Central Catholic High School (Bloomington, Illinois)

St. Mary's High School CCHS has roots in St. Mary's School, built at a cost of $26,000 by Holy Trinity Parish in 1884 during the pastorate of Michael Weldon. Initially only a grade school, the building was altered in 1886 to add high school classes. Two graduates in 1898 composed the high school's first graduating class. The parish paid off the debt for the school building in 1909. In 1912 Illinois State University and the University of Illinois recognized St. Mary's high school curriculum. The graduating class that spring had twenty students. Sinsinawa Dominican sisters served as faculty at St. Mary's and subsequently at Trinity High School, land for a separate high school building next to Holy Trinity Church at 712 North Center Street was purchased from the Dominican sisters in summer 1922 for $25,000. The cornerstone of the school building was laid on 25 September 1927. In 1929, Trinity High School gained accreditation from the North Central Association. Trinity High School became a diocesan school and was renamed Central Catholic High School after the diocese requested other regional parishes join in governing and subsidizing the school. Private donations in 1991 and 1992 funded renovations to the chemistry lab, the creation of computer lab, and updates to the biology lab. In compliance with a diocesan directive, Central Catholic implemented mandatory hair sample drug testing of students beginning in 2000. Central Catholic High School's Center Street gymnasium, nicknamed "The Pit" in the 1970s, was known for its high temperatures, loud water hammers, and for intimidating visiting teams due to the close proximity of the stands to the gym floor. Airport Road Church officials began discussing sites for a new school building in 1996, initially considering a west side location in the former Chicago & Alton railroad yards. This site was later rejected due to the large amount of environmental cleanup needed. In February 1998, school officials announced plans to construct a new school building in east or southeast Bloomington after renovation of the existing building was deemed too expensive. That July, the pastors' board announced fifteen acres of Deneen family farmland in east Bloomington were reserved for a new school building. An $11 million fundraising effort to build a new school on the land gifted to the diocese began in 2001. Construction started on 12 August 2002 with an estimated cost of $11.4 million. In June 2003, Mark Williams - pastor of Holy Trinity Parish - announced the decision to demolish the old school building as renovation and repurposing at an estimated cost of $4 million was considered too expensive. The new building at 1201 Airport Road opened on 25 August 2003 with 323 students enrolled that fall. In June and July 2004, the Center Street school building was razed and in the following year Bill Hundman Memorial Field was completed. In 2005, the CCHS accountant was charged with embezzling money from the school. CCHS enrollment peaked in 2009 with 423 students. A 2013 upgrade installed school-wide wireless internet access in conjunction with a new bring your own device program. In March 2022, it was announced that the school would shift to a President-Principal model, with principal Sean Foster named as the first president of the school effective in July 2022. The next month, Chris McGraw was named the next principal with Sean Foster moving to a superintendent role. Between 1898 and 2014, 6,556 students graduated from the school. This includes 406 students from St. Mary's High School between 1898 and 1928 as well as 2,482 students from Trinity High School between 1929 and 1967. ==Campus==

Central Catholic High School is located on a 15-acre site at 1201 Airport Road in Bloomington, Illinois. The school property is bordered to the west by Airport Road and to the south by Cornelius Drive. McGraw Park borders the school property to the north and east. Enclosing more than 100,000 square feet the school building is divided into two wings. ==Demographics==

Enrollment for the 2016-2017 school year was 317. The student body in the 2016-2017 school year was 87% white, 6% Hispanic and 7% other. Also in that year, 50% of the student body was female and 50% was male. 6% of students were from families that qualify for lunch subsidies and 4% of students received special education services. 41% of students received tuition assistance in 2015 with an average of $1094 received per student. More than half of the faculty has a graduate degree. ==Academics==

Curriculum The Central Catholic High School curriculum emphasizes college preparation. More than 11,000 service hours are performed by students annually. Tests, rankings, and statistics CCHS has a 100% four-year graduation rate. the most highly ranked school south of the Chicago area. The daily student attendance rate was 96% in the 2015-2016 school year. ==Traditions and extracurriculars==

