East Catholic High School

Mission Statement

According to the school website, East Catholic's mission statement reads as follows:

East Catholic High School is a regional college-preparatory school of the Archdiocese of Hartford. Building on Catholic tradition and teaching, and inspired by the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, we educate young men and women according to the Gospel and the life of Jesus Christ. We seek to develop the whole person and to prepare students to become lifelong learners and responsible citizens with a strong moral foundation, an appreciation for diversity, and a dedication to service, justice, and peace.

Awards and recognition

During the 1988–89 school year, East Catholic High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive from the United States Department of Education.

East Catholic is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and the State of Connecticut and is a member of the National Catholic Educational Association, the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, the Connecticut Association of Schools and the Schools of the Archdiocese of Hartford.

In 2014, the Archdiocese recognized 23 students from its high schools as Summa Scholars. The Summa Scholar Award provides an opportunity for Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Dale R. Hoyt, to personally recognize students from Northwest Catholic, Saint Paul Catholic, Sacred Heart, and East Catholic High Schools who have achieved academic excellence, as well as the Catholic school teachers they identify as having been most influential to their success. In the past, to qualify for a Summa Scholar honor, a student must have, at minimum, an overall 4.3 grade point average, or a 98% average for grades 9 through the first two quarters of grade 12. 15 of the 23 students recognized in 2014 were students from East Catholic High School. In the 2015 school year, the requirements for Summa Scholar's were changed to encourage more equal representation from the diocesan schools and so now the top ten students in the senior class are collectively recognized as Summa Scholars.

Leadership

Over its history, East Catholic has been led by eight different principals.

Rev. Charles Shaw, Founding Principal (1961–1970) (deceased in 2011)

Rev. Robert Saunders, Principal (1970–1981) (deceased in 1997)

Rev. William Charbonneau '65, Principal (1981–1986) - President (1987–1996) (deceased in 2010)

Peg Siegmund, Principal and Chief Administrator (1986–2005)

Sr. Bette Gould, SSJ, Interim Principal (2005–2006) (deceased in 2015)

Christian J. Cashman, Principal & Chief Administrator (2006–2010)

Dr. Karen Juliano, Ed.D., Interim Principal (2010–2011)

Jason S. Hartling, Principal & Chief Administrator (2011-2016)

Fine Arts

The Fine Arts Department at East Catholic is led by department chair and band conductor Mr. David Brudz. The department offers 7 instrumental groups (Concert Band, the competing Jazz East Big Band, String Orchestra, Pep Band, Pit Orchestra, Jazz Combo, and Stage Band) as well as 7 choral groups (Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, Jazz Choir, Liturgical Choir, Men's Choir, Women's Choir, and the East Catholic Choral Ensemble known as ECCE).

In addition to music, 10 art classes are offered through the Fine Arts department including AP Studio Art: 2-D Design and Drawing Portfolio.

Stage East, the acting and theatre department within the Fine Arts Department is well regarded in the community and has puts on two shows a year: a drama in the fall and a musical in the spring. The 2014-2015 school year included performances of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" in the fall and "Anything Goes" in the spring. Starting off the beginning of the 'Stage East' 2015-2016 performing season, the house opened on October 23 and 24 for the Greek tragedy "Antigone".

A full year in review (2014-2015) for the East Catholic music department can be found on this link.

Athletics

Athletic Director and Varsity Soccer Coach Tom Malin led the Boys' Soccer team to his 300th career win against Middletown on October 17, 2007. In 2011, now-retired baseball coach Jim Penders won his 600th career victory in a state semifinal game against Wamogo High. The current track and field coach at East Catholic, Bill Baron, was named National Track Coach of the Year in 1988 while coaching at East Hartford High School and celebrated his 50th year of coaching during the 2015 season.

East Catholic has 49 athletic teams in that compete in 26 sports.

Baseball — V, JV, Freshman

Boys' Basketball – V, JV, Freshman

Girls' Basketball — V, JV, Freshman

Cheerleading – V

Boys' Cross Country — V, JV

Girls' Cross Country – V, JV

Girls' Field Hockey - V

Football — V, JV, Freshman

Boys' Golf – V, JV

Girls' Golf — V, JV

Boys' Indoor Track – V, JV

Girls' Indoor Track — V, JV

Boys' Ice Hockey — V, JV

Girls' Ice Hockey - V

Boys' Lacrosse – V, JV

Girls' Lacrosse — V, JV, Freshman

Boys' Outdoor Track — V, JV

Girls' Outdoor Track – V, JV

Boys' Soccer — V, JV, Freshman

Girls' Soccer – V, JV, Freshman

Girls' Softball – V, JV

Boys' Swimming & Diving – V

Girls' Swimming & Diving — V

Boys' Tennis – V

Girls' Tennis — V

Girls' Volleyball – V, JV, Freshman

Wrestling – V, JV

Since 1961, East Catholic has won 56 state championships.

Social Media

East Catholic has made a recent push to expand their presence on social media. Links to East Catholic's social media pages can be found below:

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/EastCatholicHighSchool

Twitter- https://twitter.com/eastcatholichs

Vimeo- https://vimeo.com/user37360766/videos

The school also launched an Instagram account, @EastCatholicSpirit, over the summer of 2015 by releasing a parody video.

Notable alumni