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The Roman Catholic High School of Philadelphia (Official)
Fides et Scientia (Faith and Knowledge)
Location
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  United States
Information
President	Rev. Joseph W. Bongard
Principal	Mr. Robert O'Neill
Type	Private
Grades	9-12
Mascot	The Cahillite
Established	1890
Alma Mater	"The Purple and Gold"
Homepage	http://www.romancatholichs.com/

The Roman Catholic High School of Philadelphia opened in 1890 as an all-male high school located at the intersection of Broad and Vine Streets in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Crisis of the 1980s 1.2 The 'New' Roman 2 The Building 3 Rectors of Catholic High 4 School Song 5 Athletics 6 Alumni 7 External links

Roman Catholic, or simply Roman, as it is often called, was founded by Thomas E. Cahill, a nineteenth century Philadelphia merchant. Cahill saw the need to create a school that offered a free Catholic education for boys- past their grammar school years. He died before he saw his vision come to life; however, the wishes that he laid out in his will were followed. As such, Roman Catholic opened its doors in 1890 and offered a free education to boys. Roman is the oldest free Diocesan Catholic high school in North America. Despite Cahill's dream, due to increased costs of staff and facilities, free admission to the school ended in the 1960's.

As of 2006 the tuition for all Archdiocesan high schools in Philadelphia was approximately $4,200 per year.

Roman was not always as successful as it is today. In 1985, the Archdiocese slated the school for closing due to lowering enrollment. However, Roman's alumni association, with the blessing of then Archbishop of Philadelphia 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.

Before 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.

Today, however, Roman has boys from almost every Philadelphia neighborhood, including The Near and Far Northeast, West Philadelphia, Fishtown, Port Richmond, South Philly, New Jersey,Fox Chase, and the outlying suburbs.

Roman Catholic is built to hold around 750 to 800 students. However, because of high demand, it is above capacity and holds closer to 900. To select its students, Roman holds an entrance test every October and November. Of the 600 or 700 students that apply, only about 300 to 350 will be 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.

Roman, like other high schools, has a tracking system: that is, first track (also called honors track), second track, and 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. A downside to such a tracking is that students find themselves among the same 35 boys in every single class.

Today, Roman seeks to further expand its campus. In the fall of 2006, the 13th St. Annex was opened, dedicated to alumnus James McSherry. The annex holds a new weight room, the alumni office, an all purpose room for wrestling, and classrooms for Senior and Junior Theology and English, in addition to Sports Medicine class. Plans are still in the works for extending the main building down Vine Street to 13th Street.

The Class of 2005 sent nine students to the nearby Ivy League school, the University of Pennsylvania, an impressive number for a Catholic School. One of Roman's noteworthy feats is sending two students to military academies in back to back years. A class of 2004 student briefly attended West Point before going to the University of Pennsylvania, and a student in the class of 2005 currently attends the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Also, the class of 2004 sent two of the nation's top rowers to Princeton University. And the class of 2006 produced one student who went to Yale University as well as one who went to a four-year international university in London, England. Outside the top tier of students, most graduates tend to stay local for college. Many alumni can be found at nearby St. Joseph's University, Villanova University, Drexel University, Temple University and LaSalle University, where nearly a dozen faculty at Roman studied.

The school, built on the northeast corner of Broad and Vine Streets, is an imposing figure of gothic architecture. The main superstructure is of white marble raised on a foundation of granite. Its white marble tower, 150 feet high, was unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1959. In 1953, the three story building received an additional wing two stories high, which now houses the physics and biology labs, and the cafeteria.

• Msgr. Nevin F. Fisher (1890 - 1902)
• Msgr. Hugh T. Henry (1902 - 1919)
• Msgr. William P. McNally (1919 - 1933)
• Rev. Leo D. Burns (1933 - 1938)
• Rev. John A. Cartin (1938 - 1952)
• Msgr. James T. Dolan (1952 - 1966)
• Msgr. Charles V. Gallen (1966 - 1975)
• Rev. Edward Cahill (1975 - 1981)
• Rev. Richard J. McLoughlin (1981 - 1990)
• Msgr. Francis W. Beach (1990 - 1997)
• Rev. Paul C. Brandt (1997 - 2006)
• Rev. Joseph W. Bongard (2006 - Present)

The Purple and Gold
(Short Version)

When Day mounts the East,
What flag does he hold?
He flings out his banner
Of Purple and Gold!
And when at the eve,
He sinks to his rest,
With Purple and Gold
Still aflame is the West!

Then stand by the flag
The young and the old!
Its colors are yours –
The Purple and the Gold!
A smile on the lip,
A tear in the eye --
Salute ye the colors of
Catholic High!

Refrain:
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

• • Msgr. Hugh T. Henry

Roman Catholic has been prominent in the Philadelphia Catholic League in basketball since the League's inception, winning 28 of 86 championship games since 1920.^{[citation needed]} Almost a dozen future NBA players have played for the Roman squad during that time.^{[citation needed]}

Roman Catholic is home to one of the most successful crews in North America, practicing for over 10 months a year. Roman is the only Catholic high school in Philadelphia that sculls (uses two oars per man while rowing) rather than sweeps (uses one oar a man while rowing). Recently it contributed a Lightweight Four to the Philadelphia Catholic League Rowing championships, finishing second in 2005 to Monsignor Bonner High School by six-tenths of a second. Roman's major sculling rivals are The Haverford School, Conestoga High School, and Malvern Preparatory School. In 2003 and 2005, two Roman students represented the United States at the Junior World Championships in Athens, Greece & Brandenburg, Germany. In 2006, the crew won the Philadelphia Catholic League Championship for the first time in the school's history over St. Joe's Prep.^{[citation needed]}

Catholic High won the 2007 Philadelphia Catholic League football championship, defeating rival St. Joe's Prep 10-9. This marks the team's second Red Division championship since the inception of the new Catholic League format, which began in 1999.

Roman Catholic boasts some famous alumni, including Charles Fuller, who won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for "A Soldier's Play," a story about racism in the military that was later turned into a successful movie starring Denzel Washington.

Roman was also home to John Facenda, a radio and television broadcast fixture in Philadelphia from the 1930s through the 1960s. He is perhaps best known as the deep baritone narrator of NFL Films.

Michael Bantom, a member of the 1972 Olympic Basketball team that won a controversial silver medal, is also a graduate.

John Ogden, class of 1999, is the daily traffic reporter for NBC 10.

Roman's most famous alumnus is Super Bowl Champion Marvin Harrison, the wide receiver, and current record holder of "Most Connections Between a Wideout and a Quarterback for Touchdowns," of the Indianapolis Colts. Harrison graduated in 1991 from Roman, after being a local sports star in both football and basketball. He led the Roman team to one of its most impressive basketball title victories during the 1989-1990 and 1990-1991 season. In celebration of Marvin's win in the Super Bowl, the entire school (students, faculty, administration, and staff) were treated to free hoagies donanted by a local deli.

On August 17, 2007, Roman lost its most recent famous alumnus, Eddie Griffin, who was killed in a train collision in Houston. Griffin was an NCAA All-American at Seton Hall University, before he was drafted by the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft.

• Roman Catholic High School for Boys
• Roman Catholic High School Alumni Association