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Mt. Carmel High School (Chicago, Illinois)

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Mount Carmel High School is an all boys Catholic high school in the Woodlawn Neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. The school's address is 6410 S. Dante, Chicago, IL 60637. It is operated by the Carmelite Priests who live in the St. Cyril Priory on the same street.

Contents

History

At the invitation of Archbishop Patrick E. Feehan, the Carmelites established St. Cyril College at 54th and Jefferson Avenue (now Harper Avenue) in the fall of 1900. In the first year there were 13 students (nine of them seminarians) and five priest teachers. The following year the college was moved to 64th and Washington (now Blackstone) because of the need for a larger building and better access to public transportation. Then in 1902 the St. Cyril College Building at 64th and Star (now Dante) was completed, and classes began with 137 students and 11 faculty members.

At first the college has three departments: (1) Academic, which included both a junior high and a high school program; (2) College, a four-year program with emphasis on Greek and Latin; (3) Commercial, a three-year course. In 1918, with young men being called to serve in World War I, the college curriculum was dropped while the high school department was enlarged and improved.

In December of 1922, Father Elias Magennis, General of the Carmelite Order, and Archbishop Mundelein of Chicago agreed on the need for the immediate construction of a new St. Cyril High School Building. In the spring and summer of 1924, the present main high school building was erected by Thompson-Starrett Construction Company with Zachary Taylor Davis as the architect and William Lynch, a St. Cyril College graduate, in charge of construction. In November 1924, the new school was dedicated as Mount Carmel High School.

In the 1950s and the 1960s, Mt. Carmel saw the addition of two buildings: the Student Center and the two-story Learning Center. From 1969 to the present, the campus has gradually been enlarged, beginning with the student parking lot and the athletic field on the south end of the property. As a result of a Capital Campaign Case Study that began in 1988, the campus was further expanded to include the Scott School property, the construction of a new monastery for the Carmelites in 1992, and the addition of the Graham Center, a new science and computer center on the site of the old Carmelite Monastery.

Recently constructed is the new Mt. Carmel Convocation Center, a $17 million building which houses three gyms, a new weight room, new offices and locker rooms, new meeting areas for alumni and faculty, a new student center/dining hall, as well as new computer and science labs.

Athletics

Mt. Carmel has long been host to champions of the athletic field. The 1952 Mt. Carmel Varsity Football team is considered by most to be the greatest high school football team in history, defeating opponents by a margin of over 400 points on the season. The first official State Championship was won by the Mt. Carmel Water polo team when they defeated perpetual powerhouse Fenwick Catholic Highschool in triple overtime in 1975. Since then, the school has won 10 State Football Championships, several hockey and wrestling championships, and one basketball championship, in 1985, the first Catholic School to do so. Several Sports have also come in the finals for state, including Baseball's 2005 second place finish and Volleyball's 2000 3rd place finish. Along with State Championships, the school has won countless Conference Championships in the highly contested Chicago Catholic League, in Basketball, Football, Baseball, Hockey, Cross Country, and Track and Field.

Complete List of Competitive Activities:

Famous alumni

Simeon Rice, Antoine Walker, Chris Chelios, Donovan McNabb, Steve Edwards, Joe Williams, James T. Farrell, Count Dante, Denny McLain

Campus

The Mount Carmel Campus is centered around the intersection of 64th and Dante Avenue. The Oldest of the Buildings is the Main School, built in 1924 as the largest Catholic High School west of the Appalachians, for 600 students. Adjacent to this was the original Priory and Chapel for the Carmelites. Next was St. Cyril Hall on the opposite corner of the intersection. The next addition was the student center, in the 1950's which until the 1960's stood alone separate from the main building. In the 1960's, the Learning Center was built which connected the two buildings with hallways and classrooms. In the early 1990's the William B Grahm center was built on the site of the old Priory, building off the old Chapel which also received a face lift. The new building included a large library, two computer labs, three science labs and offices. Later, the school added the Convocation Center, and reclaimed St. Cyril Hall, which had been being used by the Archdiocese of Chicago as a Catholic Grade School. The athletic facilities of Mt. Carmel include Carey Field which is a practice football field, Haggerty Field which is a baseball and soccer field, the 'Old Gym' which now hosts the wrestling team and boxing, the 'New Gym' which hosts Basketball, Volleyball and indoor track, and a four lane, 20 yard pool under the old gym which hosts Swimming and Water Polo. Other Shared facilities used by the school include Jackson Park trails and practice fields, and Homewood-Flossmore ice arena

 

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