Traditions CCHS students raise funds for a charity selected by the senior class throughout the school year, typically donating more than $10,000 each year. Annual homecoming traditions at the school include a can sculpture competition, car caravan, and crowning of a homecoming king and queen. Each January, Central Catholic students participate in March for Life Chicago and upperclassmen travel to Washington D.C. to participate in the main March for Life. During National Catholic Schools Week, teams of CCHS students compete against each other in a school-wide Olympic-style tournament. The school ends the week with a Catholic Mass alongside students of the area Catholic elementary schools. An annual spring prom occurs in early April at Miller Park pavilion. Extracurriculars Central Catholic has around thirty student activities, clubs, and organizations in addition to sports teams. A school play and musical are performed each fall and spring respectively. More than eighty-percent of students participate in a school sport. In 2014, fourteen out of ninety graduates signed for collegiate sports. Before the IHSA allowed private schools to participate in 1941, the boys' basketball team won State Catholic Tournament championships under Bennett in 1927 and 1928 and placed second in the three years following. It was also the State Catholic Tournament champion in 1933 under coach John Callans and in 1940 and 1941 under coach Essau Dotlich. After the merging of the Corn Belt and the Okaw Valley conferences beginning in the 2017-18 school year, CCHS became a member of the resulting Illini Prairie Conference. Central Catholic High School is the first school in the state of Illinois to win state football titles in four different classes. ==Football practice field==

On 10 November 2014, the Bloomington city council voted 5-4 to purchase four acres of land near McGraw Park in Empire Business Park using state funds and to rent the land to CCHS for use as a football practice field. The council voted with the understanding the current football practice field on land owned by the Central Illinois Regional Airport was in a Federal Aviation Agency restricted flight path zone and the school would have to move to another location in 2015. After the vote, alderman Joni Painter discovered from the school website that Fruin was a member of the CCHS Board of Trustees, an interest not previously disclosed. Council members also learned CCHS could renew the lease for its current practice field for up to another fifteen years. Fruin and CCHS principal Sean Foster stated they had believed the contract could not be renewed past 2015. Mayor Tari Renner refused to sign-off on the approval pending an attorney general opinion on whether any conflict of interest law or ordinance was violated. Fruin stated he would defer to the attorney general and that he did not believe there was a conflict of interest because trustees serve only an advisory role. A Pantagraph editorial later suggested several other potential conflicts of interest: the Deneen family - who donated land for the new school building - were stakeholders in the development firm from which the land would be purchased, Fruin's real estate agency - Coldwell Banker - was to oversee the transaction though he would have no role, and CCHS football coach Mike Moews is the brother of city parks superintendent Bobby Moews. At the 24 November 2014 council meeting, Painter moved to reconsider the agreement. The council unanimously rejected the land deal after Fruin recused himself from the vote. The council then discussed other potential uses for the money Renner stated the grant could be used for any Bloomington parks or trails. According to Brady, the money was directed solely toward McGraw Park at the direction of former Bloomington mayor Steve Stockton. Stockton disputed this characterization, stating he had discussed alternative uses for the money. On 21 November 2014 the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus asked the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to halt the grant. Learning of this two weeks later, Renner disagreed the caucus had authority to prevent use of the money. The city council continued discussions of how to allocate the money while Brady formed a committee headed by former Bloomington mayor Jesse Smart to determine how the grant should be used. On 7 December 2014 the Bloomington City Council approved use of the grant money for improvements to the Constitution Trail, Miller Park pavilion, and Sunnyside Park. CCHS renewed its lease for the airport practice field in mid-December 2014. On 14 January 2015, Brady's grant committee completed its review and recommended allocating money for the Sunnyside Park and Miller Park pavilion projects in Bloomington as well as three other projects in Lake Bloomington, Delavan, Illinois, and McLean, Illinois. The conflict of interest review was called off after the 21 November vote, though the city legal department clarified conflicts of interest in the city code. none of the communities have received any money from the grant pending passage of a state budget. ==Awards and recognition==

CCHS was named a 2017 National Blue Ribbon School, one of 342 in the nation and one of 17 in Illinois. ==Notable alumni==

• Bill Brady (Illinois politician) is a former Republican member of the Illinois Senate and senate minority leader representing the 44th Legislative District. • Dan Brady (Illinois politician) is a former Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 105th district and current mayor of Bloomington. • Josh Brent is a former nose tackle for the Dallas Cowboys. • Michael Hoomanawanui is a former tight end for the New Orleans Saints and a champion of Super Bowl XLIX. • John Rave is a professional baseball outfielder for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. ==Former principals==

• Mary Kremer (19??–1984) • Richard Morehouse (1984–1991): CCHS enrollment briefly fell below 200 students in 1989 before increasing by 25% near the end of Morehouse's tenure. • Joy Allen (1991–2014): Under Joy Allen, CCHS increased enrollment from 213 students in 1991 to 346 students in 2014. Allen oversaw the planning, design, and capital campaigns for the Airport Road school building and Bill Hundman Memorial Field. During her tenure, Central Catholic increased ACT test scores, added additional Advanced Placement courses, and broadened its curriculum. ==Notes==