Rochester Lourdes High School

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Lourdes High School is a private, Catholic school teaching grades 9-12 in Rochester, Minnesota. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona.

1 Background
2 Athletics
- 2.1 Soccer
- 2.2 Athletes
3 Faculty
4 Standardized exam performance
5 Extra Curricular Activities
6 External links

Background

Lourdes was established in 1910 as Saint John's High School by the Sisters of Saint Francis, an extension of their all-girls primary school, Academy of Our Lady of Lourdes. The high school was inititally for girls only and went coeducational in 1925 when nearby boys-only Heffron High School closed. The school relocated in 1941 and was renamed Lourdes High School. Currently it is seen as a college-prep school and attracts many non-Catholic, non-Christian, and even self-described 'secular,' students as being the only high school in Rochester with such a title. However, while opening up enrollment to students of all ideologies, Lourdes emphasizes that it is a Catholic school.

Athletics

In 2006 the Lourdes varsity football team advanced to the semi-finals of the state tournament.^[1] The Lourdes varsity Girls Tennis team had won the Minnesota State Championship 10 years in a row, but did not reach the finals in the fall 2007 season due to a clerical error by their coach Kevin Rust. Because of this error, two of the seven games were forfeited and Lourdes lost the match 4-3. The team went on to win the conselation championship, becoming the first girls Tennis team from Lourdes in the last decade to NOT bring home a state trophy.[1].

Soccer

The Lourdes boy soccer team won the Minnesota State Soccer Championship for Class A in 1998 and 1999. 1997 was the first year that Lourdes had a boys soccer team. In 1995 Tom Kane, the current varsity coach for boys soccer at Lourdes, campaigned heavily for a school sanctioned team but failed to get it passed. The team was allowed to play with the Lourdes insignia as a club team. The team was associated with Lourdes High School but consisting of only boys attending the school traveled around the state playing teams that would agree to a game. The young men, led by Ben Garry (who went on to play at the University of Pittsburg and as a semi-pro) had a very successful season and Tom Kane used this as proof to convince the trustees to allow his players to compete for their school. The 1998 Boys team (the first out-state Minnesota soccer team to win state) beat LaCresent (4-3), Mankato West (2-0) and Caledonia (2-0 section championship game) on their way to state. At state, Lourdes came back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 against Benilde-St. Margaret in overtime in the state quarterfinals. They then proceeded to beat Duluth Marshall 1-0 to claim the championship. The 2006-2007 season found Lourdes falling to Benilde-St. Margaret's 2-5 in the semi finals and tying Totino-Grace 1-1 for third place^[2]. Lourdes also has a girls soccer program led by Sarah Groven (varsity coach). This program has had a few different teams make it to state but the state championship still has eluded them.

Athletes

Lourdes has had many successful athletes throughout the years. Myron Glass has had one of the most successful coaching careers in the state of Minnesota, coaching the Girls Varsity Basketball team to the State Tournament 14 times and winning eight. The newest Wente to travel through the Lourdes system, William, has the sickest dangles in soccer and hockey that he is untouchable. If he just works on his skating skillz, he may become the best ever to play the game. [2]

Faculty

Dennis Nigon, Principal of Lourdes High School from 1987-2007, recently stepped down in order to assume the role of President of Rochester Catholic Schools. His successor is Thomas Donlon, former principal of Our Lady of Peace in South Minneapolis.

Standardized exam performance

Lourdes students averaged a score of 25 on the ACT examination on the previous school year, meaning that the average Lourdes' student scored higher than 81% of national test takers. ^[3]

Extra Curricular Activities

Lourdes High School has a number of extra curricular activities, ranging from Student Council to Math League. The Lourdes High School Math League went to the State Competition on March 12, 2007, taking second place in the Small Schools Division. Film Club was started as another extracurricular activity during the 2003-2004 school year. Other activities include Yearbook, LHS Speech Team, the cultural exchange club, Key club, and others.