Type Private, Coeducational Established 1911 Principal Dave Forney Mascot Rowdy | Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic Founder Bishop Patrick Heffron Phone +1 507-453-5000 Colors White, Royal blue | |
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President Sister Judy Schaeffer, Ph.D., O.P. Address 1115 W Broadway St, Winona, MN 55987, USA Accreditation North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Similar Winona Senior High Sch, Hope Lutheran High Sch, Winona State University, Lewiston High School, Saint Mary's University Profiles | ||
Cotter High School is the sole Roman Catholic High School in Winona, Minnesota, and is one of the first in the state. Today, Cotter Schools consists of the Cotter High School and Cotter Junior High School. The school opened its doors on September 5, 1911 as the "Cotter School for Boys". Cotter, named for the diocese’s first bishop, Bishop Joseph Bernard Cotter, was a boys school directed by the Christian Brothers of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. In 1952, the Brothers turned the operation of the school over to the diocese and Cotter became co-educational with the combining of the Cathedral Girls High School. In 1953 a new Cotter building was erected and in 1962 an addition was added. In 1992, with help from an endowment from the Hiawatha Education Foundation, the school moved to its current location on the campus of the former College of Saint Teresa, allowing it to add a boarding school component.
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Cotter Family
The term "Cotter Family" refers to all the students, teachers, parents, administrators, alumni, volunteers, and church members affiliated with the school. Many of these members are in several groups. Roughly 50% of the faculty are alumni. Roughly 25-50%, depending on the year, of the student body are children of alumni, some third and fourth generations. In 1993, local businessmen, headed by Bob Kierlin of Fastenal, started an endowment fund of several million dollars granting the school a technological make-over and allowing it to move to the Saint Teresa campus.
Relationship in the Winona Area Catholic Schools
Cotter Junior High School serves grades 7 and 8, while elementary components of Catholic education in Winona are regulated by Winona Area Catholic Schools, who run Saint Stanislaus Elementary School, and Saint Mary's Primary.