Archbishop Molloy High School
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| Archbishop Molloy High School | |
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| Non Scholae Sed Vitae (Not For School, But For Life) |
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| Established | 1892 |
| School type | Catholic |
| Religious affiliation | Marist |
| President | John Sherry |
| Location | Briarwood, NY, USA |
| Campus | 6 acres |
| Enrollment | 1561 |
| Faculty | 83 |
| Average class size | 33 students |
| Student:Teacher ratio |
19:1 |
| Average SAT scores (2004) |
980 |
| Athletics | 14 Interscholastic Sports 46 Interscholastic Teams |
| Color(s) | Blue/White |
| Mascot | Lion |
Archbishop Molloy High School (also called Molloy, Archbishop Molloy, or AMHS) is a co-educational catholic school for grades 9-12, located on 6 acres in the Briarwood (Western Jamaica) section of Queens in New York City, thirty minutes east of Manhattan. Molloy currently has an endowment of about $4,700,000 (as of February 26, 2006). The school's current principal is Br. Roy George. Molloy's slogan is "Non Scholae Sed Vitae," which is Latin for "Not For School, But For Life."
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[edit] School's origins and philosophy
In rural France in 1816, a newly ordained parish priest, Fr. Marcellin Champagnat, was assigned as assistant pastor to the town of LaValla. His parish included sixty-one mountain hamlets, each home to four or five families. One day, Fr. Champagnat was called to the bedside of a dying fifteen-year old boy. Because of the absence of schooling of any kind, the lad could neither read nor write, and was completely ignorant of the faith he had been baptized into. As Fr. Champagnat prepared the young man to meet God, he knew he had to do something to improve the lot of these children, trapped by their isolation and poverty in a lifetime of ignorance and want.
Although he had no money, no buildings, no approval from Church or State, no books and no teachers, Fr. Champagnat entrusted his mission to God, knowing that, if it were God's work, nothing could prevent its success. In 1817, he recruited two young men who became the first Marist Brothers. He trained them as catechists, and sent them into the hamlets to begin a simple program of education. Despite the hardships and privations of this early group, many others were soon attracted to the idealistic and charismatic Fr. Champagnat.
Soon other parishes were clamoring for the help of the Brothers. Exhausted by his efforts, Fr. Champagnat died at age 51 in 1840. Despite all the difficulties, there were over 200 Marist Brothers at the time of the Founder's death, and within ten more years, there were over 2,000! Today, over 5,000 Marist Brothers work in 73 countries around the world, laboring for the Christian education of youth.
In 1885, the Marist Brothers opened their first North American schools in Canada, and the following year started their first U.S. parish school in Lewiston, Maine. They quickly spread to a number of New England cities, serving the French-speaking immigrants.
In 1892, Br. Zephiriny opened St. Anne's Academy in two brownstone buildings at East 76 Street and Lexington Avenue. Initially a parish elementary school, the program soon expanded to include a two-year commercial course and then a full four-year high school program. Initially conducted entirely in French, the school gradually moved to English-language instruction, and by the turn of the century, the Brothers anglicized the name to St. Ann's.
During the Teddy Roosevelt era, the school briefly took on a military air, with uniforms and a marching band. Boarding facilities were added, and the phenomenal growth of the school began. When the original parish church was replaced in 1912 with the huge present-day Church, the Brothers acquired the old building and converted it as a gymnasium. A purpose-built five story school building was then constructed, and other neighboring buildings were acquired.
Sixty-five years after its foundation, the school enrollment had swelled to 800 in grades one through twelve, and all available buildings were bursting at the seams. Moreover, some of the earliest buildings had deteriorated structurally, and required replacement.
Archbishop Molloy, the Ordinary of the neighboring diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, offered the Marist Brothers a six-acre site he had purchased in central Queens County. In 1957, the Brothers moved to the new site, naming the building in honor of Archbishop Molloy. The expanded facilities enabled the school to nearly double its enrollment, meeting the urgent needs of the post World War II baby-boom generation.
Despite the move, many of the hallowed St. Ann's traditions continued as the faculty and students moved en masse to the new site. Today, students are still known as Stanners (St. Anner's), and the school newspaper is the Stanner.
In 1987, the Ralph DiChiaro Center for Arts and Sciences was dedicated, giving the school new facilities, including a theater, computer labs and a biology lab.
In 2000, Molloy became co-educational and opened the doors to women for the first time. It graduated its first female in 2004. In 2006, two Molloy alumni, John Faso (1975), and Andrew Cuomo (1975) ran for two top offices in New York State, Faso running for governor as a Republican, and Cuomo for Attorney General as the incumbunt Democrat. This is the first time in New York State that two of the candidates running for the two most powerful positions in the government graduated from the same high school.
