Who (or what) are all our Catholic high schools named after, anyway? Here’s a quick guide to the names of the archdiocesan and independent Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati:
Archbishop Alter High School, Dayton Named for Karl Joseph Alter, fifth archbishop of Cincinnati, the school opened in 1962 and is associated with the Sisters of Charity of Mount St. Joseph. Formerly Bishop of Toledo, Archbishop Alter initiated a massive building campaign (erecting nearly 100 churches, 94 elementary schools, 14 high schools, 79 rectories and 55 convents) and renovated the dilapidated cathedral.
Archbishop McNicholas High School, Cincinnati Founded in 1915 as St. Joseph Academy by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille, “McNick” joined the diocesan school system and became the first coeducational high school in the archdiocese at the direction of Most Rev. John T. McNicholas, OP, fourth archbishop of Cincinnati, in 1950, the year of his death. In 1951 his successor, Archbishop Alter, approved renaming the school for him.
Archbishop Moeller High School, Cincinnati Named for the third archbishop of Cincinnati, Henry K. Moeller, the school was founded in 1960 and is one of the country’s 19 Marianist high schools. Born in Cincinnati to immigrant parents, Archbishop Moeller had two brothers who also became priests, and a sister who became a nun. He was the Bishop of Columbus for three years before being named Coadjutor Bishop of Cincinnati in 1903.
Bishop Fenwick High School, Franklin Named for Edward Dominic Fenwick, OP, the high school opened in 1952 and has been in its current location since 2006. Born in Maryland, Father Fenwick returned to the U.S. in 1804 after teaching in Belgium and London, hoping to start a college. Instead, he became an itinerant priest ministering throughout the Mississippi Valley, built the first Dominican foundation in the country and, in 1922, became the first Bishop of Cincinnati. He founded what became Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in 1829 and, in 1831, established The Catholic Telegraph.
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