Central Catholic Marianist High School

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Central Catholic Marianist High School
Established	1852
Type	private all-male secondary
President	Rev. Dr. Joseph Tarrillion, S.M.
Principal	Deacon Pat Cunningham
Founder	Society of Mary (Marianists)
Chaplain	Rev. Donald Cowie, S.M.
Students	500
Grades	9-12
Location	San Antonio, Texas USA
Accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Texas Catholic Conference Education Department
Campus	Urban
Colors	Navy Blue and White
Mascot	Buttons
Yearbook	The Fang
Newspaper	The Pep
Website	www.cchs-satx.org

Central Catholic Marianist High School, is a Catholic, all-boys, non-boarding college preparatory school located in downtown San Antonio, Texas.

The school began as St. Mary's Institute on March 25,1852 in rented rooms above a livery stable on Military Plaza.[1] 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 2-story building on College Street March 1, 1853. In 1891, the school was re-named 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 re-named St. Mary's Academy.[2] In 1932, the school relocated to a new 3-story brick building on 2.2 acres at 1403 N. St. Mary's Street and was re-named once more to Central Catholic High School. The third floor was not occupied until 1953. Grade school classes were dropped in 1955. On December 6, 1982, the school was incorporated in the State of Texas as Central Catholic Marianist High School.

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 boy's school in San Antonio and remains one of the largest all male schools in Texas.

1 Mascot
2 Athletics
3 ROTC
4 Notable Graduates
5 Notorious Graduates
6 External links

[edit] Mascot

Central Catholic "Buttons", named for the rattle segments of a rattlesnake. A rattlesnake ("The Rattlers") is the mascot of St. Mary's University in San Antonio, also a Marianist institution.

[edit] Athletics

The school boasts a storied athletic tradition and is home to an active student body. At all games the students of Central Catholic stand and cheer together in "Section R" (the "R" is for "Rowdy"). Central plays its rival, Holy Cross High School, every year in the Holy Bowl.

[edit] ROTC

It is also one of two private high schools in the city with an ROTC corps. Students are required to be enlisted for two years in the corps, third and fourth years being optional. The school is home to the Bordelon Rifles, one of the top shooting teams in the nation, and the Loyd Rifles and Chaminade Guard, drill teams ranked in the top 10% of the nation's drill teams. The Bordelon Rifles are named after William J. Bordelon, a Central Catholic Graduate and a WWII service man, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of honor posthumously. The Bordelon Rifles have a long winning Tradition boasting numerous Titles, Trophies, and National Shooting Champions. It also has one of the only two ROTC units in Texas with its own marching band. Although Central is a single-gender school, students from Providence High School may also choose to participate in the program, which was incorporated in the 2003-2004 school year.

[edit] Notable Graduates

William J. Bordelon, 1938, posthumous recipient of Medal of Honor at Battle of Tarawa, 1943
Henry Cisneros, 1964, HUD Secretary 1993-1997
Frank D. Frazier, 1947, astronaut candidate, Military Class 4
Nicholas Gonzalez, 1994, actor
Frank R. Loyd, Jr, 1945, posthumous recipient of Distinguished Service Cross, Korea citation
(Joseph) Sonny Melendrez, 1964, Disc jockey and actor
Michael Mery, 1974, San Antonio County Court Judge
John Ellis O'Neill, 1963, co-author of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry and spokesman for Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
Robert Skiles, attended 1962-64, musician, "Beto" of the Austin band Beto and the Fairlanes
Whitley Streiber, 1963, author, screenwriter, UFO abductee
William C. Velásquez, 1962, Chicano movement organizer and founder of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project

[edit] Notorious Graduates

Bro James Burkholder,1962, inventor of the hovercraft chair and smartest man alive. Climbed Mt. KSAT tower to install doppler system for weather.
Henry Cisneros, 1964, pardoned by President Clinton, January 19, 2001
Michael A. Rodriguez, "Connally 7" escapee and double murderer
William Snead, Jr., 1962, a ringleader of 1965 Air Force Academy cheating scandal