St. Augustine High School (San Diego)

St. Augustine High School is a private Catholic high school for young men under the direction of the Order of Saint Augustine located in the North Park district of San Diego, California and founded in 1922. It is located in the Diocese of San Diego, and is a member of the Augustinian Secondary Education Association.

Named after Saint Augustine of Hippo, an early Christian theologian, St. Augustine teaches young men within the framework of the Catholic faith and in the Augustinian tradition. This culturally diverse school serves the communities of San Diego County and Tijuana, Mexico. The school also publicly states, "We open our doors to all boys we believe will benefit from our academic program."

History

Early history - 1920s to the 1950s

Creation

In 1922, John Cantwell, Bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles and San Diego, asked the Order of Saint Augustine to satisfy the need of a new boys' school in the southern part of the  diocese. The Order of Saint Augustine opened St. Augustine High School in the St. Vincent's parish meeting hall on September 18, 1922, with 19 students. The school moved to its current Nutmeg Street location in 1923. Many of the school's religious staff were trained at Villanova University and Merrimack College, which are both run by the Order of Saint Augustine.

Student affairs and expansion

Due to a need to accommodate a greater number of students, the school expanded multiple times in its early history, beginning with the construction of Sullivan Hall in 1947, adding 350 additional spots for additional students. In the 1950s, the school constructed a new set of classrooms and added additional improvements to the monastery. In 1957, a new gymnasium, Dougherty Gym, was built. Despite these expansions, by the late 1950s, the school was suffering from overcrowding.

In 1956, the school became the first private school admitted to the San Diego City League of Athletics.

Middle period - 1960s to the 1970s

During the 1960s and 1970s, the school committed to smaller class sizes, new curricular innovations, and honors programs. In September, 1978, PSA Flight 182 crashed and exploded several blocks (Nile and Dwight Streets) from the campus. The school shut down and became a triage and command and control center for those authorities who responded to the emergency posed by the crash, culminating in the utilization of the gymnasium as a makeshift morgue. The following year an arsonist burned down the school's library, which has since moved to Villanova Hall.

Into the modern era - 1980s to the present day

In the 1980s and 1990s, the school moved towards computerization and renovations occurred around the campus. The biggest change during this era was the creation of an on-campus parking lot and the closure of Bancroft Street, which previously divided the campus into two separate sections. In 1997, the school celebrated its 75th anniversary. The school continued to grow in the new millennium, and embarked on a three phase building campaign in which most of the school was demolished and rebuilt to meet modern standards of building codes and architectural tastes.

Phase One of the renovations included a demolition of most of the classroom buildings, to be replaced by two new buildings, Mendel Hall and Villanova Hall. On June 2, 2006, together with the San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders, the Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego Salvatore Cordileone, the school's President John Keller O.S.A., ASB President Alexander Guittard, and various members of the Augustinian and general school community, the school broke ground for Phase One. Work for Phase One was completed in fall 2007. The second phase consisted of the new Saint Augustine Commons, a multipurpose gymnasium and meeting space. Work began in late 2015 and was completed in 2017. Phase Three focused around a renovation for the old gymnasium, Dougherty Gym. Construction began on July 17, 2017 and concluded on September 12, 2018. The gym was mainly repurposed as a theater, The Raymond Center for The Performing Arts. The renovations also included a new weight room and a band room.

Tuition
Tuition at St. Augustine for the 2023–24 year is $26,470. However, students can apply for tuition assistance, whether in the form of a grant, a scholarship, or by working for the school at Marty's Kitchen, the school's lunch counter. The top ten scorers on the entrance exam receive a $10,000 dollar scholarship each year, for a total amount of $40,000 over all four years.

Student profiles

Demographics
The student body consists of many different national origins.

Most students live near and within typical driving distance of the school. The bulk of students live in San Diego and surrounding areas including La Mesa, Kearny Mesa, Point Loma, Downtown, and Beach areas. However, some students have longer commutes from areas in the North (such as Carlsbad, Del Mar, Valley Center, Escondido and Oceanside), the East (Poway and Lakeside), and the South (such as Chula Vista, Eastlake and Bonita) A number of students commute daily from Tijuana.
Most students are Catholic; however, the school accommodates people of other faiths, including non-Christian ones and some degree of non-faith in personal belief.

Academics

Curriculum
Saints offers courses in the following subjects:

 Religion:
 Social Studies
 World Languages
 English
 Mathematics
 Sciences
 Visual and Performing Arts
 Computer Science and Technology
 Physical Education

Scheduling
A new block schedule was introduced after the COVID-19 pandemic. The school day starts at 7:45am and ends at 2:00pm. On Mondays, students have all six blocks, each being 50 minutes long. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, students have Blocks 1, 3, and 5, each class being 1 hour and 25 minutes long. On Wednesdays and Fridays, students have Blocks 2, 4, and 6, each class being 1 hour and 25 minutes long. Each morning, except for Mondays, from 7:45 to 8:45, there is a non-class period. On Tuesdays and Fridays, the teachers have office hours, that allow students to ask questions or help about assignments. Office hours are not mandatory. Every Wednesday morning, the entire school comes together for mass, and on Thursday morning, all students must go to their homeroom, which they are assigned at the beginning of the school year. Both mass and homeroom are mandatory.

