Central Catholic Marianist High School

Private, day, college-prep school in San Antonio, Texas, United States

Central Catholic High School

Address

1403 North St. Mary's Street

San Antonio

Texas

78215

United States

Coordinates| 29°26′12″N 98°29′7″W﻿ / ﻿29.43667°N 98.48528°W﻿ / 29.43667; -98.48528
Information
Type| Private, Day, College-prep
Motto| Faith, Wisdom, Integrity[3]
Religious affiliation(s)| Roman Catholic
Established| 1852; 172 years ago (1852)
Sister school| Providence High School[2]
President| Jason Longoria '96[1]
Principal| Dr. Lee Hernandez[1]
Chaplain| Fr. Patrick McDaid, S.M.
Grades| 9–12
Gender| Boys
Enrollment| 522[5] (2021-2022)
Student to teacher ratio| 14:1[5]
Color(s)| Navy Blue and White
Fight song| "Central Will Shine Tonight"[3]
Athletics conference| TAPPS Class 6A
Nickname| Buttons
Accreditation| Southern Association of Colleges and Schools[4]
Newspaper| The Pep
Yearbook| The Fang
Annual tuition| $12,850[5]
Website| cchs-satx.org

Central Catholic High School is a Catholic, all-male, non-boarding college preparatory school located in the River North District of Downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio.

## History[edit]

The school began as St. Mary's Institute on March 25, 1852 in rented rooms above a blacksmith's shop on Military Plaza.[6] The original faculty consisted of Brother Anthony Edel (Founder, First Superior, and First Principal) from Ohio, three Marianist Brothers from Bordeaux, France (Nicholas Koenig, Jean-Baptiste Laignounse, and Xavier Mauclerc), and Timothy O'Neil, a layman from San Antonio.

The school moved to a new two-story building at 112 College Street on March 1, 1853. In 1891, the school was renamed St. Mary's College, reflecting its expansion to include boarders and primary and middle school grades. In 1923, the school added boarding students from St. Louis College and was renamed St. Mary's Academy.[7] The site is now a hotel entryway, recognized by Texas Historical Marker #3819[8] as the location of Old St. Mary's College, or "The Old Academy."

In 1932, the school relocated to the current three-story art deco brick building on 2.2 acres (0.89 ha) at 1403 N. St. Mary's Street[9] and was renamed once more to Central Catholic School.[3][10] Classrooms were added to the unfinished third floor in the late 1940s.[11] By 1950 attendance grew to 740, including its first black student in 1951.[9] The third floor was not occupied until 1953. Grade school classes were dropped in 1955.[9] A Dr Pepper bottling plant occupied the northeast corner of the site until 1956. By the end of the 1950s the school added its first lay teacher to its staff, to be evenly split between Marianist brothers and lay people within ten years.[9]

On December 6, 1982, the school was incorporated in the State of Texas as Central Catholic Marianist High School. Upon the assumption by Rev. Joseph Tarrillion, SM,[12] of the presidency, the school's name was changed back to Central Catholic High School. The football field and track were added in the 1980s, and the former activity center became the school's band hall by the 1990s.[11] As of 2012[update] the campus occupies 12 acres (4.9 ha).[13][14]

The school expanded in 2013 with the addition of a new library and eight new classrooms attached to the main building, comprising 16,370 sq ft (1,520 m2).[9] In 2019 the 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) Kahlig-Cowie Convocation Center & Mother Adele Chapel opened, providing space for athletics and faith.[15][16]

Central Catholic is one of the oldest high schools in San Antonio, and it counts many prominent business and political leaders among its alumni. It was the first all-boys school in San Antonio and remains one of the largest all-male schools in Texas. Historical Marker #788 on the school's front lawn describes the school's history and denotes it as a Texas landmark.[17]

## Mascot[edit]

The Central Catholic mascot is the Buttons which are the hard, round segments that comprise the rattle of the rattlesnake. The mascot pays tribute to St. Mary's University, of which the high school was originally a part of, whose mascot is the Rattler.[18][19]

## Athletics[edit]

Central competes in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS). For the 2022-2024 alignment, Central is in Division I District 2 for Winter Soccer and 11 Man Football and 6A District 2 in Baseball, Swimming, Track and Field, Golf, Tennis, and Basketball. Central competes in Cross Country in the TAPPS 6A division.[20]

