Camden Catholic High School
Camden Catholic High School is a four-year comprehensive private coeducational Roman Catholic high school, located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and serving students from the Camden County area. The school operates under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1934. Camden Catholic students come from the local area and from Norway, Nigeria, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Vietnam, Korea, and China. Many of these students live on campus in the Nazareth House, a convent re-purposed to accommodate foreign students with full-time care-providers on staff, while others live with host families in the surrounding area.
As of the 2015–16 school year, the school had an enrollment of 721 students and 48.1 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 15.0:1. The school's student body was 59.5% White, 15.7% Black, 13.9% Asian, 9.4% Hispanic and 1.5% two or more races.
History
When the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was built in 1862, space was set aside for the first parochial school in the city of Camden, which became the foundation of the current high school. In 1920, the existing elementary school program was extended to include a four-year, high school program graduating 15 girls and 6 boys in June 1921. Camden Catholic High School opened in 1924 with an enrollment of 400 students.After a fire on April 17, 1960, destroyed two buildings at the Camden campus, a decision was made that a new school would be constructed on a site in Cherry Hill.
In the school year of 2012–2013, Camden Catholic celebrated its 125th anniversary as a school.
Sports
The Camden Catholic High School Irish participate in the Olympic Conference, which consists of public and private high schools located in Burlington County and Camden County, and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. The football team competes in the Constitution Division of the 95-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as Non-Public Group III for football for 2017–18.The boys' baseball team won the Non-Public A state championship in 1973 vs. Seton Hall Preparatory School.
The CCHS football team won the NJSIAA Non-Public A South state sectional championship in 1979.
The girls' field hockey team won the South Jersey Group III state sectional championships in 1981, 1984 and 1985, won the South Jersey Group II title in 2001, 2002, 2007 and 2012, and won the Central Jersey Group II title in 2011. The team won the Group III state championship in 1985. In 2007, the field hockey team won the South Jersey, Group II state sectional championship with a 5–3 win over West Deptford High School in the tournament final.
The girls' softball team won the Non-Public A state championships in 1986 vs. Paramus Catholic High School and won in 1990, 1991 and 1992, defeating Immaculate Heart Academy all three years.
The wrestling team won the 2007 Group A state championship, defeating Don Bosco Preparatory High School 32–25 to take the title.
Wrestler Taylor Walsh, now wrestling at Indiana University, won the 2010 NJSIAA 145 pound championship defeating Frank Crocco of Passaic Valley Regional High School in the final. He had won the 2009 NJSIAA 135-pound championship defeating two-time runner up Kodie Silvestri of Walkill Valley. He placed second at 119 pounds in 2008 losing in the finals to two-time champion Vinnie Dellefave of Toms River East. Wrestler Anthony Trongone won the NJSIAA 171 pound championship in 2007. Trongone was a runner-up in 2005–06 season. Previous state champions from Camden Catholic are Bobby Stinson and Ed Giosa.
The boys' cross country team, under the coaching leadership of Dennis Quinn and Ralph Harris, took the division championship on October 10, 2007, beating Paul VI High School and ending Paul VI's 28-year, 244 match dual meet winning streak.
The boys' winter track team won the Non-Public Group B division state relay title in January 2014.
Notable alumni
- William T. Cahill, Governor of New Jersey and United States Representative.
- Don Casey, former professional and collegiate basketball coach who was head coach in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers and New Jersey Nets.
- Bill Conaty, former NFL player.
- James A. Corea, radio personality and specialist in nutrition, rehabilitation and sports medicine.
- William J. Fallon, United States Navy Admiral who is the former Commander of United States Central Command.
- Ashley Harder, former beauty queen who held the title of Miss New Jersey USA and was to compete for the Miss USA title in 2007 before she resigned due to her pregnancy.
- James John Hogan, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown from 1966–1986.
- George Lehmann, former National Basketball Association player.
- John McCarthy, College All-American in 1941 at Saint Francis University, Loretto, Pennsylvania and former starting quarterback in National Football League.
- Don McComb, defensive end who played for the Boston Patriots of the American Football League in the 1960 season.
- George V. Murry, S.J., Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, installed in 2007.
- Joseph A. Mussomeli, diplomat who was United States Ambassador to Slovenia and United States Ambassador to Cambodia.
- Kevin Owens, professional basketball player who has played for the Cairns Taipans of the National Basketball League in Australia.
- Scott Pilarz, S.J., President of Marquette University and former President of the University of Scranton.
- Thomas J. Shusted, attorney and politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly on two separate occasions, representing Legislative District 3D from 1970 to 1972 and the 6th Legislative District from 1978 to 1991.
- Theresa Anne Tull, diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Guyana and Brunei from 1993 until 1996.
- Cris Vaccaro, former professional soccer player.
- Tara Vittese, field hockey player who was added to the United States women's national field hockey team.