Bishop Chatard High School

Bishop Chatard High School
Bishop Chatard High School
Address
	5885 Crittenden Avenue; Indianapolis, Indiana 46220; United States
Coordinates	39°51′42″N 86°07′39″W / 39.86167°N 86.12750°W
Information
Type	Private, Coeducational
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1961
Oversight	Archdiocese of Indianapolis
President	Bill Sahm
Principal	John Hasty
Teaching staff	53.5 (on an FTE basis)
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	720 (2023-2024)
Student to teacher ratio	11:1
Color(s)	Blue and white
Athletics conference	Circle City Conference
Nickname	Trojans
Rivals	Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School; Cathedral High School; St. Theodore Guerin High School
Accreditation	AdvancED
Publication	Trojans Today
Yearbook	The Citadel
Website	www.bishopchatard.org

Bishop Chatard High School is a Catholic co-educational preparatory high school located in the Broad Ripple district of Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States. It is named after Bishop Silas Chatard, who was the first Bishop of Indianapolis, and oversaw the movement of the diocese from Vincennes to Indianapolis in 1898.

School history[edit]

The increase in Indiana's Catholic population that triggered the splitting of the Indianapolis diocese in 1944^[3] also caused an increase in the need for Catholic schools. It was clear that one high school would not be sufficient to provide for Indianapolis' massively expanding Catholic population. To this end, the Archbishop of Indianapolis, Paul Clarence Schulte, ordered the construction of three new Catholic high schools in the city. The first of these, Bishop Chatard, would serve the north side of Indianapolis. The two other new schools, Roncalli High School and Cardinal Ritter High School, would serve the south and west sides of Indianapolis respectively. Scecina would continue to serve the east side of the city.

Ground was broken for the first of the schools, Bishop Chatard, in the fall of 1960 on diocese property at the corner of Crittenden and Kessler Avenues. Construction of the school and an adjacent convent was completed in less than a year, and the first students were admitted in September 1961. Each year a class of students was added to the school, and the first graduating class was the class of 1964-65.

Initially, classes were taught almost entirely by priests from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and Benedictine Sisters of Beech Grove. Many sisters were housed in the convent on-site, but their numbers declined to the point that in the 1970s, their convent was converted to an annex of the school. The annex has served as classroom, office and storage space for thirty years, and was recently rededicated to the Sisters as the St. Benedict Center.

By 1997, the school was showing its age. Paint was peeling, windows and roofs were leaky, and facilities sorely needed an upgrade. To remedy the situation and remodel the 35-year-old building, school administrators embarked on a $2 million capital campaign to pay for new windows, a new roof, electrical improvements, and other needed renovations. These were undertaken in summer 1997.

In the summer of 2005, and completed over the 2007-08 school year, a campaign involved the construction of an additional elevator to allow better access to classrooms for handicapped students and a remodeling of the cafeteria and several hallways. A new auxiliary gymnasium has since been added along with a new athletic field and bleachers, allowing BCHS to host home football games and many other outdoor sporting events.

Academics[edit]

Bishop Chatard has been accredited by AdvancED or its predecessors since April 2004.^[2] Bishop Chatard was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Dept. of Education in 2023 and was named a College Board AP Honor Roll Platinum School that same year.

Demographics[edit]

85% Catholic 21% Minority (not identifying as Caucasian)

Athletics[edit]

The Bishop Chatard Trojans compete in the Circle City Conference. School colors are royal blue and white. The following Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) sanctioned sports are offered:^[4]

Baseball (boys)
Basketball (girls and boys)
- Boys state championships - 2003^[5]
Cross country (girls and boys)

Boys 2022 sectional champs

Football (boys)
- State championships - 1983, 1984, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023^[5]
Golf (girls and boys)
Soccer (girls and boys)
Softball (girls)
Swimming (girls and boys)
Tennis - (girls and boys)
Track - (girls and boys)
Volleyball (girls)
- State championships - 2004, 2012^[5]
Wrestling (boys)

Student activities[edit]

Chatard competes annually in the Brain Game, a quiz bowl program broadcast on local television.^[6] There are many fine arts programs, including a robust theatre program, concert band, pep band, concert choir, and the thespian society.

Notable alumni[edit]

Ryan Baker -NFL defensive end
Cap Boso - NFL tight end^[7]
Joe Holland - NFL linebacker
Doug Jones - actor
Bill Lynch - NCAA head football coach
Nick Martin - NFL offensive center
Zack Martin - NFL offensive guard
Dray Mason - professional indoor football player
Karen Pence - Second Lady of the United States^[8]
Maris Valainis - actor
Vincent Ventresca - actor

References[edit]

^ "Search for Private Schools - School Detail for Bishop Chatard High School". ed.gov. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
^ ^a ^b "AdvancED - Institution Summary". advanc-ed.org. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
^ "The Year of Our Lord 1944". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
^ "2017-18 IHSAA SchoolDirectory" (PDF). IHSAA.org. IHSAA. p. 68. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c "All-Time IHSAA State Championships by School" (PDF). Ihsaa.org. IHSAA. July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
^ "Westfield Insurance Brain Game". wthr.com. June 19, 2002. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
^ "Cap Boso Stats - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
^ "Karen (Batton) Pence '75 Indiana's First Lady". bishopchatard.org. September 19, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2018.

External links[edit]

Official website

[ed.gov-1] "Search for Private Schools - School Detail for Bishop Chatard High School". ed.gov. Retrieved July 18, 2018.

[AdvancED-2] "AdvancED - Institution Summary". advanc-ed.org. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.

[3] "The Year of Our Lord 1944". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 21, 2015.

[IHSAA_directory-4] "2017-18 IHSAA SchoolDirectory" (PDF). IHSAA.org. IHSAA. p. 68. Retrieved July 19, 2018.

[State_championships-5] "All-Time IHSAA State Championships by School" (PDF). Ihsaa.org. IHSAA. July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.

[6] "Westfield Insurance Brain Game". wthr.com. June 19, 2002. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.

[7] "Cap Boso Stats - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 19, 2018.

[8] "Karen (Batton) Pence '75 Indiana's First Lady". bishopchatard.org. September 19, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2018.

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v t e Catholic high schools in Indiana
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v t e Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis
Ordinaries	Bishops of Vincennes Simon Bruté Célestine Guynemer de la Hailandière John Stephen Bazin Jacques-Maurice De Saint Palais Bishops of Indianapolis Silas Chatard Joseph Chartrand Archbishops of Indianapolis Joseph Ritter Paul Clarence Schulte George Biskup Edward Thomas O'Meara Daniel M. Buechlein Joseph W. Tobin Charles Coleman Thompson
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Education	Higher education Marian University Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Seminaries Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology High schools Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, Indianapolis Bishop Chatard High School, Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter High School, Indianapolis Cathedral High School, Indianapolis Oldenburg Academy of the Immaculate Conception, Oldenburg Our Lady of Providence Junior-Senior High School, Clarksville Providence Cristo Rey High School, Indianapolis Roncalli High School, Indianapolis Father Thomas Scecina Memorial High School, Indianapolis Seton Catholic High School, Richmond Father Michael Shawe Memorial High School, Madison
Priests	Herman Joseph Alerding John Paul Elford Paul D. Etienne Gerald Andrew Gettelfinger Emmanuel Boleslaus Ledvina Alphonse John Smith
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