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Monsignor
Kelly Catholic High School
THEN AND NOW
 
The history
of Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School is the story of four
schools,
one hundred
years, and many people. The first school is Our Lady of Perpetual
Help. In 1882,
the Dominican Sisters came from Ohio to settle in Galveston,
Texas. In
1895, the pastor of St. Louis Parish, Father M.P. McSorley,
asked the
Dominicans
to establish a school in Beaumont, Texas. That fall, three
sisters
traveled the
90 miles from Galveston to Beaumont by tugboat, train, and
horse
and buggy.
Upon their arrival, they were met by Father McSorley, Irene
Downing, Mrs.
J. E. Bordages Broussard, and eight year old Denny Bordages.
Denny became
the father of Sr. Emily Bordages, a long-time member of the
Kelly faculty.
Father McSorley moved into the church sacristy and the sisters
moved into
the rectory which became Our Lady of Perpetual Help School
and
Convent. The
school opened in 1895 with 13 students. The first two seniors
graduated
in 1904.
In 1901, the
Lucas Gusher at Spindletop Oil Field started the oil boom
in Texas.
St. Louis
Church soon became too small to accommodate the increased
number of parishioners
so a new church was built and dedicated to the honor
of St. Anthony
of Padua in 1907.
In 1917, Our
Lady of Perpetual Help was renamed St. Anthony School. The
Texas Education
Agency accredited it in 1925. Two years later, under the
leadership
of Monsignor E. A. Kelly, a separate high school building
was
constructed.
Sr. Veronica Groome was named principal.
The Monsignor
Kelly Catholic High School archives contain class composites
dating back
to 1924 and newsletters as far back as 1926. Newspapers of
the
1940's are
filled with news of World War II and St. Anthony students
selling
stamps and
bonds to purchase equipment for the armed forces. A May 1945
headline reads
"295 Former Students of SAHS in Service of Country."
The
1946 baseball
team won the Beaumont City Championship, the first parochial
school team
to reach this pentacle. The football team won the state
championship
in 1955. The May 1958 issue of The Barker reported that Rita
Baker was the
first female student body president in the history of St.
Anthony
High School.
In 1961, strains
of "Good-bye Old High" could be heard as St. Anthony
High
School closed.
A new campus opened under the administration of the
Vincentian
priests. To differentiate the new central campus from St.
Anthony
School, the
new name of Central Catholic High School was selected.
Father Leonard was named
principal. In 1964 the name
was changed to honor Monsignor
E. A. Kelly.
In 1970, Sr.
Jane Meyer, present principal of St. Agnes Academy in Houston,
Texas became
principal and the first school board was named. Controversy
over a more
casual dress code (blue jeans for boys, culottes and pantsuits
for
girls) made
headlines in 1970. In 1972, the campus was air-conditioned.
Modular scheduling
began in 1973, and in 1974, construction was started on a
new library
and information center. The volleyball team won six state
championships
between 1974 and 1980, and the 1977 girls track team became
state champs.
In 1975, Kelly students helped to open a foster home for 280
Vietnamese
refugees in the old high school building, which was demolished
in
1982.
In 1985, President
Reagan recognized Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School as
an Exemplary
School. In 1991, the school received this prestigious award
for a
second time
from President Bush. The Information Center was dedicated
in
1987, and the
science wing was built in 1992.
The Monsignor
Kelly Catholic High School Centennial Complex was dedicated
in
1998 which
added a new gym and the Randy Roone Theatre. In 2004, the
Cris Quinn
Fine Arts building opened for our ever expanding Choir, Art
program, and
Kelly Symphonic and Jazz Bands. Also in 2004, the Catholic
High School Honor Roll recognized Monsignor Kelly Catholic
High
School as one of the top 50 Catholic high schools in the nation.
Renovation of the football stadium
in 2005 allow us to host
our own home football games. In 2009, the
lunch room
was remodeled and the softball field was upgraded. Future
plans
include a new
track and parking lot.
Over the years,
students, faculty members, and administrators have been
continually
recognized for outstanding academic achievements. Students
have
won the TCIL
Academic Rally, the Texaco Academic Challenge, the Channel
6
Challenge,
and numerous individual awards. Our Mock Trial Team, Debate
Team, and Choir
ensembles have won many regional and state level
competitions.
The school has won many awards for environmental projects,
including the
Clean Texas 2000 Texas Governor's Award for Environmental
Excellence.
Our students are also recognized for their community service
and
student leadership.
Kelly's extraordinary
athletic record continued when the football team won the
state championship
in 1970. The "Dawgs" won three 3-A TCIL state
championships
and two 4-A TCIL championships. In 1990, Kelly won state
championships
in football, soccer, golf, boys' basketball, and boys' and
girls'
tennis, as
well as volleyball and girls' track. The last two years the
girls' soccer
team made state
playoffs and was in the state finals, and boys
soccer and
girls swimming finished third. Last year the boys'' soccer
team
made it to state finals.
In the previous years, girls
softball made it to playoffs and made it to the
state tournament.
From 2003-2006, our boys' basketball
team were
the TAPPS State champions and the girls' basketball team made
playoffs last
year. Our boys' golf team goes to the state tournament every
year
and Tyler
Thomas was the state champion in 2010.
Today Monsignor
Kelly Catholic High School has approximately 451 students.
The curriculum supports
students of all academic abilities.
Each year Kelly sends 99%
of its students to colleges and
universities. Last year Kelly students
recieved a
total of 5.8 million
dollars in scholarships. The school consistently has
had more students
recognized as National Merit Scholars than any other
school in the
Golden Triangle.
Kelly students
are actively involved in Friends in Faith, which plans all
school
liturgies,
and in the retreat team, which plans daylong retreats for
each class
each year.
All students perform a minimum of 100 hours of community service
before graduation
so that they learn to contribute their time and talents to
making the
world a better place in which to live.
Throughout
its history, no matter its name, our school has stood for
the very
best in Catholic
education. As our mission states: The Spirit of Kelly is "to
have
the mind of
Jesus". We at Kelly are proud of its rich history and
look forward to
continuing
it as we move into the 21st Century.
Monsignor Kelly
continues its 100-years plus tradition of faith as we head
into
the 21st century.
Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School was founded as a one
room
parish school then known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which
then
became St.
Anthony High School in 1917. The present facility was named
Central Catholic
High School when it opened in 1961. The name was then
changed in
1964 to honor Monsignor Edmund A. Kelly for his untiring efforts
and interest
in education. Since that time, Kelly has grown to become a
unique
four year educational
institution exemplifying academic excellence in a
spiritual environment.
Monsignor Kelly continues its 100 year tradition of
faith and
excellence through the mission of the school: to serve as
a
community
of Christ's familial love for diverse cultures, peoples, and
abilities.
The school is dedicated to excellence in education, growth
in
the relationship
to God, and service to society.
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