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Rockhurst High School

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Rockhurst High School

Rockhurst High School is a private, Jesuit, all-boys preparatory school founded in 1910 along with Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It moved away from the college in 1962 to a campus on State Line Road in Kansas City.

Rockhurst is accredited by the North Central Education Association and is a member of the North Central Education Association of Independent College Preparatory Schools, the Jesuit Secondary Education Association, and the National Association for College Admission Counseling (and its regional affiliates).

In 1908, the Michael P. Dowling, S.J., selected the site for a Jesuit school at 52nd and Troost Street in Kansas City. The name "Rockhurst" was chosen because large rocks found on the grounds resembled those at the Jesuit Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England. Rockhurst was established by the Society of Jesus and chartered by the State of Missouri as part of Rockhurst College in August 1910. Classes began in the fall of 1914, and the school changed its name to Rockhurst High School in 1923. The high school shared a campus and corporate umbrella with the college until 1962, when it moved to the Greenlease Campus (named for its principal benefactor, Robert C. Greenlease).

In 2017 Fr. Terrence Baum, S.J., concluded 12 years as president of the high school. He had overseen a $41.3 million fund-raising campaign which allowed capital improvements including Loyola Center athletic complex, a dining commons, and interactive classrooms. In 2018, former Rockhurst High School principal David J. Laughlin returned to be the school's first lay president.

Fifty-six semester credits are required for graduation. This includes four years of English, of mathematics and computer programming, and of theology; three years of social studies and of physical science; two years of modern and classical languages; one semester of communication arts and another of communications arts or visual and performing arts; and a semester of computer education and of physical education. To this are added 12 semesters of college-preparatory electives.

Beginning in 2017 Rockhurst has pioneered the STEAM tech-savvy, more active learning method in the sciences.

All freshmen participate in a two-and-a-half day retreat experience focused on community and love of God, with the diverse members of the Rockhurst community as presenters. All sophomores participate in a day of reflection on how they are realizing God's hopes for them, followed by a conversation on the same topic with their parents, a member of the Rockhurst staff being present as facilitator. All juniors make one of the three and a half-day Kairos retreats. Focus is on Christ working in their lives; Talks by Rockhurst student leaders and adults stimulate group discussions and private reflection. Seniors are offered options of making three-day retreats based on Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises and two-day camping retreats with a focus on finding God in nature. Neither is required but both may be made more than once.

All students participate in the school's voluntary service program throughout their four years. Freshmen are introduced to voluntary service during freshman orientation days, again during their retreat, and at one of the special freshman service days. In sophomore and junior years each student puts in at least 40 hours performing some corporal work of mercy. Seniors spend three weeks on a senior project of their choice, working with people who have special needs.

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