Camden Catholic High School (CCHS) is a four-year comprehensive private coeducationalRoman Catholichigh school, located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area in Cherry Hill, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school operates under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden.[9] The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1934.[5] Camden Catholic students come from the local area and from Norway, Nigeria, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Vietnam, Korea, and China. Many of these students live on campus in the Nazareth House, a convent re-purposed to accommodate foreign students with full-time care-providers on staff, while others live with host families in the surrounding area.
As of the 2019–20 school year, the school had an enrollment of 695 students and 54.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8:1. The school's student body was 63.5% (441) White, 13.5% (94) Hispanic, 11.1% (77) Black, 8.6% (60) Asian, 3.2% (22) two or more races and 0.1% (1) Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander.[8]
When the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was built in 1862, space was set aside for the first parochial school in the city of Camden, which became the origin of the current high school. In 1920, the existing elementary school program was extended to include a four-year, high school program graduating 15 girls and 6 boys in June 1921. Camden Catholic High School opened in 1924 with an enrollment of 400 students.
After a fire on April 17, 1960, destroyed two buildings at the Camden campus, a decision was made that a new school would be constructed on a 33-acre (130,000 m2) site in Delaware Township (now Cherry Hill).[10]
In the 2012–13 school year, Camden Catholic celebrated its 125th anniversary as a school.
The Camden Catholic High School Irish[6] participate in the Olympic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools located in Burlington County and Camden County, and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.[11] With 504 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022–24 school years as Non-Public Group A for most athletic competition purposes (equivalent to Group II for public schools).[12] The football team competes in the Constitution Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference[13][14] and was classified by the NJSIAA as Non-Public Group B (equivalent to Group I/II for public schools) for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 140 to 686 students.[15]
The school participates in a joint ice hockey team with Paul VI High School as the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.[16]
The boys basketball team won the Non-Public A state title in 1941 (vs. St. Patrick High School of Elizabeth), 1942 (vs. Saint Joseph of the Palisades High School), 2001 (vs. Seton Hall Preparatory School), 2003 (vs. Bergen Catholic High School) and 2010 (vs. St. Peter's Preparatory School of Jersey City).[17] The 1941 team scored in the final seconds of the game to win the Group 2 (since recategorized as Non-Public A) state title with a 42–39 win against St. Patrick's in the championship game played at the Elizabeth Armory.[18] The 2010 team won the Non-Public A state title with a 68–63 victory in the championship game against St. Peter's at the Ritacco Center[19] and advanced into the Tournament of Champions as the top seed, defeating fourth seed Cherokee High School by a score of 47–34 in the semifinals before falling to number-two seed Trenton Catholic by 63–46 in the finals to finish the season with a record of 29–2.[20][21]
The boys track team won the Non-Public Group A spring / outdoor track state championship in 1957 and 1962.[22]
The boys' baseball team won the Non-Public A state championship in 1973, defeating Seton Hall Preparatory School in thr tournament final.[23]
The 1979 football team finished the season with a 9–2 record after winning the NJSIAA Non-Public A South state sectional title with a 20–7 victory against Holy Cross Preparatory Academy in the championship game, a turnaround from team's 0-9 record in 1978.[24][25] The school has had a football rivalry since 1931 with Camden High School. Camden Catholic leads the series with an overall record of 35-29-2 through the 2017 season. NJ.com listed the rivalry as 28th on its 2017 list "Ranking the 31 fiercest rivalries in N.J. HS football"[26]
The wrestling team won the Non-Public A South state sectional championship in 1980, 1994-2014 and 2018-2020. The team won the Non-Public A title in 1996, 1999-2002, 2004, 2005, 2007-2010 and won the Non-Public B title in 2011-2013, 2019, 2020 and 2023. The program's 17 state group championships are ranked third in the state.[27]
The girls' field hockey team won the South Jersey Group III state sectional championships in 1981, 1984 and 1985, won the South Jersey Group II title in 2001, 2002, 2007 and 2012, won the Central Jersey Group II title in 2011, and won the Non-Public South title in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The team won the Group III state championship in 1985 and the Non-Public state title in 2023.[28] In 2007, the field hockey team won the South Jersey, Group II state sectional championship with a 5–3 win over West Deptford High School in the tournament final.[29] The team won the 2023 Non-Public state championship with a 2-1 win in the tournament final against Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child.[30]
The girls swimming team won the Division B state championship in 1990, 1991 and 1993, and won the Division B title in 1994.[32]
The girls soccer team won the 1990 Group III state title as co-champion with Ramapo High School in a scoreless tie after regulation and overtime to finish the season with a record of 18-2-2.[33][34]
Wrestler Taylor Walsh, now wrestling at Indiana University, won the 2010 NJSIAA 145-pound championship defeating Frank Crocco of Passaic Valley Regional High School in the final. He had won the 2009 NJSIAA 135-pound championship defeating two-time runner up Kodie Silvestri of Walkill Valley. He placed second at 119 pounds in 2008 losing in the finals to two-time champion Vinnie Dellefave of Toms River East. Wrestler Anthony Trongone won the NJSIAA 171-pound championship in 2007.[36] Trongone was a runner-up in 2005–06 season. Previous state champions from Camden Catholic are Bobby Stinson (in the 130 lb (59 kg). weight class in 2002) and Ed Giosa (125 lb. in 2003).[37]
The boys' cross country team, under the coaching leadership of Dennis Quinn and Ralph Harris, took the division championship on October 10, 2007, beating Paul VI High School and ending Paul VI's 28-year, 244 match dual meet winning streak.[38]
The boys' winter track team won the Non-Public Group B division state relay title in 2014[39]
James A. Corea (1937-2001), radio personality and specialist in nutrition, rehabilitation and sports medicine.[44]
Krysten Cummings (born 1974/75, class of 1992), film and stage actress who appeared as Tina in the 1997 production of The Fix, and as Mimi in the 1998 version of the musical Rent[45]
^Bishop Sullivan Appoints Rory Sweeney Next President Of Cchs, Camden Catholic High School, April 17, 2023. Accessed June 11, 2023. "Bishop Dennis Sullivan has appointed Mr. Rory J. Sweeney as the next president of Camden Catholic High School, effective July 1, 2023."
