St. James High School for Boys

For other schools with the same name, see St. James School (disambiguation).
St. James High School for Boys
Location
Chester
,
Pennsylvania

United States
Information
School typeCatholic school
MottoLatin: Quae Sursum Quaerite
(Seek Those Things Which Are Above)
Religious affiliation(s)Christianity
DenominationCatholic Church
Closed1993 (1993)
Local authorityRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia
GenderAll-boys
Color(s)Blue and Gray
NicknameBulldogs

St. James High School for Boys was a Roman Catholic high school in Chester, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The mascot was the fighting bulldog.[1]

The school closed in 1993 on the orders of the archdiocese. In 2011, Ed Gebhart of the Delco Times wrote that the ceasing of operations was "as controversial today as it was at the time".[2]

St. James Regional Catholic School in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, a Catholic K-8 school which opened in 2012, was named in honor of the former St. James High School. The St. James High alumni association suggested the name, and the new school asked to use the name, mascot, and colors.[1] The St. James High alumni headquarters hosted the first fundraiser for St. James Regional.[3]

Alumni association

Saint James High School Alumni Association in Eddystone, Pennsylvania

After the school closed, a group of 20-30 alumni asked the archdiocese to sell or lease the building to them, but the archdiocese refused. The alumni association by 2012 built a membership base of 1,550 which may be the largest and most active alumni in the Delaware Valley.[4]

The St. James High School alumni association established a headquarters in Eddystone, Pennsylvania with a banquet area, bar, and chapel. It is named the 'Doghouse" as a reference to the school mascot.[1] A monument to the school was established at the headquarters in 2017.[5] Timothy Logue of Delco Times described the building as "de facto museum of everything St. James"[1] including a "Wall of Honor" highlighting notable graduates.[2]

Every Thanksgiving, the students in the varsity club conducted a food drive. The alumni association continued it after the school closed. The group of alumni doing it meet at the alumni association headquarters and call themselves "Varsity Club II".[6]

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ a b c d Logue, Timothy (2012-02-04). "Merged school in Ridley Park will resurrect legendary St. James' name". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  2. ^ a b Gebhart, Ed (2011-09-10). "GEBHART: Alumni make sure no one forgets St. James". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  3. ^ Ormsby, Barbara (2012-05-07). "St. Gabe's memories remain". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  4. ^ Gebhart, Ed (2012-02-18). "GEBHART: St. James mystique becomes clearer all the time". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  5. ^ Rodgers, Loretta (2017-09-03). "St. James High School alumni gather to dedicate monument". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  6. ^ DeGrasa, Peg (2019-11-27). "It's Turkey time: St. James alumni surpass goal of 900 birds to feed hungry". Delco Times. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  7. ^ Dunne, Carey (2013-04-03). "As Vanity Fair Correspondent T. D. Allman Releases His New Book, Finding Florida, a Compilation of His Greatest Hits". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 2023-02-13. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
  8. ^ Ramsay, Jack (2004). Dr. Jack's Leadership Lessons Learned From a Lifetime in Basketball. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 12. ISBN 0-471-46929-7. Retrieved 17 May 2020.


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