## Notable people[edit]

### Alumni[edit]

* William J. Bordelon, 1938, posthumous recipient of Medal of Honor at Battle of Tarawa, 1943[21]
* Josef Centeno, chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author[22]
* Henry Cisneros, 1964, mayor of San Antonio, 1981-89, HUD Secretary 1993-97[23][9]
* Ben Dunn, 1982, American comic book artist and founder of Antarctic Press in San Antonio, TX.[24]
* Nicholas Gonzalez, 1994, actor[25]
* Sonny Melendrez, 1964, Radio Hall of Famer, TV host,[26] actor, writer, and motivational speaker[27]
* Jose Menendez, 1987, member of the Texas State Senate for District 26[9]
* Jim Oertling, 1960, musician, Rockabilly Hall of Fame, Louisiana Folklife Center’s Hall of Master Folk Artists[28]
* Whitley Strieber, 1963, author, screenwriter, UFO abductee
* William C. Velásquez, 1962, American social activist and vote organizer[29][30]

### Faculty[edit]

* John Hamman

## References[edit]

### Citations[edit]

1. ^ a b "Staff". cchs-satx.org. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
2. ^ "Providence High School acquires property for expansion". 10 March 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
3. ^ a b c Parent/Student Handbook 2019-2020 (PDF). CCHS. 2019. pp. 9, 10.
4. ^ SACS-CASI. "SACS-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
5. ^ a b c "Private School Guide". San Antonio Magazine. Vol. 17, no. 1\. October 2021. p. 44\. ISSN 2327-8315 - via EBSCOhost.
6. ^ Cruz, Gilbert (February 1, 1996). "San Antonio, Catholic Archdiocese of". Texas State Historical Association. Austin, TX. Archived from the original on 2020-07-23.
7. ^ Wood, S.M., Robert D. (April 1, 1995). "Marianists". Texas State Historical Association. Austin, TX. Archived from the original on 2021-09-23.
8. ^ "Details for Old St. Mary's College (Atlas Number 5029003819)". Texas Historical Commission. 1969. Marker Number 3819. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11.
9. ^ a b c d e f g Pack, Bill (April 4, 2015). "Central Catholic legacy dates to 1852". San Antonio Express-News.
10. ^ Welch, June Rayfield (1981). The Colleges of Texas. Dallas, Tex.: GLA Press. ISBN 0-912854-11-1. OCLC 7660276.
11. ^ a b "Art & Architecture: Our unique and growing campus". cchs-satx.org. December 3, 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-09-03.
12. ^ "After a lifetime of service, Rev. Joseph Tarrillion, S.M. '51 retires; named President Emeritus at Central Catholic High School" (PDF). November 12, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 13, 2016. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
13. ^ "Student-Parent Handbook 2004-2005" (PDF). cchs-satx.org. 2004. p. 1\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-10-21.
14. ^ Huddleston, Scott (April 19, 2012). "Central Catholic addition OK'd". mySA.
15. ^ Considine, Mike (2019-08-21). "Central Catholic unveils new convocation center". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
16. ^ "Our Historic Building". www.cchs-satx.org. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
17. ^ "Details for Central Catholic High School (Atlas Number 5029000788)". Texas Historical Commission. 1978. Marker Number 788. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11.
18. ^ Halwe, Bro. Fred (2004). "What Is a Button?". Central Catholic Marianist High School. Archived from the original on 2007-05-22. "Both schools had the rattlesnake as mascot, so the university took the name "Rattler" and the high school assumed the name of the warning rattles, or the "Buttons.""
19. ^ Abernathey, Pat. "Snake Bits". St. Mary's University. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27.
20. ^ "2022-24 Alignment Landing Page". TAPPS. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
21. ^ "San Antonio Does Its Part". TIME. No. 8\. February 21, 1944. pp. 68, 70. ISSN 0040-781X.
22. ^ "Josef Centeno on SA Cuisine and Modern Tex-Mex". San Antonio Magazine. 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
23. ^ "Mayor-Elect of San Antonio Hails Vote as a Victory Over 'The Ethnic Factor'". The New York Times. 1981-04-06. p. 12\. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
24. ^ Klaw, Rick (February 28, 2019). "Comic Book Heroes: San Antonio Brothers Keep Antarctic Press Thriving Long Enough For One of Its Creations to Land a Netflix Show". San Antonio Current. Archived from the original on 2022-12-19.
25. ^ "Actor Nicholas Gonzalez". Archived from the original on 2006-08-18. Retrieved 2006-09-21.
26. ^ "SonnyRadio.com // Welcome--Radio as You Know it is About To Change!". sonnyradio.com. Archived from the original on 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
27. ^ "Sonny Melendrez". IMDb.
28. ^ "Walter James "Jim" Oertling Jr. Obituary (2020)". Legacy.com. Slidell, LA: The Times-Picayune. 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
29. ^ "TSHA | Velásquez, William C." www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
30. ^ "Alumni Hall of Fame". www.cchs-satx.org. Retrieved 2023-05-12.

### Bibliography[edit]

* McMurtrey, Martin; Janson, Herbert; Tarrillion, Joseph; Cunningham, Pat (2008). A History: Central Catholic High School. San Antonio: Central Catholic High School. OCLC 261139674.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Central Catholic High School.

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