^Our Leadership, Camden Catholic High School. Accessed January 27, 2024.
^Staff, Camden Catholic High School. Accessed January 27, 2024.
^Tuition and Scholarships, Camden Catholic High School. Accessed January 27, 2024. "Tuition for the 2023-2024 school year will be $14,500. The parent contribution for tuition is $11,750. The Fund for Camden Catholic grant toward that tuition is $2,750."
^About, Camden Catholic High School. Accessed August 7, 2023. "Founded in 1887, CCHS has sent more students onto college than any other school in South Jersey, and proudly continues to do so well into the 21st century with our most recent class of 2022 earning over $26 million in college scholarships and grants."
^Schools, South Jersey Catholic Schools. Accessed February 21, 2023.
^"Long after the school closed, the building comes down", Catholic Star Herald, August 7, 2014. Accessed September 13, 2022. "Standing tall in Camden for more than 100 years, it took three days to tear it down.... After a 1960 fire destroyed two buildings that were part of Camden Catholic’s campus in Camden, the high school moved to its current location in Cherry Hill, and the former convent was leased as a women’s prison."
^Home Page, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023. "The WJFL is a 94-school super conference that stretches from Princeton to Wildwood encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, the Tri-County Conference, the Colonial Conference, and the Cape Atlantic League. The WJFL is made up of sixteen divisions with divisional alignments based on school size, geography and a strength-of-program component."
^via Associated Press. "Camden Grabs Group 2 Title", Asbury Park Press, March 23, 1941. Accessed March 1, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "In a wild finish, Camden Catholic nipped St. Patrick's of Elizabeth, 41-39, at the Elizabeth armory yesterday to win the Group 2 prep division of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association basketball tournament.... With 15 seconds to play, Frank Swak dribble in for a lay-up to clinch Camden's victory. McElroy's foul, with five seconds to go, was the last tally."
^"Irish take the state basketball championship", Catholic Star Herald, March 18, 2020. Accessed March 6, 2021. "All Irish eyes in Cherry Hill were on Camden Catholic High School on Sunday night, March 12, as the boys’ varsity basketball team defeated St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City) 68-63 for the Non-Public A State championship at Ritacco Center in Toms River."
^Narducci, Marc. "Camden Catholic boys fall to Trenton Catholic, 53-39", The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 23, 2010. Accessed March 6, 2021. "In tonight's Tournament of Champions final at the Izod Center, Trenton Catholic used an old but reliable element: grinding in-your-face man-to-man defense. Second-seeded Trenton Catholic contested every shot with great quickness and defensive anticipation to defeat Camden Catholic, 53-39 in earning its first TOC title.... Top-seeded Camden Catholic finished its season 29-2, adding the state Non-Public A championship to its trophy mantle along with The Inquirer's No. 1 ranking."
^Smith, Paul. "Camden Cath. goes from 0-9 to regional title", The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 2, 1979. Accessed January 8, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Forget for the moment that Camden Catholic High's football team went 0-9 in 1978.... Camden Catholic forgot all phases of its past yesterday and remembered its 1979 byword confidence which carried it to a 20-7 victory over host Holy Cross and the South Jersey Parochial A championship. Two key reasons the Irish (9-2) were able to overcome a 7-6 halftime deficit were named Kondrla: Marty, who scored all three Camden Catholic touchdowns on runs of 1, 5 and 9 yards, and Matty, who led a Catholic defense that limited the Cross to 94 yards rushing and harassed the Lancers' excellent junior quarterback, Mike Donoghue, into a 5-for-19 passing day."