[edit] Academics
Molloy's academic record stands high among Catholic high schools. A variety of honors classes and 10 A.P. classes are offered by Molloy. Their Science Olympiad Team is consistently among the top three schools in the city, recently taking first place. Amongst Catholic schools, Molloy has the highest percentage of its graduates earning Regents diplomas in the United States. The U.S. Department of Education recognized the school as a "National School of Excellence." Molloy was named as the most "Outstanding American High School" by U.S. News and World Report, as well as an "Exemplary School" by the Federal Department of Education. 100% of Molloy's graduates attend college.
Molloy's current teaching staff includes teachers who have exemplified the spirit of Molloy spanning generations. One example is the legendary John Diorio, an American History and Policital Science teacher who has taught tens of thousands of Molloy students. Mr."D" (as he is known by many) just completed his 46th year teaching at Molloy, having began his teaching career at the school in 1960.
[edit] Athletics
Molloy is nationally known as a sports powerhouse, particularly in basketball. Molloy's basketball team is coached by the legendary Jack Curran, the winningest coach in New York City and New York State history. After taking over as coach for Lou Carnesecca in 1958, Curran has led Molloy basketball to over 870 wins and 5 city titles. He has also produced 4 NBA players. Curran has also coached Molloy's baseball team since 1958, leading them to more than 1,300 wins and 17 CHSAA titles. In 1966, Curran coached Molloy baseball to win 68 consecutive games, a national record which would stand until April 2, 2005. Curran is the only coach to be named National Coach of the Year in two different sports: basketball in 1990 and baseball in 1988. He has been named CHSAA Coach of the Year 25 times in baseball, 22 times in basketball, won city championships in three different decades and has been elected into seven different Hall of Fames, including the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
Molloy's track team has also been a powerhouse, winning 24 CHSAA indoor track titles since its inception. Tom Farrell, a Molloy graduate, won a bronze medal at the 1968 Olympics in the 800m run. Chris Lopez (1990) currently has the New York High School state record in the triple jump. Molloy also had a dominant track and field program which has garnered them more CHSAA team titles than any other CHSAA team.
[edit] Activities
Molloy also boasts a variety of extracurricular activities, including an array of cultural clubs, service opportunities, a newspaper, The Stanner, and its own literary magazine, Out of the Box.
[edit] The Bowling Team
A strong squad of young men. They are one of Molloy's better winning teams. Junior Varsity and Varsity both have 7 city championships in the past 11 years. Sadly, the more recent teams have not been able to keep up with "The Vinny Leonardo Dynasty." in 2006, The team had some great talent coming in but within a year 2 got kicked out of school and 2 quit the team out of pure frustration. It is understandable but inexuseable. For a bowling team to be a successful bowling team, it must practice until 4 o'clock on Saturdays. Vincent Leonardo, one of the better coaches in CHSAA Bowling history is a strong believer in this principle.
Almost 13 years ago, Vincenzo Leonardo (Whom we will call Vin) was running a league at a local bowling alley. One of the kids on the team begged Vin to start a team for Molloy, considering that they did not have a bowling team! The Blasphemy! His first year was a fair year,scraping up 50 kids for tryouts. A fairly good team was put together and within 2 years he was winning championships. His implemented his winning ways on every team and every team took it to heart. The Varsity Team, The most world reknown, has only had 3 sophmores in its history (TJ Moresco, Tony Silva, Mikey Romano). The highest game ever bowled by a Molloy Varsity Team is a whopping 1163.
A more recent and looked foward to event is the celebration dinner at Roma View, even though the team has had a tad less to celebrate about every year. The atmosphere has always been giddy and enjoyable, almost like a night out with good friends. Sadly, during the dinner of the 2005-06 season, Vin yelled at the kids in front of the parents, embarassing himself and his motives. He also gave a "locker room speech" in front of the dumbfounded parents, who did not seem to care.
[edit] Stanner
Stanner is a word created by Archbishop Molloy High School.
Before modern-day Molloy was built in Briarwood, New York, the school was named St. Ann's Academy. The students were known as St. Anner's, and this name overtime developed into simply Stanner.
All of Molloy's students, current and alumni, are known as Stanners. The school always makes it a point that students should act "Stannerly." The definition of "Stannerly" is not explicitly known. One assumption is that it means "like Jesus"; though that definition was called into question in the 2003-2004 school year when Brother Roy George called Jesus "the ultimate non-conformist," and the school's administration, as the students know, praise conformity to the school's rules. The principal's admission made the students question whether Jesus, if alive, would attend Molloy today.
Several things in the school have this name, including the school newspaper, "The Stanner"; and one of the two basketball courts "Stanner Court." In addition, several of the schools athletic teams are known as the Molloy Stanners.
[edit] Notable alumni
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