Roman Catholic High School
The Roman Catholic High School of Philadelphia is a four-year private, Catholic high school for boys in Philadelphia. It was founded by Thomas E. Cahill in 1890 as the first free Catholic high school in the nation. The school is located at the intersection of Broad and Vine streets in Center City Philadelphia, and is managed by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
History
Roman Catholic High School was founded with funding provided by the estate of Thomas E. Cahill, a 19th-century Philadelphia merchant. Cahill had envisioned the need to create a school that offered a free Catholic education for boys past their grammar school years. Cahill died before seeing that vision come to life. However, those wishes were followed and guided by a written will and his wife, Sophia Cahill. Roman Catholic opened its doors in 1890 and offered free education to boys. Due to increased staff and facilities costs, free admission to the school ended in the 1960s.Founder
Thomas E. Cahill, born May 27, 1828, was the son of Thomas Cahill, a native of County Louth in Ireland, colloquially known as 'the Wee County' who came to America in 1817, and of Maria Elliott, daughter of one of the oldest colonial families of Delaware. His father was a railroad contractor who suffered heavy reverses in his business. His mother died at the age of 36. Thomas left school to do his share towards the support of a large family. At 17, he opened a small store in Philadelphia, located between Pine and Spruce Streets on 26th at a wharf on the Schuylkill River.Successful from the start, he embarked in the wood, coal, and ice business with the proceeds of his first venture. He later organized the Cold Spring Ice and Coal Company. In 1854 he became the first president. In 1869 he effected a consolidation of the large ice firms of the city, incorporated under the name of the famous brand Knickerbocker Ice Company.
19th century
Roman Catholic High School was dedicated on September 6, 1890, in a ceremony conducted by Archbishop Ryan of Philadelphia. His dedication speech compared education in public schools, lacking the Christian recognition of the soul and the importance to teach that subject at this new catholic high school in the education of young men. A class numbering 105 boys were selected for entrance into the new high school. Later only 26 students survived economic hardships and became members of the first graduating class in 1894. Compared to the number who began as first-year students, the percentage of graduates was a little less than 25%. In 1928, one-half of those started received diplomas. During the 95 years of its opening, 16,228 students graduated from Roman Catholic High.20th century
In 1985, the Archdiocese slated the school for closing due to lowering enrollment. However, the school's alumni association, with the blessing of Philadelphia's John Cardinal Krol, embarked on a campaign to save the school. Roman's Alumni Association, which had existed for over 70 years, came together to raise funds and increase enrollment. The rector of the school even applied to have the building itself kept as a historic landmark, which was accepted. The significance of the historic landmark designation means the building on the corner of Broad and Vine Streets can never legally be torn down. Also, its exterior must always stay the same — though it does not have to remain a school.Prior to 1986, students who attended Roman were from "feeder parishes"; Roman served as the school for the boys from the Center City, Chinatown, East Falls, Fairmount, Manayunk, North Philadelphia, and Roxborough regions of Philadelphia.
Roman enrolls boys from almost every Philadelphia neighborhood, including The Near and Far Northeast, West Philadelphia, Fishtown, Port Richmond, Mayfair, South Philly, Fox Chase, Roxborough, South Jersey, and outlying suburbs.
Roman Catholic High School was built to hold about 750 to 800 students. Because of high demand, the school is above capacity with approximately 1,100 students. The school holds an entrance test to select its students every October, November, and December. Of the 600 or 700 students that apply, roughly 300 to 350 are accepted. Students who do well on these tests also may receive scholarships ranging from a few hundred dollars to as much as $4000 a year. Usually, about 40 students receive scholarships.
Like other high schools, Roman has a tracking system: that is, the first track, the second track, and the third track. Roman, however, is unique in that it tracks its honors class into three classes. While students in the honors classes learn the same material at the same pace, it creates a better learning system to have students of the same level together.