^Stypulkoski, Matt. "Ranking the 31 fiercest rivalries in N.J. HS football"Archived January 10, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, October 27, 2017, updated May 15, 2019. Accessed December 1, 2020. "25-Camden vs. Camden Catholic.. This is a local rivalry that started in 1931 between Camden and Camden Catholic, which is located in nearby Cherry Hill.... All-time series: Camden Catholic leads, 35-29-2"
^Rimback, Tom. "No. 1 Camden Cath. outlasts No. 4 Oak Knoll for NJSIAA Non-Public field hockey title", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, November 12, 2022, updated November 12, 2022. Accessed November 7, 2023. "It was a long time coming but Olivia Bent-Cole and her Camden Catholic teammates finally stepped off the field at Bordentown with a trophy over their heads. The Irish — No. 1 in the NJ.com field hockey Top 20 —Beat No. 4 Oak Knoll 2-1 to win the NJSIAA Non-Public state championship. Camden Catholic last won a state championship in 1985."
^Mayer, John. "Ramapo settles for tie in final", The Record, November 18, 1990. Accessed January 23, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Gina Ciavarra may have summed it up best after Ramapo played to a scoreless tie with Camden Catholic Saturday to gain a share of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 3 girls soccer title at Trenton State College.... The ball rolled toward the goal line before being cleared by Erin Garrity, who anchored the defense for the Fighting Irish (18-2-2)."
^"Sports Week", Courier-Post, March 11, 2007. Accessed September 17, 2007. "Camden Catholic senior Anthony Trongone (41–2) won the state 171-pound wrestling championship with a 4–2 win over Ocean Township's Kyle Kiss."
^Behre, Bob. Jersey HS Wrestling, NJ.com, March 4, 2007. Accessed September 17, 2007.
^Wood, Steve, Camden Catholic ends Paul VI's long winning streak, Courier-Post, October 11, 2007. Accessed October 12, 2007. "After 28 years and an epic win streak of 244 consecutive dual meets in boys' cross country, Paul VI High School has finally been dethroned.... On Wednesday, the Irish denied Paul VI of win No. 245, beating its division foe 21–36 and ending the longest win streak in South Jersey history.
^Rimback, Tom. "Ryleigh Heck, Olivia Bent-Cole get the call to field hockey national team", Courier-Post, July 29, 2022. Accessed November 7, 2023. "Eastern High School graduate Ryleigh Heck and incoming Camden Catholic senior Olivia Bent-Cole made the most of a summer spent abroad in Ireland with the Under-21 Women’s National Team in June and earlier this month at the Senior Nexus Championships this month, which served as a week-long selection event to the United States Women’s National Team."
^Hagenmayer, S. Joseph. "James Corea, 63, radio talk-show host and former owner of gym", The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 5, 2001, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 8, 2001. Accessed January 3, 2018. "James Corea, 63, of Haddonfield, the well-known gym owner and host of local radio talk shows about fitness, died Saturday shortly after his arrival at Kennedy Memorial Hospitals-University Medical Center/Cherry Hill.... Born in Camden, Mr. Corea was a graduate of Camden Catholic High School, where he was, not surprisingly, an athlete."
^Graham, Kristen A. "Pennsauken native wins leading role on London stage", The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 28, 1998. Accessed April 9, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "Lynn remembers that Krysten, when growing up, was upset by the fact that people didn't know where Pennsauken is.... A 1992 Camden Catholic graduate, Krysten received her acting training at the Ritz Theatre in Oaklyn."
^"Tom Flacco could follow in his brother’s footsteps", The Sun Newspapers, February 26, 2013. Accessed April 30, 2021. "Unlike Joe, an Audubon High School alum, Tom went to Camden Catholic High School until he moved to Voorhees in August 2011."
^"Camden Catholic; A tradition for many families", Courier-Post, November 7, 1997. Accessed November 14, 2020. "One graduate, Andy Gaskill, was the animator for several Walt Disney movies. They include The Rescuers and The Fox and the Hound. He was also art director for The Lion King and Hercules. In a telephone interview from the Walt Disney Pictures studio in Burbank, Calif., Gaskill said his experience with Camden Catholic's extracurricular activities helped him choose his career."
^Staff. "Georgetown honors Father Scott Pilarz", Catholic Star Herald, April 16, 2009. Accessed May 30, 2011. "Father Scott Pilarz, a Jesuit, is a native of Camden and graduate of Camden Catholic High School. He also serves as board president of Camden Catholic."
^Staff. Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey; 1988 Edition, p. 244. J.A. Fitzgerald, 1988. Accessed October 25, 2016. "Assemblyman Shusted was born Aug. 3, 1926, in Ocean City. He attended Camden Catholic High School, LaSalle University, and Rutgers Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1954."
^Kennedy, Charles Stuart. "Interview with Ambassador Theresa A. Tull", Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, November 9, 2004. Accessed February 22, 2020. "TULL: I was born October 2nd, 1936 in Runnemede, New Jersey. I was born literally in the same house from which I left 26 years later to join the Foreign Service.... I skipped the fourth grade, as a matter of fact, but then there was no question but that I would go to Catholic high school, which I wanted to do, and I went to Camden Catholic High School in Camden, where all six of my sisters had gone."