Holy Ghost Preparatory School
 | This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (June 2019) |
| Holy Ghost Preparatory School | |
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| Address | |
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2429 Bristol Pike , , Pennsylvania 19020-5298 | |
| Coordinates | 40°4′46″N 74°56′45″W / 40.07944°N 74.94583°WCoordinates: 40°4′46″N 74°56′45″W / 40.07944°N 74.94583°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, Day, College-prep |
| Motto | Cor unum et anima una. (One heart and one mind.) |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Roman Catholic (Spiritans) |
| Established | 1897 |
| Founder | John Tuohill Murphy |
| President | Gregory Geruson |
| Principal | Kevin Burke |
| Faculty | 53 (2018-19) |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Enrollment | 468 (2018-19) |
| Average class size | 18 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 9:1 |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Campus size | 50 acres (200,000 m2) |
| Campus type | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Red, Royal Blue, and White |
| Athletics conference | Bicentennial Athletic League |
| Mascot | Firebird |
| Team name | Firebirds |
| Accreditation | Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools[1] |
| Publication | Embers (literary magazine) |
| Newspaper | The Flame |
| Tuition | $23,500 (19-20) |
| Dean of Studies | Patrick Hoelzle |
| Dean of Students | Tony Chapman |
| Director of Advancement | Matt Dwyer |
| Admissions Director | Ryan Abramson |
| Campus Minister | Mark Whartenby |
| Website | www |
Holy Ghost Preparatory School (often shortened to Ghost, HGP, or Holy Ghost Prep) is a private Catholic college preparatory school for young men in Cornwells Heights, Bensalem, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1897 by the Spiritan missionaries.
History[]
Holy Ghost Prep was founded by Father John Tuohill Murphy, C.S.Sp. In 1897 as Holy Ghost Apostolic College, a preparatory school and junior-college seminary for young men studying to become members of the religious order of the Holy Ghost Fathers and Brothers. In the 1950s, the school started to move its college-level program to Duquesne University and opened its doors to non-seminarians in 1959 for the first time. In 1967, the seminary program was discontinued, and a year later Holy Ghost Preparatory School was formed as a non-profit institution. In the 1990s, the school began a long-range planning process, which resulted in significant structural enhancements to the campus, and today its enrollment consists entirely of non-resident, college-bound students.
Since the arrival of Gregory J. Geruson, a 1979 alum, as the school's first lay president in 2015, the school has experienced numerous changes. The school's "Vision 2020" Strategic Plan has resulted in the building of a new STEM Tower. Step One of the STEM Tower, the Brennan Innovation Center, opened in August 2017. The rest of the STEM Tower was completed in time for the start of the 2018-19 school year. In early 2018, the school also opened the Holt Center, which includes a performing arts center, a multi-purpose gymnasium, music instruction rooms, and special training areas for baseball, track and field, golf, lacrosse, and rowing. The Holt Center serves Holy Ghost students but also will be available to community groups.
Student body[]
Holy Ghost consists of nearly 500 students. Located near the I-95 corridor in metropolitan Philadelphia, the school attracts students from more than 100 feeder schools from Bucks County, other metropolitan Philadelphia counties, and New Jersey.
Recognized as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, Holy Ghost Prep is fully accredited by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.[2]
Graduation requires coursework in English, mathematics, social studies, science, foreign language, fine arts, and theology with many electives, including computer science, cinematography, and portfolio art. As a school for the college-bound, HGP offers an extensive honors and Advanced Placement program, preparing students to take AP tests for college credit in 23 areas of study prescribed by the College Board. A large number of students are designated as AP and National Merit Scholars, earn merit-based college scholarships, and perform well on the SAT. AP Calculus AB teacher Jerry Colapinto was awarded the 2007 Siemens AP Teacher of the Year award for Pennsylvania.[3]
Athletics[]
HGP has many interscholastic and intramural sports teams. Major sports include basketball, baseball, ultimate frisbee, bowling, soccer, swimming, lacrosse, ice hockey, tennis, cross country, rowing[4] golf, and track and field. Athletic facilities on campus include seven fields for various sports, a fieldhouse holding an auditorium and gymnasium, an all-weather track, as well as a new facility, named "The Holt Center," containing a performing arts theater, music studios, gym, batting cages, as well as a room for the rowing team. Holy Ghost Prep is a member of the Bicentennial Athletic League.[5] The Firebirds have a tradition of excellence in all sports. There have been seven Pennsylvania state champions in school history: the 1972 and 1974 basketball teams,[6] the 1992 soccer team,[7] and, most recently, the 2011 tennis team. In 2013 and 2014, the soccer team won the PIAA state championship. In 2015, the hockey team won its first state championship. J.R. McIlwain ('93) won the 400m in 1992 PIAA state track championships and followed that with the 800m title in 1993. Holy Ghost Preparatory School also added a rowing team in the Fall of 2015.
In the fall of 2020, Holy Ghost Prep left the Bicentennial Athletic League, and began to compete as an independent program while maintaining its membership with the PIAA and District One.
Notable alumni[]
- Kevin Collins (1986), actor and voice-over artist who appeared in TV shows, such as Law & Order, Guiding Light, and All My Children, Steven Spielberg's film Munich and starred in Jamil Dehlavi's Infinite Justice.
- Ryan Gunderson (2003), professional ice hockey player for Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League, and former player for the Columbia Inferno of the ECHL and of the Lowell Devils and Houston Aeros of the AHL
- Nolan Jones (2016), professional baseball player for Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball.
- Frank Seravalli (2006), senior hockey reporter for Canadian all-sports network TSN
- Paul McCrane (1978), actor who guest-starred on 24 and played Dr. Robert Romano in TV series ER from 1997-2003.
- Timothy J. Savage (1964), U.S. federal judge
See also[]
Notes and references[]
- ^ MSA-CSS. "MSA-Commission on Secondary Schools". Retrieved 2009-05-23.
- ^ "Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools", accessed November 6, 2010.
- ^ “2007 Siemens Awards for AP Winners” Archived 2010-06-28 at the Wayback Machine,”Siemens Foundation", accessed November 6, 2010.
- ^ "CROSS COUNTRY: Holy Smokes – Holy Ghost takes 15th straight Bicentennial Athletic League title", Bucks Local News, accessed November 6, 2010.
- ^ "League Athletics"[permanent dead link], "League Athletics", accessed November 6, 2010.
- ^ "PIAA High School Basketball Championship Teams", accessed November 6, 2010.
- ^ "P.I.A.A. Boys State Championships", Pennsylvania State Soccer Coaches Association, accessed November 6, 2010.
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- Catholic secondary schools in Pennsylvania
- Educational institutions established in 1897
- Boys' schools in the United States
- Schools in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
- 1897 establishments in Pennsylvania
- Spiritan schools