Retreats
Students experience several (including three mandatory) retreats at Saint Augustine. These retreats are:
 Freshman Overnight Retreat
 This retreat takes place about a month after the school year has started, during which the entire freshman class is split into several groups where they discuss and learn about the Saints community and their place in it. The groups are led by a pair of either junior and senior "Big Brothers." The freshmen arrive early Saturday morning and leave late that night. They return Sunday morning for mass and final activities, and are dismissed on Sunday afternoon. This retreat is mandatory.
 Sophomore Retreat
 This one-day retreat at Mission San Diego de Alcala continues the theme of helping the community, both in global and local capacities. In past years, the focus of this retreat has been on the plight of African children, followed along with a screening of Invisible Children, culminating with a talk given a refugee from an African nation. This retreat is also mandatory.
 Junior Retreat
 This retreat is also a one-day event and focuses on building the relationship of the students in the class. Several activities build on the themes and the day finishes off with a mass. It takes place at Mission San Diego de Alcala.
 Kairos Retreat
 It is optional for seniors to go on Kairos, but it is strongly encouraged. The retreat takes place several times each year and juniors are permitted to attend Kairos in the spring. The retreat is led by faculty and senior students that have already been on Kairos.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Teams
The school supports numerous sports teams that are accredited by the CIF (SDS Division) such as:

In these sports, Saints has 25 total CIF San Diego Division III Championship teams.

In the past few years several club sports have been organized by the student body. These sports are either non-traditional sports or the sport club has not been credited by CIF. For example, the Roller Hockey team started as a club, and eventually the school applied for the CIF Roller Hockey division. Some of the club sports include:

Intramurals
The student body actively participates in Intramural sports. Teams are organized by homeroom and generally teams of one grade play the same grade and gradually move to play other grades. The final games of Intramurals are popular with the students and the school extends the lunch period to accommodate the finals.

Visual and performing arts
In areas other than sports, the school supports numerous art disciplines including the dramatic, musical, and fine arts. Students artwork is prominently displayed throughout the campus. Student bands are popular and play at "8th Grade Visitation," some rally days, and at the Annual Saints/OLP Talent Show.

Theatre arts
The school is known for the successful theatrical productions put on by the students, and is recognized as a chapter of the International Thespian Society.

The Saints drama club's recent productions include The Drowsy Chaperone, Clue, Something Rotten, and Peter and the Starcatcher.

Music programs
The instrumental music program has grown to include over 100 students and includes the 32nd Street Jazz Band, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Pep Band, Winter Drumline, Pit Orchestra and Jazz Combo and Jazz Guitar Ensemble. They also offer courses in Guitar, American Popular Music and AP Music Theory.

Publications
The school is also active in journalism with two school-wide publications.The Augustinian, is the student-run newspaper that is published 6 times per year. The Saints Scene is the community newsletter run by faculty and alumni.

Club and Special Groups
Like any high school, Saints has a wide variety of student clubs and associations.

Rivalries
St. Augustine is one of four Catholic high schools in the San Diego area, leading to a natural state of heightened competition between the St. Augustine and the other Catholic schools in the region: the former University of San Diego High School, now known as Cathedral Catholic High School, and the former Marian Catholic High School, now known as Mater Dei Catholic High School. (The fourth, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace, is an all-girls school and has long been considered as a sister school to Saints).

The rivalry that is most prevalent is between Saints and USDHS / Cathedral, which has spanned many years. Since the early 1970s, a yearly 'Charity Bowl' (now called the 'Holy Bowl'), first hosted at Jack Murphy Stadium (Qualcomm Stadium) by Bob Hope, occasionally at Balboa Stadium, and now at Southwestern College Stadium, has been the highlight of the rivalry. The two schools' football teams have in fact met in every season since the foundation of University High, except for 2007, when the game was cancelled as part of a county-wide cancellation of all high school sports during the October wildfires and was not rescheduled.

Notable alumni

 Politics
 Roger Hedgecock - Former Mayor of San Diego and current conservative talk radio host
 Ralph Inzunza - Former San Diego City Councilman

 Athletics

 Brynton Lemar (born 1995) - American-born Jamaican basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
 Jelani McCoy, Class of '95  - Former National Basketball Association player
 David Popkins, Class of '08 - Former St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguer, current Minnesota Twins hitting coach
 Fred Jones - NFL player
 Darrell Russell, Class of '94 - Late National Football League player
 Bob Spence - Former Major League Baseball player
 Monte Jackson - Class of '71 - Former Major League Football player
 Terry Jackson- Class of '73 - Former NFL player
 Brian Barden - Former Major League Baseball player and Nippon Professional League player, Hiroshima Toyo Carp
 John D'Acquisto - Former Major League Baseball player for the San Diego Padres
 Servando Carrasco - Class of '06 - Former professional soccer player for Orlando City SC
 John Wathan - Former Major League Baseball player

 Arts
 John Castellanos - Actor, best known for his role on long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless.
 Gregory Nava - Oscar-nominated film director whose works include El Norte, Selena and Why Do Fools Fall in Love
 Brian Rikuda - Music entrepreneur and winner of Black Entertainment Television's Ultimate Hustler
 Victor Buono - Actor who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
 Tony Bill - Actor, producer, and director who produced the 1973 movie The Sting, for which he shared the Academy Award for Best Picture
 Jorge R. Gutierrez - Mexican writer, director, creator, painter and producer known for El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, The Book of Life (2014 film) and Maya and the Three.

 Law
 Thomas J Whelan - Senior United States Federal Judge

See also
 Primary and secondary schools in San Diego, California
 St. Augustine of Hippo

Notes

External links
 Saint Augustine High School
 Athletics
 Fine Arts
 Photo Gallery
 Campus Events
 Saint Augustine High School (Athletics - Football)

Catholic secondary schools in California
Augustinian schools
Boys' schools in California
Educational institutions established in 1922
High schools in San Diego
School buildings in the United States destroyed by arson
Arson in California
1922 establishments in California