beall '70: California's 24th District State Assemblyman (2006-)[8]
- Wayne Belardi: MLB (1950-1956) [12]
- Paul Bernal '80: Santa Clara County Superior Court judge [8]
- Michael Berns '81: supervising producer and writer for Las Vegas (2004-2005)[9]
- Craig Bragg: NFL (2005-), attended UCLA, drafted by Green Bay Packers[citation needed]
- Walter Briggs '66: US Navy forrester in charge of all Navy land in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona, honoree of the Walter R. Briggs Old Growth Forest[10]
- Copeland Bryan: NFL (2006-), attended University of Arizona, currently plays for the Buffalo Bills[citation needed]
- Pat Burrell: MLB (2000-) [13]
- Ron Caragher: Head football coach of University of San Diego (2007-); assistant coach at UCLA (1994-2002) and at University of Kentucky (2003-2006)[citation needed]
- Ming W. Chin: Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California [14]
- Bill Connors: MLB (1966-1968) [15]
- Dave Cortese '74: Vice Mayor of San Jose (2007-)[8]
- Raymond Davilla '65: Santa Clara County Superior Court judge [8]
- Conn Findlay '48: Holds four Olympic medals, three in Rowing (1956 Gold, 1960 Bronze, 1964 Gold) and one in Sailing (1976 Bronze)[11]
- Kevin Frandsen: MLB player, currently for the San Francisco Giants (2006-) [16]
- Bob Gallagher: MLB (1972-1975) [17]
- Ed Giovanola: MLB (1995-1999) [18]
- John Glaspy '71: professor at UCLA School of Medicine, Estelle Sanders Endowed Chair in Cancer Research[12]
- Greg Gohr: MLB (1993-1996) [19]
- Kelly Grovier: Poet and literary critic[citation needed]
- Thomas Hastings '56: Santa Clara County Superior Court judge [8]
- Matt Hatzke: MLS player (2008-), signed by San Jose Earthquakes[citation needed]
- Nick Hatzke: MLS player (2007-), drafted by Houston Dynamo[citation needed]
- Nick Holt: Defensive coordinator of the USC Trojans, former head coach of the Idaho Vandals[citation needed]
- Gregg Hurwitz '91: Author[citation needed]
- Amaechi Igwe: MLS player (2007-), drafted by the New England Revolution, attended Bellarmine from 2002-2004[citation needed]
- Chris Kelly '87: Chief Privacy Officer of Facebook[citation needed]
- Randy Kirk '84: NFL (1987-1999)[citation needed]
- Peter Kirwan '77: Santa Clara County Superior Court judge (2006-)[8]
- Sam Liccardo: San Jose City Councilmember (2007-)[citation needed]
- Tom McEnery: Former mayor of San Jose [20]
- Kevin McMahon '90: Olympian (1987-1990) [21]
- Stephen Mirrione: Academy Award-winning film editor for his work on Traffic[citation needed]
- Pablo Morales: Olympic gold and silver medalist (1979-1983)[citation needed]
- Hugh F. Mullin III '60: Santa Clara County Superior Court judge (1986-2006)[citation needed]
- Marv Owen: MLB (1931-1940) [22]
- Billy Owens '89: Director of Player Personnel for the Oakland Athletics[9]
- Dan Pastorini: NFL (1971-1981, 1983), played in 1975 Pro Bowl[citation needed]
- Marc Poche '52: Santa Clara County Superior Court judge [8]
- Stephen Schott: Former owner of the Oakland Athletics [23]
- AJ Sibley: MLS player for the Seattle Sounders[citation needed]
- Jim Small: MLB (1955-1958) [24]
- Marv Teixeira '52: Mayor of Carson City, Nevada (1989-1996, 2004-Present)[12]
- John Vasconcellos, California State Senator[citation needed]
- Greg Walker (writer): Writer for Smallville, X-Files, and, currently, Without a Trace
- Jim Wiechers '62: PGA Tour golfer (1994)[12][13]
- Jim Wilhelm: MLB (1978-1979) [25]
[edit] Miscellaneous
Technology on campus is supported by companies such as IBM, Extreme Networks, NetApp and Cisco Systems.
Jack Kerouac would pass by the school everyday when he worked in the trainyards and even referenced the school in a prose piece he wrote entitled "October in the Railroad Earth" as part of the longer book, Lonesome Traveler.
Bellarmine is the fourth oldest Jesuit institution in the United States and the second oldest Jesuit institution west of the Mississippi River (after St. Louis University High, founded 1818). Bellarmine is the oldest high school in California.[citation needed]
Actress Linda Park (famous for her role as Hoshi Sato on Star Trek: Enterprise) acted regularly in Bellarmine theater productions while she went to one of Bellarmine's sister schools, Notre Dame.
[edit] External links
- Bellarmine College Preparatory website
- Bellarmine Online Store
- California Province Society of Jesus
- Past Issues of The Cardinal, Bellarmine's official student newspaper
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e School administration. About Us. Bellarmine College Preparatory. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
- ^ a b c d e Welcome. Admissions. Bellarmine College Preparatory. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
- ^ Achievements. Academics. Bellarmine College Preparatory. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
- ^ Martinez, Jennifer. "Donations to same-sex schools show gender gap", San Jose Mercury News, 2007-11-30. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. (English)
- ^ Program. Athletics. Bellarmine College Preparatory. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
- ^ Conference Affiliation. Athletics. Bellarmine College Preparatory. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.
- ^ Spring 2008 KMO Results
- ^ a b c d e f g Connections: 26-29, Winter 2007, <http://webs.bcp.org/sites/connections/winter_2007/pdf/connections_winter_2007.pdf>
- ^ a b Connections: 30-33, Winter 2004, <http://webs.bcp.org/sites/connections/winter_2004/pdf/connections_winter_2004.pdf>
- ^ Connections: 26-29, Fall 2005, <http://webs.bcp.org/sites/connections/fall_2005/pdf/connections_fall_2005.pdf>
- ^ http://www.bcp.org/news/detail.aspx?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=3196&ModuleID=195
- ^ a b c Connections: 28-30, Spring 2005, <http://webs.bcp.org/sites/connections/spring_2005/pdf/connections_spring_2005.pdf>
- ^ PGATOUR.com - Jim Wiechers Stats, <http://www.pgatour.com/players/00/22/80/>. Retrieved on 29 May 2007