21st century
Beginning with the 2012–2013 school year, Roman announced the implementation of a 1:1 iPad initiative, starting with the incoming first-year students. Due to the ever-changing face of education, students require different tools and strategies. The initiative allows students and teachers to individualize and differentiate instruction in a familiar way to today's students. Students work on essential 21st-century skill sets needed to meet state and national standards.Sexual abuse scandal
In July 2011, Philadelphia magazine published an article by Robert Huber regarding the 2011 grand jury report, which documented new charges of child sexual abuse by priests active in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The article included the story of Joe, a 59-year-old who spoke of his abuse at the hands of Father McGuigan, in 1966, when a ninth grader at Roman Catholic High School.Historical marker
Dedicated: Tuesday, September 29, 2009. Location: E side of N Broad St., between Vine & Pearl, Philadelphia by the Historical Commission as referenced on the List of Pennsylvania state historical markers. Marker Text: Thomas E. Cahill "Entrepreneur and philanthropist who bequeathed the bulk of his estate to establish Roman Catholic High School for Boys, the first free Catholic high school in the US. Founded here in 1890, the school initiated a diocesan high school system that became a model throughout the nation. Coming from a poor immigrant family, Cahill sought to provide young men from similar backgrounds with the secondary education denied him."Campus
The campus consists of four structures, Two on Vine Street and two on Wood Street.Main building (Broad and Vine Streets)
Located on the northeast corner intersection of Broad and Vine Streets.Dedicated on September 6, 1890, the school's original main building established the main entrance on the frontage of North Broad Street. The building's length was 140 feet and extended eastward on Vine Street for 115 feet, bordered on the north by the very narrow Pearl Street and bounded eastward by a ten-foot wide alley commonly known as Watts Street, rededicated to the school. The land was formerly a Railroad Depot moved just north to Cahowhill Street. The exterior is a three-story building of Victorian Gothic design, faced with "Lee, Massachusetts" marble, placed on a granite base and sited to impact majestically at the intersection by prominent architect Edwin Forrest Durang. The building has two ornamental stone facades along Vine and Broad Streets joined at a square corner tower and two brick facades at the rear of the building. The building originally had a 150-foot marble tower topped in copper at the corner of Broad and Vine, destroyed by fire in 1959 and not replaced.
Initially, there were 20 classrooms, each designed to accommodate between 24 and 42 pupils, the building contained offices, a library suite, mechanical arts workshops, and on the third floor, a hall with a 700-person seating capacity, a gymnasium, and studios with natural lighting for drawing and modeling. External fire towers provided access to lavatory facilities, but no provision was made for a lunchroom. The tower, not entirely ornamental, was fitted with instruments for astronomy classes.
Historically Certified in 1986 by the Historical Commission, it is classified as Gothic Revival architecture and consistent with a number of important Catholic churches and institutions in the City.
Renaissance Hall-Main building addition (Vine Street)
In 1953 the original three-story building received an additional two-story wing along the eastside. It connected and integrated the exterior brick façade as part of the interior. The space was utilized for physics and biology labs and the cafeteria. in 1996 the school received permission form the Archdiocese to build a $3.5 million expansion to the school, which was funded by the many alumni, friends, and foundations who recognized the historical importance of sustaining a Catholic high school presence in Center City. This wing, which is dedicated as Renaissance Hall housed an expansion of the cafeteria, a new discipline office, one classroom, and an information center which housed the library, computer lab, and television studio. Also during this project, the labs in the 1954 wing were completely gutted and remodeled with new technology, furniture, and equipment. The Library and Information Center was renovated in the summer of 2013 upgrading computers, copiers, printers and furniture named in honor of John and Mary McShain.Annex Building (Wood Street)
In 2006, the school opened an additional building acquired from the City which had historical significance related to the City's Medical Examiner. The 13th Street Annex was dedicated to James McSherry, an alumnus and benefactor to the school. This new facility housed a sports training center, creative art studio, a multi-purpose room and the alumni association offices.Arts Building-Howard Center for the Arts (Wood Street)
As part of "A Vision of Promise” on May 30, 2017, the school held a breaking ground ceremony on an additional new building with anticipated completion sometime in 2018. The initial stage is the construction of a 40,000-square foot building. The arts center is named for Barry and Elayne Howard, longtime supporters and benefactors of Roman Catholic.This new expanded academic facility is located about a block away at 1212 Wood Street, and includes band rooms, instrument storage space, a computer-aided design lab, a digital photography studio, a piano lab, a small theater and an expansion for art programs. More additions to the school in the Vision of Promise are planned.
The School had an unveiling ceremony at the Howard Center on Jan. 26 2023 in the Arts Center’s Black Box Theater and renamed the theater after award winning playwright Charles Fuller Jr. The theater’s new name was suggested by a student and adopted by the Board to be “The Charles H. Fuller Jr., ‘56 Theater. “ Fuller, is an alumni member of the Roman Catholic Class of 1956 and died in October 2022.