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